Culture, environment, and farming systems in Vietnam's Northern Mountain Region

Abstract

This paper examines the interrelationships between the cultures of ethnic minority groups in Vietnam's Northern Mountain Region (NMR) and their farming systems. The NMR is highly variegated in terms of topography, climate, and biodiversity and has a very high level of cultural diversity. It is home to more than 30 different ethnic groups. Each of these groups has its own distinctive culture and is associated with a specific ecological setting. As each group has interacted with the particular environment in which it lives, it has developed its own somewhat distinctive farming system. The study of these farming systems can reveal the particular ways in which different groups and cultures have interacted with and adapted to the specific environmental conditions in which people carry out their production activities.