Long-Term Improvement in Precautions for Flood Risk Mitigation: A Case Study in the Low-Lying Area of Central Vietnam

Abstract

Local actors appear as inseparable components of the integrated flood risk mitigation strategy in Vietnam. Recognizing this fact, this study examined the long-term improvement in precautions taken by commune authorities and households between two major floods in 1999 and 2017 by applying both quantitative and qualitative methods. Two flood-prone villages were selected for a survey; one in a rural area and the other in a suburban area of Thua Thien Hue Province, central Vietnam. The findings indicate that most villagers doubted the structural works’ efficacy and were dissatisfied with the current efforts of local authorities. Households’ self-preparation thus became the decisive factor in mitigating risk. While most households have paid greater attention to flood precautions in 2017, others seem to be lagging. Poverty-related barriers were the root causes restraining households in both rural and suburban villages. The suburban riverine residents were further identified as vulnerable by their limitations in upgrading structural measures, which was ascribed to the inconsistency in the ancient town’s preservation policy. This multidimensional comparison, in terms of vulnerability, emphasized the importance of space-function links in the suburb and the contradictions of different policy initiatives, such as landscape rehabilitation, disaster prevention, and livelihood maintenance.

Climate shocks and responses: Perspectives and experiences of ethnic minority farmers in rural mountainous regions of Central Vietnam

“…Because poverty is usually linked with narrow asset portfolios of small-household farmers [ 69 ], and thus investment in agriculture is considered a financial burden to them. These findings are consistent with previous works [ 4 , 5 , 8 ]. Third, as noted earlier, ethnic minorities continue to adhere to traditional agricultural practices, including burning leftover crop residue after each harvest.…”

“…Achieving this goal requires agriculture extension officials to have a deeper understanding of the local community's customs and environment, and to function as mentors or partners rather than mere trainers. Suitable approaches and programs must be developed within the officials' jurisdiction [ 8 , 24 , 67 ]. Besides, some authors (e.g.…”

“…Indeed, this topic has been seriously examined at various scales. Some scholars have examined CC at the macro-level, where policy recommendations and managerial implications have been clarified [ [1] , [2] , [3] ], while others have placed it on the micro-level with specific references to local knowledge, community livelihoods and resilience, assessment of social vulnerability and its impacts on agriculture, environment and local economy aspects [ [4] , [5] , [6] , [7] , [8] ]. Although a myriad of studies on CC are globally recorded, the recent report by United Nations Climate Change [ 9 ], emphasized that adaptation action guides require special consideration of vulnerable communities and exposed regions including ethnic minority farmers (EMFs) in developing countries, who are more vulnerable than other members of the society due to their limited economic status and capacity [ 7 , 10 , 11 ].…”

Role of Social Protection on Coping Strategies for Floods in Poor Households:A Case Study on the Impact of Program Keluarga Harapan in Labor Households in Indonesia

“…Thus, several studies have demonstrated that SP affects not only financial capital, but also social, human, and physical capital, both long-and short-term. Next, livelihood capital determines the capacity to cope with major shocks, including impacts of natural disasters [32][33][34]. Li et al [35] found that farmers in risk-prone areas in China who invested in human, social, and physical capital, rather than financial and natural capital, are more adaptive to drought because they can reap more substitutive, complementary benefits on their investments.…”

Assessing the role of socio-demographic characteristics, social support and formal disaster assistance in predicting the subjective recovery of flood survivors in Pakistan

“…Some studies indicate that formal support from the government facilitates the initial reconstruction of affected households (Gibson & Hayunga, 2006;Consoer & Milman, 2016). Recent literature, however, pointed out that government resources are nite and less effective in major oods (Chan et al, 2018;Aldrich, Oum & Sawada, 2015;Nguyen et al, 2021). In other words, households' needs can easily be overlooked due to the extent of their losses after natural hazards (Muzamil et al, 2021).…”