Influence of livelihoods on climate change adaptation for smallholder farmers in the Mekong Delta Vietnam
Farmers in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta face a wide range of climate-related and hydrological factors which threaten rice production. Smallholder farmers must adapt to climate change to sustain rice production as their central and most important livelihood activity. A sample was stratified across agr...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Taylor & Francis Group
2018-05-01
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| Series: | International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14735903.2018.1472858 |
| _version_ | 1797681187927359488 |
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| author | Peter R. Brown Vo Van Tuan Dang Kieu Nhan Le Canh Dung John Ward |
| author_facet | Peter R. Brown Vo Van Tuan Dang Kieu Nhan Le Canh Dung John Ward |
| author_sort | Peter R. Brown |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Farmers in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta face a wide range of climate-related and hydrological factors which threaten rice production. Smallholder farmers must adapt to climate change to sustain rice production as their central and most important livelihood activity. A sample was stratified across agro-ecological areas in the Delta affected by flooding, alluvial soils, acid sulphate soils, and saline water intrusion and by derived farmer typologies. A rural livelihoods approach was used in focus group discussions and in-depth interviews to identify and enumerate enabling and constraining adaptation factors. Smallholders experienced diverse natural hazards such as floods, abnormal rains, high temperatures, water scarcity, and salinity intrusion specific to the agro-ecological areas. Adaptation was constrained by labour shortages, water quality, topography, access to combine harvesters, transportation infrastructure, dryers and household savings. Adaptation was enabled by farming techniques and experience, cooperative groups, water quantity, access to information, and ability to purchase agro-chemicals through credit. Small farmers (< 1 ha) were more constrained than large farmers (> 1 ha) who had an expanded livelihood asset base. A range of policy implications are discussed, but adaptation is not just about technological fixes but requires overall improvements in a range of human, social and financial components. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T23:41:13Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b5f04da021c94340b64fd409eaec30d8 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1473-5903 1747-762X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T23:41:13Z |
| publishDate | 2018-05-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability |
| spelling | doaj.art-b5f04da021c94340b64fd409eaec30d82023-09-19T15:22:20ZengTaylor & Francis GroupInternational Journal of Agricultural Sustainability1473-59031747-762X2018-05-0116325527110.1080/14735903.2018.14728581472858Influence of livelihoods on climate change adaptation for smallholder farmers in the Mekong Delta VietnamPeter R. Brown0Vo Van Tuan1Dang Kieu Nhan2Le Canh Dung3John Ward4CSIRO Agriculture & FoodCan Tho UniversityCan Tho UniversityCan Tho UniversityMekong Region Futures InstituteFarmers in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta face a wide range of climate-related and hydrological factors which threaten rice production. Smallholder farmers must adapt to climate change to sustain rice production as their central and most important livelihood activity. A sample was stratified across agro-ecological areas in the Delta affected by flooding, alluvial soils, acid sulphate soils, and saline water intrusion and by derived farmer typologies. A rural livelihoods approach was used in focus group discussions and in-depth interviews to identify and enumerate enabling and constraining adaptation factors. Smallholders experienced diverse natural hazards such as floods, abnormal rains, high temperatures, water scarcity, and salinity intrusion specific to the agro-ecological areas. Adaptation was constrained by labour shortages, water quality, topography, access to combine harvesters, transportation infrastructure, dryers and household savings. Adaptation was enabled by farming techniques and experience, cooperative groups, water quantity, access to information, and ability to purchase agro-chemicals through credit. Small farmers (< 1 ha) were more constrained than large farmers (> 1 ha) who had an expanded livelihood asset base. A range of policy implications are discussed, but adaptation is not just about technological fixes but requires overall improvements in a range of human, social and financial components.http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14735903.2018.1472858adaptive capacitylivelihood capacityrice productionnatural threats |
| spellingShingle | Peter R. Brown Vo Van Tuan Dang Kieu Nhan Le Canh Dung John Ward Influence of livelihoods on climate change adaptation for smallholder farmers in the Mekong Delta Vietnam International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability adaptive capacity livelihood capacity rice production natural threats |
| title | Influence of livelihoods on climate change adaptation for smallholder farmers in the Mekong Delta Vietnam |
| title_full | Influence of livelihoods on climate change adaptation for smallholder farmers in the Mekong Delta Vietnam |
| title_fullStr | Influence of livelihoods on climate change adaptation for smallholder farmers in the Mekong Delta Vietnam |
| title_full_unstemmed | Influence of livelihoods on climate change adaptation for smallholder farmers in the Mekong Delta Vietnam |
| title_short | Influence of livelihoods on climate change adaptation for smallholder farmers in the Mekong Delta Vietnam |
| title_sort | influence of livelihoods on climate change adaptation for smallholder farmers in the mekong delta vietnam |
| topic | adaptive capacity livelihood capacity rice production natural threats |
| url | http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14735903.2018.1472858 |
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