Socio-ecological resilience of mangrove-shrimp models under various threats exacerbated from salinity intrusion in coastal area of the Vietnamese Mekong Delta

ABSTRACT

In the Vietnamese Mekong Delta (VMD), the mangrove-shrimp-based livelihood model has brought multiple benefits for coastal environment, e.g. coastal protection, biodiversity, sustainable incomes. However, it has been questioned on the grounds on the model’s sustainability and resilience to climate change-induced salinity intrusion along with economic and environmental constraints. This paper aims to explore perspectives of mangrove-shrimp farmers in the coastal province of Ben Tre of the VMD from their willingness to sustain the livelihood. We utilized a Motivation and Ability framework in combination with a sustainable livelihood framework to measure the perceived values and resilience of mangrove-shrimp farming systems, based on a broad interview with farmers, scientists, and experts. Farmer interviews presented a high ability of farmers in maintaining the mangrove-shrimp model, but low motivation for development. Water pollution and shrimp disease are the highest risks that would be exacerbated by extreme salinity intrusion. Resilience and sustainability of the mangrove-shrimp livelihoods are relatively low under the impact of extreme salinity intrusion. Also, interviews with scientists and experts revealed a poor perception of farmers in implementing laws in agricultural land and water management, their lack of cooperation with local authorities, and their roles to be less likely involved in project implementation processes which are not supportive for sustaining the mangrove-shrimp models. In the end, an evidence-based framework was proposed to improve the situation. This study sought to contribute meaningful and concrete recommendations to sustain this livelihood model not only for Vietnamese but also for those in coastal areas over the world.

KEYWORDS:

• Climate change
• land-use transformation
• mangrove-shrimp
• Mekong delta
• socio-ecology
• resilience

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the mangrove-shrimp farmers, local officials, scientists, and experts who willingly accepted to provide valuable information for this research. Besides, many thanks are to be given to staffs at the Centre of Water Management and Climate Change of Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh for their discussion and comments.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

Data collection for this research was financially supported under the project entitled “Transforming agricultural livelihoods for climate change adaptation in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta: A case study in Ben Tre province” with the project number of KHCN-TNB-DT/14-19/C20 and the US-ASEAN Program 2018-2019.