Cadena alimentaria del servicio de alimentación colectiva:

Policy reforms, the increased market-orientation, technological changes and hydraulic infrastructure developments brought about not only economic gains and opportunities. They also induced manifold challenges for the Vietnamese Mekong Delta as a whole and for the research area in specific. In the following section the most relevant challenges and opportunities for the current research context will therefore be outlined.

The market liberalisation and decollectivisation initiated impressive economic growth accompanied by an improvement in the average living standard in the Mekong Delta (see section 3.1.2). Not all parts of society benefited equally from the economic reforms of Doi Moi, however. Some well-off

“patronal” and “entrepreneurial” farmers, as Le Coq and Trebuil (2005) call them, have increasingly been opposed to poor and landless farmers. Despite the observed spill-over effects from successful large landowners to smaller farmers and landless households, the social differentiation has been continuously growing in the last decades (Le Coq, Trebuil 2005; Käkönen 2008: 210). Several empirical studies, such as the rural case study of Can Tho city by Le Coq and Trebuil (2005), showed that access to land is the major driver for this inequality. This was particularly true of the Mekong Delta. Here, land allocation led, according to Shank et al. (2004: 58f), to the highest proportion of farming households losing their land in the whole of Vietnam. Higher levels of market-based risk in combination with a high rise in land prices made land increasingly less retainable and accessible to the poorer households (Le Coq, Trebuil 2005). Lacking market information and access as well as pressures from international market prices constituted further reasons for precluding some parts of society from the economic benefits of liberalisation (Garschagen et al. 2012). Overall, market reforms have therefore led to a more uncertain, insecure and unstable livelihood basis. Coclanis and Stewart (2011) argue that especially rice production has therefore become “precarious work” where the risks burdened the workers rather than the government or private businesses. Furthermore, Vietnamese centralism is still pronounced and keeps tight control over production activities. The strict hierarchical planning and decision-making (which reflects the principles of the highly hierarchical nature of relationships in Vietnamese society) led to high inflexibility under highly dynamic market conditions.

Beside the economic challenges which have arisen from this inflexibility, it has supported corruption and has hampered locally adapted policy measures (Garschagen et al. 2012; Waibel et al. 2012; Evers, Benedikter 2009).

The hydraulic developments have also brought about substantial changes (see section 3.1.2). The construction of an enormous system of protective and productive infrastructure has successfully reduced flood damages and allowed cropping in three seasons per year. Nevertheless, those economic benefits for some groups have been accompanied by losses for others. The poor and landless in particular, who have always relied on aquatic resources in the flooded rice fields, have lost an important source of livelihood (Birkmann et al. 2012; Vo Van Tuan 2013; Hashimoto 2001).

Moreover, the protective infrastructure has increased the risk of flood damages in other regions, for instance in Cambodia (Käkönen 2008: 211; Le Thi Viet Hoa et al. 2007). Building dikes also raises the risk of disastrous damages in protected areas in the event of infrastructural failures (Le Thi Viet Hoa et al. 2007). In addition to these challenges, the environment has had to bear high costs for advancements in flood protection. The absence of flooding has, for instance, reduced soil fertility.

Environmental degradation in combination with the intensification policies, accordingly, raised the need for artificial substitutes in form of agrochemicals substantially. This has turned out to be a burden both to the environment and to the financial situation of the farmers (Hashimoto 2001;

Nguyen Duy Can et al. 2007: 91f). The massive salinity protection system has also led to serious shifts in the environmental conditions, challenging, for example, the whole brackish water ecosystem (Käkönen 2008: 210). At the international level, hydro-power developments in the Mekong riparian countries Cambodia, Laos and China arouse great attention. On the one hand, these developments have brought about economic gains to the upstream countries and have been an answer to the rising demand for energy in the region (including Vietnam); on the other hand, manifold challenges arose from the altered ecosystems, from a changed river flow and sedimentation, and from a loss of environmental services for rural areas in the Mekong Delta (Künzer et al. 2012).

The agricultural development process has also brought about a large range of opportunities and challenges. On the positive side, it has led to a public shift towards more sustainable development.

The public policies have changed from a primary support of rice monocultures towards more rural diversification and a stronger acknowledgement of environmentally friendly production options (Käkönen 2008: 210f). The campaign ‘‘Three Reductions and Three Gains’’ in rice production

promoted, for instance, a reduction of seeds, nitrogen fertiliser and pesticides to improve the health of farmers, to raise incomes, and to promote environmental protection (Huelgas et al. 2008). Despite these efforts, the agricultural development process has also brought about many challenges. It has been shown to reinforce the disparities arising from market liberalisation. Again, it has been mainly the poorest farmers who have not had a chance to benefit from the modernisation and intensification. They have not been able to afford the required investments in moto-mechanised machinery or agro-chemicals and they have not had enough land to realise the potential economies of scale (Käkönen 2008: 210). Moreover, decreased demand for off-farm labour due to mechanisation, in combination with a general lack of non-farm²⁶ employment, inhibited landless and land-poor farmers from generating off-farm²⁷ income (Le Coq, Trebuil 2005; Käkönen 2008: 210). The environmental consequences of agricultural intensification have also been substantial. Water quality has deteriorated in many regions due to the increased use of agrochemicals; and drainage and leaching to improve acid sulphate soils has led to widespread water acidification (Käkönen 2008: 210;

Dang Kieu Nhan et al. 2007). Both developments have lead to a decrease in the stock of wild fish and have resulted in more water-related conflicts. Water demand has also risen substantially, especially due to increased irrigation for rice production in the dry season. An intensification of rice production in the upstream provinces has consequently led to a larger freshwater scarcity and increasing saline intrusion in the downstream coastal provinces (Dang Kieu Nhan et al. 2007).

