Livelihood Transformation of the Chơ-Ro People in Sông Xoài Commune, Phú Mỹ Town, Bà Rịa - Vũng Tàu Province

The Chơ-ro people are an indigenous ethnic minority with a long history of residence in the Southeast region of Vietnam. According to the 2019 socioeconomic survey of 53 ethnic minorities, the Chơ-ro population stands at 29,520 (Committee for Ethnic Minorities, General Statistics Office, 2020: 65), primarily concentrated in Đồng Nai and Bà Rịa - Vũng Tàu provinces. In Bà Rịa - Vũng Tàu, with a population of nearly 9,000, the Chơ-ro rank as the second largest ethnic minority group, following the Hoa people. The Chơ-ro are predominantly located in Châu Đức district (Ngãi Giao town, and the communes of Đá Bạc, Bàu Chinh, Bình Giã, and Bình Ba), Xuyên Mộc district (Tân Lâm and Bàu Lâm communes), Đất Đỏ district (Long Tân commune), and Phú Mỹ town (Hắc Dịch ward, Sông Xoài commune, and Châu Pha commune). Additionally, a small number of Chơ-ro people reside scattered in Bình Phước, Bình Dương, and Bình Thuận provinces. This article employs Rational Choice Theory and data collected from ethnographic fieldwork, combined with the synthesis and analysis of secondary sources related to the research area, to elucidate the transformations in the livelihood activities of the Chơ-ro community in Sông Xoài commune, Phú Mỹ town, Bà Rịa - Vũng Tàu province in the current context. The article aims to provide scientific evidence to support the consideration, planning, and proposal of economic development policies suitable for the local conditions.