05. Social vulnerability of rice-based farming households to salinity intrusion in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta

Abstract

This study aims to assess social vulnerability index to salinity intrusion and propose recommendations to decrease damages and increase adaptive capacity to rice-based farming households (rice and rice-shrimp) in the Mekong Delta. Data were randomly collected at 800 rice farmers in the coastal regions of 88 communes at 38 districts in 7 provinces by questionnaires for the social vulnerability index calculation. The findings showed that the social vulnerability index was at average. The low adaptability, overwhelming the potential loss and the household coping capacity leads to high vulnerability. The results also found that rice farms were less socially vulnerable than rice-shrimp farms. Households living next to coastal areas were more socially vulnerable than those in inland areas. In addition, education, culture area, agricultural production model and finance status were the determinants of rice-based farmers’ adaptive capacity. Recommendations for reducing potential losses and enhancing the resilience and adaptive capacity of rice farmers to salinity intrusion were proposed.