Sustainable Development and Social, Ecological, and Economic Transformation in Vietnam: Insights for Policy

Abstract

Vietnam is at crossroads: being a middle income country now, it has to deal with social, economic and environmental challenges better known from affluent countries, while still being in the transition from an agricultural to an industrial in a society transiting from rural to urban. At the same time, Vietnam has to prepare for the diverse impacts of climate change, a process beyond its control, by developing adaptation measures safeguarding the social and environmental basis of the society and economy. This requires strategic planning with a focus on enhancing the resilience of economy and society; supporting differentiation and diversity is a core element of this, in rural as much as in urban settings. Current policies need to be updated to accommodate both the value of diversity, and the long term perspective required to mitigate climate change impacts.
 Keywords: Vietnam, Social Ecological and Economic Transformation, polarisation, industrialisation, urbanisation, market risks, environmental threats

An ecological economic comparison between integrated rice-fish farming and rice monocultures with low and high dikes in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam

“…The Mekong Delta is currently facing major challenges in terms of climate change and upstream dams and current food production systems should be designed so they contribute to an increased resilience and a sustained production of food (Vietnamese Government 2017 , 2020 ; Spangenberg 2019 ; Hui et al 2022 ). The Delta is at cross roads where future farming strategies either could focus on an intensified production of rice through increased input of external resources, such as more agriculture chemicals, in an increasingly human controlled environment, or build on a diversified production of rice and other crops, with the aim to increase the efficiency use and recycling of resources rather than a throughput of external resources.…”

“…This has increased income and food security but has also been followed by negative environmental impacts, such as pollution and biodiversity change (Tong 2017 ; Sebesvari et al 2012 ; Nguyen et al 2019 ; Spangenberg 2019 ). Tam et al ( 2016 ) reported that farmers spraying organophosphates on rice fields resulted in both reduced growth and survival rates of fish and Dasgupta et al ( 2007 ) found that over 35% of 190 rice farmers in the Mekong Delta, experienced acute pesticide poisoning.…”

“…The Mekong Delta is presently at a crossroad, where it either could enter a deteriorating state, or return to modified and more natural conditions (Tran et al 2018 ). The direction it takes will depend largely on whether the intensification of rice production continues or if, instead, more sustainable farming strategies are adopted (Spangenberg 2019 ).…”

“…However, these policies are sometimes contradicted by believes that a continues high production of rice only can be achieved through increased use of agrochemicals (cf. Spangenberg 2019 ; Hutton et al 2021 ). The aim with the current study was, thus, to show that integrated systems, such as rice-fish farming, not only make ecological sense but also financial sense as they can increase the farmers’ income through decreased production costs and increased yields and price for both rice and fish (Berg and Tam 2018 ; Nguyen et al 2018 ).…”

Exploring the Influence of Gender on Cassava (Manihot esculenta) Value Chain among Smallholder Farmers: A Case of Central Highlands, Vietnam

“…In the agricultural sector, women hold an undeniable and crucial role (Anderson et al, 2021), making up 43% of the labor force in developing countries, as noted by Patil et al (2018). In Vietnam, the primary source of sustainable livelihood for the majority of the population is farming and various agricultural pursuits (Spangenberg, 2019).…”