The relationship between this study and the CLUES project
This PhD study is based on the research sites of the project “Climate change affecting land use in the Mekong Delta: adaptation of rice-based cropping systems” (CLUES) (ACIAR 2016), a four-year project funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research. The overall aim of the project was to increase the adaptive capacity of rice production systems in the VMD, and its specific objective was to provide farmers and management agencies with technologies and knowledge that would improve food security in the VMD. The CLUES project had six themes, each with a specific objective, and was implemented from 2011 to 2015. The project was conducted in four provinces in the VMD including An Giang, Can Tho, Hau Giang, and Bac Lieu (ACIAR 2016). My thesis is built on Objective 4 (Theme 4) of CLUES, which will be discussed in detail in the next section.
57
The summary of main findings from annual reports of the CLUES project
Theme 1: The annual report of Theme 1 showed variation in the seasonal structure of crops and shrimp in different years in Bac Lieu province. In addition, it discussed how different scenarios such as the amount of sea level rise expected in 2030 and 2050, together with low or high salinity, might impact rice areas and rice-shrimp areas at different areas of Bac Lieu province (Annual report of Theme 1 in 2014).
Theme 2: The results of this study showed appropriate rice varieties that can be planted in spring–winter (December–February) in Bac Lieu province. These rice varieties include OM 4900, OM 3536, OM6162, and OM 6677. These rice varieties are able to resist acid-sulphate soils, salinity, drought, insects and diseases. Rice varieties grown in the season from summer to autumn (March–June) include OM 4900, OM 2517; OM 10041, and OM 8108 (Annual report of Theme 2 in 2014).
Theme 3: The results of research activities of Theme 3 showed that irrigation using a process of alternating wetting and drying of rice fields saved water and was more effective than traditional techniques with prolonged flooding of rice fields. In addition, the results of activities of this theme showed solutions for reducing salinity in soil before beginning rice cultivation in areas of Bac Lieu province that experiences saline water intrusion (Reports of Theme 3 in 2014).
Theme 4: Theme 4 examined livelihoods, hazards impacting on rice farming, and private responses to hazards. It also examined issues in agricultural production such as irrigation, access to credit, labour, and markets. In addition, activity 4.2 of Theme 4 investigated farmers‟ adaptive capacity and constraints associated with livelihood capital such as social, financial, human, natural, and physical capital.
Theme 5: The result of research activities in Theme 5 were maps of land use, maps of soils, maps of irrigation areas, and maps of operation and regulation of sluice systems of Bac Lieu province. These maps will contribute to future plans for Bac Lieu province in adaptation to climate change. In addition, the result of the social economic study in Theme 5 also showed community challenges in relation to cultivating rice- shrimp systems and two or three rice crops. These challenges included localised and external water pollution by poor management and poor quality of shrimp seed and rice variety supply.
58
Theme 6: The research activities of Theme 6 highlight different farming techniques that might influence production of green-house gases (GHG) such as different rice varieties, fertiliser use, and water. The results of these activities showed that cultivating three consecutive rice crops each year generated considerable quantities of methane and that this was much higher than by cultivating a rice-shrimp system. In addition, short-time cultivated rice OM 4900 generated more methane than the 1 Bụi Đỏ variety (Annual report of Theme 6 in 2014).
Generally, farming technologies to prevent saline water intrusion, drought, flood, and to promote good rice varieties should be transferred to local communities. Theme 4 had plans to cooperate with other themes to undertake training activities in relation to technical knowledge of farming. Farmer organisations in different research sites in this project might facilitate these training activities. However, the time of the project was limited, and the theme could not conduct this step in the local community. In addition, Theme 4 did not conduct research on farmer organisations in more detail in relation to their role in rice-farming activities, although these organisations might play an important role in diffusing new rice varieties or farming techniques to a local community. Finally, these activities in Theme 4 have not considered relationships between farmers in farmer organisations, and relationships between farm organisations and general farmers (i.e., non-members of farmer organisations) in communities.
This thesis was designed to add value to Theme 4 of the CLUES project because it built on information and data found by the studies of the project. In addition, it also adds value to the project by applying theories and concepts to conduct research on how farmers make decisions in relation to rice-based farming systems. The thesis also selected the same research sites at the CLUES project. Although the research sites for this thesis were built on research sites of the CLUES project, the research sites of the CLUES project also had background information and farmer organisations relevant to the research questions of this thesis.
The study sites of the research
Similar to the CLUES project, I selected three provinces in the VMD to implement the research including An Giang, Can Tho and Bac Lieu provinces (there were four provinces used in the CLUES project, but three were used in this thesis). This is because the aim of the study was to enhance our understanding of farmers‟ decision-making
59
about rice-based farming systems across the three provinces in the VMD (Figure 3.1). The research sites are located across different ecosystem zones of the VMD, where farming systems have been affected by a range of different threats such as climate variability, floods, high tidal movement, and saline intrusion, which impact on the main livelihoods of the majority of the farmers in these provinces, especially rice production and rice-shrimp farming (Tuong et al. 2003). An Giang is extensively flooded annually with high water levels, while Can Tho experiences less extensive flooding with lower water levels than An Giang (Huu 2011; Kien & James 2013). Bac Lieu, however, is located in the coastal zone, and has acid-sulphate and saline soils, as well as a diversity of water sources (Hoanh et al. 2003). Within Bac Lieu, I selected a commune with intensive rice, and another with rice-shrimp systems as the two main rice-based farming systems.
