Exploring relations between land use changes and agricultural policy implementation in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam: A case of An Giang province

Abstract

The economy of Vietnam relies mainly on agriculture and the Mekong Delta contributes a crucial part. The region is facing to decline in water resources together with the demand for economic development. Land use changes and policies in agriculture have been implemented in response to natural risks. The study applied a mixed-approach, using both quantitative and qualitative data to explore relations between the status of land use (LU) changes and the implementation of agricultural policies. Multi-temporal Landsat image data including Landsat-5, 7, 8 collected from Google Earth Engine (GEE) database. LU change classification using the Random Forest (RF) method to examine changes in LU in An Giang province from 2000 to 2021. The qualitative data were gathered from individual and group discussions with local authorities, officers and farmers. The results expressed that LU in An Giang province has been changed toward reducing rice areas. Linkages existed between the agricultural policies and the types of LU related to policies of agricultural restructuring. Inappropriate areas for rice have been replaced by upland crops and fruit trees throughout the province. Ecological conditions and specificities of the region contribute to the difference from LU in the province. For agricultural development, value chain and cooperation are necessary to build adaptive and efficient agriculture.