Climate change adaptation responses and human mobility in the Mekong Delta: local perspectives from rural households in An Giang Province, Vietnam
Abstract Climate change influences the adaptation responses and mobility patterns of smallholder farmers across multiple scales. This study employed an inductive approach to observe smallholder farmers in An Giang Province in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta to compare the effects of various environmenta...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Springer Nature
2023-06-01
|
| Series: | Humanities & Social Sciences Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-023-01817-5 |
| _version_ | 1827917034832265216 |
|---|---|
| author | Mucahid Mustafa Bayrak Tran Van Hieu Thong Anh Tran Yi-Ya Hsu Tung Nien Dang Thi Thanh Quynh |
| author_facet | Mucahid Mustafa Bayrak Tran Van Hieu Thong Anh Tran Yi-Ya Hsu Tung Nien Dang Thi Thanh Quynh |
| author_sort | Mucahid Mustafa Bayrak |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Climate change influences the adaptation responses and mobility patterns of smallholder farmers across multiple scales. This study employed an inductive approach to observe smallholder farmers in An Giang Province in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta to compare the effects of various environmental and climate-related stressors on households with and without contributing migrant household members and on households of different income levels in two rural communes. We looked into the roles that adaptation responses and human mobility patterns play in the daily livelihoods of (translocal) households. We adopted a mixed-methods approach, which involved the administration of a livelihood survey among households in two rural communes (N = 106) and, subsequently, two focus group discussions, unstructured in-depth interviews, and secondary data analysis. We discovered that human mobility, adaptation responses, and climate change are interwoven in a web of complex relationships. No clear differences in effects and climate adaptation responses were discovered between emigrant and nonemigrant households. Hence, paradigms that either portray migration as a failure to adapt or as a form of adaptation in the context of climate change do not adequately explain the findings of this study. Differences between income groups were, however, observed. Relative to other income groups, middle-income farmers were disproportionally affected by climate-related disasters. Additionally, out-migration, aging, upstream hydropower development, and COVID-19 lockdowns posed significant challenges to the livelihoods of smallholder farmers. The compound effects of these multiple stressors indicate that human mobility, climate change and adaptation patterns should be best approached as ‘wicked’ problems. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-13T03:23:02Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-4465f70370134192b0e9e51e2b1e0597 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2662-9992 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-13T03:23:02Z |
| publishDate | 2023-06-01 |
| publisher | Springer Nature |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Humanities & Social Sciences Communications |
| spelling | doaj.art-4465f70370134192b0e9e51e2b1e05972023-06-25T11:11:55ZengSpringer NatureHumanities & Social Sciences Communications2662-99922023-06-0110111410.1057/s41599-023-01817-5Climate change adaptation responses and human mobility in the Mekong Delta: local perspectives from rural households in An Giang Province, VietnamMucahid Mustafa Bayrak0Tran Van Hieu1Thong Anh Tran2Yi-Ya Hsu3Tung Nien4Dang Thi Thanh Quynh5Department of Geography, National Taiwan Normal UniversityFaculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources, An Giang University, Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City (VNU-HCM)School of Geography, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Faculty of Science, The University of MelbourneSchool of Built Environment, University of New South WalesDepartment of Geography, National Taiwan Normal UniversityClimate Change Institute, An Giang University, Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City (VNU-HCM)Abstract Climate change influences the adaptation responses and mobility patterns of smallholder farmers across multiple scales. This study employed an inductive approach to observe smallholder farmers in An Giang Province in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta to compare the effects of various environmental and climate-related stressors on households with and without contributing migrant household members and on households of different income levels in two rural communes. We looked into the roles that adaptation responses and human mobility patterns play in the daily livelihoods of (translocal) households. We adopted a mixed-methods approach, which involved the administration of a livelihood survey among households in two rural communes (N = 106) and, subsequently, two focus group discussions, unstructured in-depth interviews, and secondary data analysis. We discovered that human mobility, adaptation responses, and climate change are interwoven in a web of complex relationships. No clear differences in effects and climate adaptation responses were discovered between emigrant and nonemigrant households. Hence, paradigms that either portray migration as a failure to adapt or as a form of adaptation in the context of climate change do not adequately explain the findings of this study. Differences between income groups were, however, observed. Relative to other income groups, middle-income farmers were disproportionally affected by climate-related disasters. Additionally, out-migration, aging, upstream hydropower development, and COVID-19 lockdowns posed significant challenges to the livelihoods of smallholder farmers. The compound effects of these multiple stressors indicate that human mobility, climate change and adaptation patterns should be best approached as ‘wicked’ problems.https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-023-01817-5 |
| spellingShingle | Mucahid Mustafa Bayrak Tran Van Hieu Thong Anh Tran Yi-Ya Hsu Tung Nien Dang Thi Thanh Quynh Climate change adaptation responses and human mobility in the Mekong Delta: local perspectives from rural households in An Giang Province, Vietnam Humanities & Social Sciences Communications |
| title | Climate change adaptation responses and human mobility in the Mekong Delta: local perspectives from rural households in An Giang Province, Vietnam |
| title_full | Climate change adaptation responses and human mobility in the Mekong Delta: local perspectives from rural households in An Giang Province, Vietnam |
| title_fullStr | Climate change adaptation responses and human mobility in the Mekong Delta: local perspectives from rural households in An Giang Province, Vietnam |
| title_full_unstemmed | Climate change adaptation responses and human mobility in the Mekong Delta: local perspectives from rural households in An Giang Province, Vietnam |
| title_short | Climate change adaptation responses and human mobility in the Mekong Delta: local perspectives from rural households in An Giang Province, Vietnam |
| title_sort | climate change adaptation responses and human mobility in the mekong delta local perspectives from rural households in an giang province vietnam |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-023-01817-5 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT mucahidmustafabayrak climatechangeadaptationresponsesandhumanmobilityinthemekongdeltalocalperspectivesfromruralhouseholdsinangiangprovincevietnam AT tranvanhieu climatechangeadaptationresponsesandhumanmobilityinthemekongdeltalocalperspectivesfromruralhouseholdsinangiangprovincevietnam AT thonganhtran climatechangeadaptationresponsesandhumanmobilityinthemekongdeltalocalperspectivesfromruralhouseholdsinangiangprovincevietnam AT yiyahsu climatechangeadaptationresponsesandhumanmobilityinthemekongdeltalocalperspectivesfromruralhouseholdsinangiangprovincevietnam AT tungnien climatechangeadaptationresponsesandhumanmobilityinthemekongdeltalocalperspectivesfromruralhouseholdsinangiangprovincevietnam AT dangthithanhquynh climatechangeadaptationresponsesandhumanmobilityinthemekongdeltalocalperspectivesfromruralhouseholdsinangiangprovincevietnam |