UNDERSTANDING THE PROCESS OF ADAPTATION TO CLIMATE CHANGE BY RICE FARMERS: A CASE STUDY IN MEKONG DELTA, VIETNAM
Climate change poses great challenges to society and its development, particularly in developing country.It can create serious environmental and social consequences that not only jeopardize agricultural production but also destabilize rural livelihoods.Poor and marginalized communities are the most vulnerable to these impacts, due to their limited capacity to adaptations and heavy dependence on natural resources.Therefore, it would be necessary not only to develop mitigation policies but also enhance adaptation policies to reduce negative impacts regarding climate variability.Importantly, adaptation can greatly complement mitigation in a cost-effective strategy to reduce climate change impacts;together they can contribute to sustainable development.This paper aims to understand the process of adaptation choices towards perceived risks of climate change among local rice farmers in Soc Trang province and their behaviors to adapt.This geographical area is a main agricultural region in Vietnams Mekong Delta.Data were obtained from interviews with 80 rice farmers and four key agricultural officers in two districts of Soc Trang province.Results found that farmers are becoming aware of climate change, especially saltwater intrusions, and that this awareness is significantly influenced by educational levels and numerous sources of information.In addition, the formal and informal information that intersect with farms location, such as its access to water sources, play a key role in shaping the perceptions of climate change and its impacts.Individual farmers have responded to the now-irregular and intensifying saltwater intrusions by implementing both intentional and unintentional adaptations.The rice farmers are engaging in various adaptation measures that include changing rice varieties, changing fertilizer and chemical use, changing the amount of land cultivated, and irrigation schemes as well as diversifying crops and income sources.Further, significant differences are observed between local adaptation strategies in various geographical locations at the district level.However, the absence of a strong correlation between Soc Trang rice farmers perceptions of risks and their decisions to implement adaptive responses was observed.Other social effects related to social norms, access to markets,and reliance on public adaptations may also influence individual behavior regarding the implementation of adaptive measures or to not cope with risks.These present a need to build adaptive capacity through several supporting programmes that may involve knowledge improvements and economic incentives.More specifically, the dissemination of the accuracy and timeliness information is an important process in strengthen knowledge and adaptive capacity for climate change risks.
Thanh Tam HO Koji SHIMADA
Graduate School of Economics, Ritsumeikan University, Japan 1-1-1 Noji-Higashi, Kusatsu, Shiga 525-8 Faculty of Economics, Ritsumeikan University, Japan 1-1-1 Noji-Higashi, Kusatsu, Shiga 525-8577, Jap
国际会议
广州
英文
120-133
2017-11-23（万方平台首次上网日期，不代表论文的发表时间）