As with most of the described changes, the aquaculture boom in the Mekong Delta has had not only positive consequences for the society and the environment. It has led to impressive economic gains for many farmers, on the one hand, but has also come at high costs, mainly for “others”. These challenges have increasingly caught the attention of scientists (see for instance Pham Thi Anh et al.

2010; Dang Kieu Nhan et al. 2007; Taylor 2007: 9; Tran Thanh Be et al. 1999). According to Biggs et al.

(2009), the resulting conflict potential is one of the largest problems which the primary sector has to face, including in the future. The decision for/against brackish water conditions carries substantial conflict potential. Farmers who want to produce shrimp and need brackish water conditions are opposed by households who want to cultivate crops and require freshwater (Dang Kieu Nhan et al.

2007). Further conflicts have arisen between upstream and downstream areas. Downstream areas have been the ones to bear the costs of flushing pond or cage effluents resulting from aquaculture production upstream (ibid.). Moreover, aquaculture production has not only brought about risks for

“others” but has also come with many risks for the producers of aquaculture themselves. The high potential returns have been accompanied by high economic risks. Aquaculture production requires substantial capital investments which, in most cases, have to be covered by loans. Being dependent on highly fluctuating world market prices and being susceptible to diseases and climate-related hazards has therefore not only increased the risk of losing one’s own capital but also of falling into increasing indebtedness. Furthermore, aquaculture production requires detailed production know-how and is highly sensitive to water pollution and diseases. Minimal know-know-how and experiences among aquaculture producers have often led to large production losses and an often larger level of indebtedness (Taylor 2007: 9).

Several of the current opportunities and challenges are related to the general institutional and structural setting. Many of the problems are linked to educational aspects. The Mekong Delta still has, despite its relatively good education infrastructure, low enrolment rates and there are still many illiterate people, especially among old people, poor people, women and Khmer (Garschagen et al.

2012; GSO 2013b). Despite a high prevalence of training classes, access to specific information is still relatively difficult and there is a mere focus on technology-oriented development. The capability of accessing new and advanced technologies are, however, still relatively low (Nguyen Duy Can et al.

2007: 91f). Moreover, there are still very few employment opportunities outside of agriculture so that most households are directly dependent on the natural resource base for gaining a living (Nguyen

26 Employment outside of the agricultural sector.

27 Employment outside of the own farm.

Duy Can et al. 2007: 91f). Knowledge and skills are also bound to agricultural activities and there are few people qualified for other non-farming activities (Hashimoto 2001). This takes on even larger importance when considering the fact that the demand for unskilled labour is likely to decrease whereas the demand for skilled labour will most probably increase in the light of current economic developments (Reddy 2011).

Another factor inhibiting sustainable development has often been related to the substantial structural inequalities, particularly between ethnic minorities and Kinh people (ethnic majority group in Vietnam). This is a problem most notably in the coastal provinces Soc Trang, Tra Vinh, Bac Lieu and Kien Giang, which have a high proportion of Khmer – the so called Khmer Krom²⁸. Several empirical studies have shown that they tend to have lower education levels, less land and productive assets, lower income, fewer chances to obtain a stable employment, and weaker bonds to local officials and public decision-making (GSO 2013b; Truong Ngoc Thuy 2012; Nguyen Quang Tuyen 2011; AusAid 2004). These inequalities were acknowledged by the Vietnamese government but prevail despite several governmental programs to support ethnic minorities (Truong Ngoc Thuy 2012). A further structural disparity was observed between rural and urban areas. A poverty rate of 14.4 % in rural areas of Vietnam contrasts with a poverty rate of 3.9 % in urban areas (GSO 2013a). In combination with increased rural underemployment, rising competition over productive land and a rapid growth of employment opportunities in large southern cities led to surging out-migration from rural to urban areas, as assessed by several authors and statistical surveys (Huynh Truong Huy 2009a; 2009b; Anh Dang et al. 1997). In 2010, all Mekong Delta provinces revealed a negative net-migration rate (average of -8.4 ‰ per year). The highest outmigration was observed in Ca Mau (-27.4 ‰ per year);

Tra Vinh had a comparatively low out-migration rate of only -4.1 ‰. Ho Chi Minh City had, in contrast, a net-migration rate of +18.3 ‰ and Binh Duong of +74.6 ‰ per year. These numbers fluctuate significantly from year to year (GSO 2013b). Environmentally induced migration also seems to play an increasing role in this regard. It was observed as a consequence of flooding (Dun 2011) and climate change-related hazards (Warner et al. 2010). Considering that it is mainly young people who move to the cities, the age structure in rural areas has changed significantly in the last years. It becomes a region where the old and the youngest stay behind; the people in their productive age move away.

Overall, the previous section has shown that rural areas in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta have undergone substantial changes in the recent past. It has been a transformation process that has been accompanied by a wide range of opportunities and challenges. An understanding of these aspects provides an essential foundation for grasping vulnerability patterns and risk-related response mechanisms in the research area. To complement this foundation, it is essential to take, as the next step, a closer look at the water-related hazards to which people are vulnerable and to which they respond.