Plantation livelihoods in central Vietnam: Implications for household vulnerability and community resilience

Abstract

Thulstrup, A.W. 2014. Plantation livelihoods in central Vietnam: Implications for household vulnerability and community resilience. Norsk Geografisk Tidsskrift–Norwegian Journal of Geography Vol. 68, 1–9. ISSN 0029-1951.

Social vulnerability to disturbances is influenced by the economic and political context in which actors and institutions both enable and constrain household access to productive resources. These resources are crucial as a means for mitigating, coping, and responding to impacts of natural disturbances. The Vietnamese Government has formulated policies aimed at achieving dual objectives of socio-economic development and environmental protection through the expansion of plantation forests. Negative social impacts and worrying environmental trends have been noted by a number of scholars. However, few studies have examined these issues at the local level or analysed the interplay between plantation forest expansion, household vulnerability, and community resilience to climatic disturbances. The article documents the extent to which the introduction of acacia tree species has reinforced existing inequalities in landholding, which in turn increases household vulnerability to natural disturbances. This has resulted in the emergence of a social-ecological context characterized by decreasing resilience. The most vulnerable households are those of the landless and ethnic minorities, both of which depend on short-term insecure income from casual labour. A growing concentration of landholdings, coupled with a commune economy based on monoculture plantations, threatens resilience and potentially could constrain future government development interventions.

Keywords:

• forestry
• livelihoods
• resilience
• vulnerability

Notes

1 Vietnamese forests are divided into three categories: production, protection, and special-use forests. Protection Forests serve to protect soil and water sources, mitigate soil erosion, and prevent natural disasters, whereas the main function of Production Forests is environmental protection and to supply timber and non-timber forest products (Jong et al. 2006).

2 Also known as Resolution 10, which abandoned the collective system, liberalized prices for rice and inputs, awarded untradeable land use rights for up to 15 years to individuals and allowed more freedom of choice regarding which crops to grow (Do & Iyer 2003; Meyfroidt & Lambin 2008).

3 Respondents were asked what characterized households that were considered khá ga (affluent).

4 The group is also known as Cor, Col, Cùa, Trầu, Khùa, or Mọi. The Co ethnic group is mainly found in Trà Bồng and Sn Hà Districts in Quảng Ngãi Province and in Bắc Trà My and Nam Trà My Districts in Quảng Nam Province (Đặng et al. 2010). The total population in 1999 was estimated at 27,766 people and most resided in Trà Bồng District in Quảng Ngãi Province that borders Tam Trà Commune (Đặng et al. 2010). The group belongs to the Mon-Khmer language group but a sizable part of the Co population in Tam Trà speak the same language as the Kinh (Đặng et al. 2010).

5 The Kinh are the majority ethnic group in Vietnam and constitute 80% of the population (Ðng et al. 2010).

6 Together with a translator, I attended the meeting unannounced in order to gain a sense of local political processes.