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• Assessing Climate Change Impacts and Prioritizing Adaptation Measures Using Climate-Smart Agriculture Rapid Appraisal (CSA-RA): A Case Study in Thuong Bang La Commune, Van Chan District, Yen Bai Province

  Vu Thanh Bien, Natalie Cunningham, Nguyen Duc Trung, McKeown Peter, Spillane Charles, Bui Le Vinh

  Received: Jan 12, 2021 / Published: Oct 29, 2021

   Abstract PDF

  Overwhelming scientific evidence shows agriculture is heavily impacted by negative climate change effects. While agriculture is affected, the sector is also the second-largest contributor to climate change, creating challenges in adaptation and mitigation strategies. Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) is a holistic approach to managing landscapes, utilized to guide farmers in the context of a changing climate. CSA is an attractive option for Vietnam, an agricultural country extremely vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Farmers and communities in Vietnam are facing significant risks. Changes in farming conditions, climate, and productivity threaten agriculture and livelihoods. The aim of the current study was to assess the effects of climate change on the people and agricultural systems in Thuong Bang La (TBL) commune, Vietnam, utilizing climate-smart agriculture rapid appraisal (CSA-RA) tools. The results indicated that agricultural production has been negatively impacted, with erratic and varied weather patterns causing outbreaks of disease, and reductions in the yield and productivity of livestock and cropping systems. Disasters including flooding, storms, and droughts are a prominent threat, leaving farmers unsure of how to cope. Through a showcase of CSA technologies, farmers were able to highlight their preferences for practices including mulching, drip irrigation and conservation agriculture in orange groves, bio-fertilizers and integrated pest management (IPM) in rice production, and using biological bedding in chicken raising. The study showed immediate openings to initiate context-specific CSA interventions and building the resilience of the agricultural systems in the development of one of the first climate-smart communes in Vietnam.

• The Supported Policies in the Afforestation and Perennial Crops Project and its Effects on the Local Peoples’ Livelihoods in Dien Bien Province of Vietnam

  Tran Trong Phuong, Do Thi Thanh Duong, Ngo Thanh Son

  Received: Feb 04, 2021 / Published: Dec 31, 2021

   Abstract PDF

  The Afforestation and Perennial Tree Plantation Project were implemented in several mountainous areas in Dien Bien province, Vietnam, for many purposes such as providing agricultural products, increasing incomes for the people in the projected areas, and reducing shifting cultivation. Based on these reasons, the central and local governments implemented several policies and subsidies for the growers, including rice subsidies for ethnic minorities who planted forests to replace shifting cultivation; investment support for planting protective forests and special-use forests; and providing seedlings. This article aimed to provide a clear view of the supporting policies in the Afforestation and Perennial Crops Project and its effects on the local people’s livelihoods in Dien Bien province of Vietnam. By analyzing the types of the capital of the livelihood assets (human capital, natural capital, financial capital, physical capital, and social capital), indicators of each capital type were chosen and scored in the context of achieving sustainable livelihoods. The results identified that the government has issued several policies to help the investors and farmers involved in this project. However, there were some concerns about the policies in practice, for example, the low percentage of dividend sharing for farmers, unclear land use rights, and inadequate applications of the policies in reality. In evaluating the livelihood assets, significant differences were found in the sustainable livelihood index gained between the rubber-based and non-rubber-based groups.