Coping Strategies of Households in Lao Cai Province in Dealing with Risks in Tea Cultivation

Abstract

Tea farming households in Lung Vai commune, Muong Khuong district have been facing different types of risks. This study aimed to analyze their current risk-coping strategies, then to propose some solutions for the future. A total of 90 farmers in 3 villages with different production scales had been interviewed using semi-constructed questionare of how they identified and measured risks based on their observations and experience. The statistical descriptions and comparisons results pointed out that most of them were very proactive and flexibly applied different strategies and measures to prevent and minimize losses. However, the differences in the strategies chosen and the level of application among the households depended largely on the household’s resource capacity as well as the awareness of the household head. To promote the sustainable development of tea production in this area, the government and relevant actors in the local tea value chain should work together in order to develop solutions to intervene and support households to improve their capacity to apply risk-coping strategies more effectively in the future.