Climate change, rural household food consumption and vulnerability: the case of Ben Tre province in Vietnam.

Abstract

(ProQuest: ... denotes formulae omitted.)1. IntroductionClimate change effects will alter biodiversity, food production and finally rural households' in the next decades (Tol, 2002; Velarde et al., 2005 and IPCC, 2007). In Vietnam, climate change has been observed to foster temperature increases and sea level rise, which have caused permanent inundation, increased flooding, as well as salt water intrusion (Dasgupta et al., 2007; Wassmann et el., 2004). Scientific information and climatic mapping show that 10 of Vietnam's susceptible provinces to climate change are among the top 25 percent most vulnerable areas in Southeast Asia, and that Ben Tre is one of these (Yusuf and Francisco, 2010).The Ben Tre region has suffered immensely from climatic change as evidenced by recent salt water intrusion and increased frequency of typhoon activities. Economic damages caused by salt water intrusion from 1995 to 2008 amounted to US $32,423,080,632 including 15,782 ha of dead or less productive paddy, 13,700 ha of shed unripe coconuts, 360 ha of less productive aquaculture, and 5,289 tons of dead shrimp. The intrusion also placed 132,823 households into a situation of continued lack of fresh water (Ben Tre DPI, 2010). Nine years later, the typhoon named Durian, with wind velocity of over 133 km per hour, had severely devastated the province, which resulted in 17 deaths, 162 injured people, and 71,340 collapsed or unroofed houses (Ben Tre CEHMF, 2010).A number of studies have examined the effects of cli mate change on Vietnam's economy and found varying results (Adger, 1999; Dinh, 2012), but have attributed many of the climatic occurrences to climate change events. The variation in results occurs because of spatial fluctuations of climate change effects. To observe specific effects of climate change on community food consumption vulnerability, we examine a particular case in Vietnam, Mekong Delta, Ben Tre Province, which has been seriously impacted by recent climatic change events. For these reasons, the study focuses on food consumption assessment and poverty in the Ben Tre Province.2. Objectives of the StudyIn this paper, we assess the impacts of climate change on households' livelihoods in Ben Tre Province to determine how these changes affect the consumption of inhabitants in these areas. Specifically we: (1) determine the extent of of households in the selected coastal communities; (2) determine the factors that affect food consumption per capita in the coastal communities in Ben Tre Province; and (3) evaluate the effects of coastal climatic events on the consumption and poverty in the area.We proceed by defining the term then we examine the relationship between climate change and vulnerability; we evaluate the approaches in representing vulnerability; and propose a conceptual framework for evaluation of vulnerability. We then proceed with a methodical approach; discuss the model development; present the results and finally the discussion and conclusion.3. Vulnerability3.1 Definitions of VulnerabilityThe term vulnerability has no universally accepted definition (Fussel, 2007). Stu dies on natural threats define as the degree to which an unprotected unit is prone to being harmed by exposure to a perturbation or stress, in conjunction with its ability (or lack thereof) to cope, recover or fundamentally adapt (become a new system or go extinct) (Kasperson et al., 2001; Fussel, 2007). In contrast, the poverty and development literature, which focuses on social, economic and political conditions, defines as a cumulative measure of human welfare that integrates environmental, social, economic, and political exposure to a range of harmful distresses (Bohle et al., 1994). According to Yamin et al. (2005), the communities affected by disasters define as conditions that are determined by physical, social, economic, and environmental factors or processes, and that increase the susceptibility of a community to the impact of a hazard. …