Tourism development affects on farmers household's livelihood: Case study in Vietnam

Tourism development effects on the livelihood and income of farmers. This study applies the Livelihood Effect Index (LEI) to assess the degree of effect on the farmer's livelihood under tourism at 3 study sites, namely Dien Bien Phu city, Dien Bien district and Muong Nhe district, Vietnam. The LEI index consists of 5 main factors, including Natural capital (N), Human capital (H), Physical capital (P), Social capital (S), Financial capital (F). Results show that the Livelihood Effect Index in Dien Bien Phu city, Dien Bien district, and Muong Nhe district is 0.42, 0.43, and 0.37, respectively. This reflects the moderate level of effect on livelihood by tourism. However, tourism still has a positive impact on the income of farmers, as reflected by 39.39% of total households with increased income through tourism, and 65.43% of households considering tourism as a stable income source. In order to tourism generate main income source for farmers, some solutions are recommended, such as increasing investment capital by local government, upgrading transportation infrastructure, supporting knowledge and skills in tourism business, and subsidizing interest rate for farmers to encourage them to invest in tourism business.