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Abstract
The paper argues that policies towards upland communities in Vietnam tend to reinforce land use strategies that increase vulnerability to climate-related risk and undermine adaptive capacity of upland communities. It is argued that the division of land use between intensive agriculture/tree plantation and protected forest is increasing both livelihood- and environmental risk. Qualitative interviews and group discussion with upland villagers and local government staff in two districts of north and central Vietnam suggest that farmers are facing frequent loss and damage due to floods, storms and drought. Changing production patterns, together with the increase in climate-related hazards and stresses, is changing the character of vulnerability of upland communities. The study primarily explores village-level perspectives regarding impacts of hazards and stresses, ideas of how to reduce risk, along with how related policies and institutions influence local possibilities of risk reduction and adaptation. Our fieldwork results suggest that many villagers and local leaders see adaptation and risk reduction in terms of improved irrigation and in terms of access to land and forests for their livelihoods. The findings support arguments for more integration of agriculture and forestry land use, allowing for more flexibility in the development of upland livelihoods, with the aim of facilitating adaptation to climate change.
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Sida, Sweden, for financing this research. We also thank Stockholm Environment Institute – Asia for hosting the researcher. We thank Hue University of Agriculture and Forestry and the Cao Bang Community Development Centre for facilitating the fieldwork. We are also very grateful to all the villagers and staff who we interviewed during this research.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes
1. This paper presents the results of part of a larger research project, which also included case study villages in Nam Dong District, Thua Thien Hue Province, Vietnam, as well as Nan and Chiang Mai Provinces of northern Thailand.
2. An upland commune consists of 5–7 villages and has a population of around 1500–2500 people.
3. The Vietnam government classifies households according to categories of poor, medium and better-off, with income-based criteria. However, we also interviewed households who were poor, but who had not received government recognition for that ‘status’.
4. Investments of 500 million VND (25,000 USD) and above.
5. One hundred of the commune's total 260 households were selected by lottery, and got 1 ha each.
6. In the 2004–2005 campaign to encourage farmer rubber production, the Vietnam government gave credit for inputs and payment for labor, amounting to 23 million VND/hectare (1150 USD).