60
Figure 3.1: Research sites of the study including location of An Giang, Can Tho, and Bac Lieu in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta
In each province I selected two communes, each with different conditions, namely favourable and unfavourable conditions. According to the CLUES project (2011–2015), favourable conditions were defined as a environmental condition with good soil quality (i.e., alluvial, less acidic), moderate flood levels, and good infrastructure such as permanent dykes or sluice gates to protect rice in rice-based farming systems from floods or saline intrusion, or access to irrigation. In contrast, unfavourable conditions means a commune with slightly poorer environmental conditions consisting of more acidic soil or subject to saline intrusion, and no permanent dykes or sluice gates to secure rice and rice-shrimp farming systems.
Selecting a suitable farmer organisational unit was another criterion for selecting research sites (i.e., communes) because it relates to farmers‟ collective decision-making
61
for farming activities in rice-based farming systems. According to the current political structure of a commune in the VMD, most communes in the VMD have a wide range of mass organisations comprising farmer unions (FUs), women‟s unions (WUs), youth unions (YUs), agricultural extension clubs (AECs), agricultural cooperatives (ACs), farmer clusters, farmer clubs (FCs), and large-sized farms model (LSFs). After running FGDs with heads of farmer organisations and local authorities in 2015, I discovered that only FCs, ACs, and LSFs had collective farming activities in rice production, consisting of contract farming for seed production or commercial rice (i.e., rice for consumption), irrigating and draining water out of rice fields in the rainy season and flood season, providing training and sharing activities, supplying rice varieties, and other activities. Typically, communes were selected according to rice-based farming systems, the condition of environment, infrastructure, and farmer organisational unit.
An Giang Province: In An Giang province, the two communes selected by the CLUES project were Vinh Trach of Thoai Son district, and Ta Danh in Tri Ton district. Vinh Trach commune was viewed as a favourable commune, whereas Ta Danh commune was an unfavourable site. Vinh Trach had permanent dykes (i.e., high dykes, Figure 3.2). The high dykes were constructed to secure rice fields damaged by annual floods (August–November). The high dykes also function as roads to assist with transportation. The high dykes in Vinh Trach were constructed more than ten years ago. In contrast, the majority of the land area of Ta Danh only had small dykes (i.e., low dykes, Figure 3.3) that could not secure the third rice crop during the flood season (i.e., August–November) in the VMD. Consequently, most rice land areas in Ta Danh have been cultivated with two consecutive rice crops each year. However, since 2013 a small amount of rice land area in Ta Danh has been cultivated with three consecutive rice crops owing to the construction of permanent dykes. Although the two communes had slightly different environmental conditions, the FC model was a common farmer organisational unit, having collective decision-making about rice-based farming systems.
62
Figure 3.2: High dyke in An Giang (i.e., dyke is >3 metres high and 12 metres wide) Source: Author (2015)
Figure 3.3: Low dyke in An Giang province (i.e., dyke is <2 metres high and 3 metres wide)
63
Can Tho Province: Thoi Tan and Truong Xuan A are the two communes selected in Can Tho. The two communes are located in a moderate flood zone (i.e., smaller flood levels than in An Giang) of the VMD (Huu 2011). Annually, the combination of flood and high tide movement has impacted farmers‟ rice production in Can Tho because floods from An Giang province can cause additional inundation for the majority of rice farming fields in Can Tho (Huu 2011; CCCO 2015). Farmers and government in the two communes also constructed small dykes to secure the third rice crop.
The dykes6 (Figure 3.4) in the two communes in Can Tho are less than half the height of those in An Giang (Figure 3.2) because the flood levels in Can Tho are around half those in An Giang (Huu 2011; the data in the Can Tho case study), but farmers were able to cultivate three consecutive crops a year, which will be explored in the case study of Can Tho (Chapter 6) to understand how farmers can use low dykes to prevent low floods to cultivate three rice crops.
Figure 3.4: Low dyke in Can Tho (i.e., dyke is <2 metres high and 4 metres wide) Source: Author (2015)
In general, the two communes in Can Tho had similar ecosystem conditions and threats in relation to climate variability and access to local markets. However, Thoi Tan was considered a favourable location, whereas Truong Xuan A was unfavourable
6 Dyke systems help farmers secure rice for all farmers having land parcels inside the same field in the
64
because it is located in an area with a slightly deeper inundation level than that in Thoi Tan. In addition, farmers in Thoi Tan changed from two rice crops to three rice crops each year, three years earlier than in Truong Xuan A. Last but not least, an AC was a representative for farmer organisational units in Thoi Tan, whereas LSFs dominated farmer cooperation models in Truong Xuan A. Although ACs and LSFs are both cooperative models, they might have similarities or differences that affect collective decision-making for farming activities in rice-based farming systems.
Bac Lieu Province: In Bac Lieu, two communes located in different ecosystem zones were selected for the study. A part of Hoa Binh commune was considered a favourable area with a sluice gate controlling saline water intrusion permanently, and this area was able to extract fresh water from the Mekong River by a canal system of the Delta so that farmers were able to cultivate the three rice crops each year. In contrast, Phuoc Long was an unfavourable commune without permanent sluice gates controlling saline water, and rice-shrimp dominated rice-based farming systems of the majority of farmers in this commune. Annually, saline water appeared from February to August to allow farmers in Phuoc Long to raise shrimp, and then farmers reply by using fresh water from rain and the Mekong River to cultivate rice from September to February. Last but not least, a FC was a representative farmer organisation in Hoa Binh, while an AC was identified in Phuoc Long because they have had collective activities in relation to rice-based farming systems. Relevant background information will be discussed in more detail in the case studies of Bac Lieu (Chapter 7).