Forest Gold or False Promise?

Talk by Sarah Turner, Professor in the Department of Geography, McGill University, Canada

In the mountains of northern Vietnam, ethnic minority farmers from Hmong and Mien households have increasingly turned to cultivating black cardamom, a high-value spice grown beneath the forest canopy. This talk explores how these farmers navigate complex trade networks linking upland fields to global markets, where profits are often unequally distributed. While black cardamom offers new income and livelihood opportunities, it also brings uncertainty—climate change, price volatility, and power imbalances all pose serious risks. Drawing on in-depth ethnographic research over the past 20 years, Sarah Turner examines how upland communities balance economic opportunity with cultural resilience in an era of rapid transformation.