Assessment of Livelihood Vulnerability to Drought: A Case Study in Dak Nong Province, Vietnam

Abstract

In recent years, droughts have strongly affected the Central Highlands of Vietnam and have resulted in crop damage, yield decline, and serious water shortage. This study investigated the livelihood vulnerability of five communities of farmers who are exposed to droughts in one of the more vulnerable regions of Vietnam-Dak Nong Province. A survey of 250 households was conducted in the five communities to collect data on the region's sociodemographic profile, livelihood systems, social networks, health status, food and water security, drought conditions, and climate variability. Data were aggregated using a livelihood vulnerability index and the IPCC vulnerability index. The survey results indicate that Quang Phu community is the most vulnerable of the study's communities, followed by Nam N'dir, Dak Nang, Duc Xuyen, and Dak D'ro in descending order of vulnerability. Water availability and livelihood strategies are the most important variables in determining the vulnerability of the five surveyed communities. In order to reduce vulnerability to droughts, water management practices and livelihood diversification in farming and nonfarming activities are recommended for the study area.

Behaviour Change in Drought Response and Management: Case Study of Mudzi District, Zimbabwe

“…Moreover, many women are vulnerable to climate variability as they are on the frontline of rural development, which is normally agro-based (Nellemann et al, 2011;Sharma, 2016). Thao et al (2019) found that people who relied on unreliable water sources and poor livelihood strategies in Vietnam rural areas were highly vulnerable to the impacts of droughts, which is similar to the findings of Chigavazira (2019) in her study in Zimbabwe. Rao et al (2019) cautioned though that women should not be seen universally as victims to climate variability rather there is need to unpack power relations issues, inclusion and exclusion in decision-making processes and challenge cultural beliefs that have perpetuated inequalities.…”

Evaluation of Livelihood Sustainability in the Context of Natural Forest Land Degradation Vulnerability: A Case Study of Five Counties in China

“…Through this study, two main contributions are made to the literature. First, the previous vulnerability studies mainly focused on other natural disasters, including flooding and droughts [52][53][54][55][56], rather than NFLD. However, as a prominent environmental issue, NFLD is of significance as a research subject.…”

Extreme Droughts Change in the Mekong River Basin: A Multidisciplinary Analysis Based on Satellite Data

“…K-Means Clustering shows six groups, each of which has similar zone's characteristics (Figure 11). The largest, cluster 2, has six zones (1,6,7,21,22,24), and the smallest, cluster 4, has three zones (2,3,4). Most of the zones are located in the middle area of the MKB.…”

“…Drought is among those natural disasters that have caused severe damage to humanity, society, economy, and environment [1][2][3][4][5][6]. In the three recent decades, droughts have occurred in many countries across the world, such as the United States [7], Brazil [8], China [9], and Vietnam [10].…”