REPORT (VIETNAM)

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Participants of the national forum conducted in Hanoi, Vietnam

Disclaimer:
The responsibility for opinions expressed in this report solely rests with the researchers involved
and this publication does not constitute an endorsement by Kyoto University or Oxfam or theorganizations or the countries cited of the opinions expressed here. IEDM does not guarantee theaccuracy of the data included in this volume and accepts no responsibility for any consequencesof their use. Terminology used may not necessarily be consistent with that of the official terms
used by various other international agencies. This publication may be used, quoted, distributed ortransmitted in any form with due acknowledgement to the source.
Contact:
International Environment and Disaster
Management (IEDM)
Graduate School of Global Environmental
Studies, Kyoto University
Yoshida Honmachi, Kyoto, Japan 6068501
Website: http://www.iedm.ges.kyoto-u.ac.jp/

Oxfam in Vietnam
16 Mai Hac De
Hanoi, Vietnam
Email: ogb-vietnam@oxfam.org.uk
Website: www.oxfam.org.uk

2

TitlePage No
LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................................... 5
LIST OF FIGURES .............................................................................................................................. 6
PREFACE .......................................................................................................................................... 7
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................................... 8
1.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.................................................................................................... 9

2.

INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................ 10

2.1. AIM AND OBJECTIVES ....................................................................................................... 10
2.1.1. AIM ................................................................................................................................... 10
2.1.2. OBJECTIVES ...................................................................................................................... 112.2. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................. 11
2.2.1. COMPONENTS ................................................................................................................... 11
2.2.2. ABOUT STUDY LOCATIONS ............................................................................................... 122.2.3. OVERVIEW OF RESPONDENTS ........................................................................................... 14
2.2.4. DATA COLLECTION PROCEDURE....................................................................................... 143.

AN OVERVIEW OF NINH THUAN PROVINCE........................................................... 17

3.1. TOPOGRAPHY ..................................................................................................................... 17
3.2. METEOROLOGY AND CLIMATE ........................................................................................ 173.3. SOCIO-ECONOMIC CONDITIONS ....................................................................................... 17
3.3.1. POPULATION ..................................................................................................................... 17
3.3.2. HEALTH SERVICES ............................................................................................................ 18
3.3.3. EDUCATION ...................................................................................................................... 18
3.4. MAIN LIVELIHOODS .......................................................................................................... 18
3.4.1. AGRICULTURE .................................................................................................................. 19
3.4.2. ANIMAL HUSBANDRY ...................................................................................................... 19
3.4.3. FORESTRY AS A SOURCE OF LIVELIHOOD ......................................................................... 20
3.4.4. FISHERIES AND AQUACULTURE ....................................................................................... 21
4.

DISASTER AND CLIMATE CHANGE VULNERABILITY......................................... 23

4.1. DISASTER VULNERABILITY ............................................................................................... 23
4.1.1. DROUGHTS ....................................................................................................................... 23
4.1.2. FLOODS............................................................................................................................. 25
4.1.3. STORMS ............................................................................................................................ 25
4.2. CLIMATE CHANGE VULNERABILITY ................................................................................ 25
5.

DISASTER AND CLIMATE CHANGE PERCEPTIONS .............................................. 28

5.1. COMMUNITIES.................................................................................................................... 28
5.1.1. DISASTERS AND THEIR TRENDS ........................................................................................ 28
5.1.2. DISASTER IMPACTS........................................................................................................... 28
3

5.1.3. VULNERABILITY TRENDS ................................................................................................. 32
5.1.4. DISASTER MANAGEMENT ................................................................................................. 33
5.1.5. CLIMATE CHANGE ............................................................................................................ 39
5.2. GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS AND MASS ORGANIZATIONS ................................................. 43
5.2.1. SHORT-TERM PROGRAMS ................................................................................................. 45
5.2.2. LONG-TERM PROGRAMS ................................................................................................... 45
6.

POLICY OPTIONS ............................................................................................................. 46

6.1.
6.2.
6.3.

IMPACTS ............................................................................................................................. 46
ROOT CAUSES .................................................................................................................... 47
POLICY OPTIONS TO REDUCE DROUGHT VULNERABILITY ............................................ 49

7.

FUTURE DIRECTIONS..................................................................................................... 55

8.

LIST OF REFERENCES .................................................................................................... 56

4

TitlePage No

Table 1: Study locations ................................................................................................................ 12
Table 2: Overview of the community respondents (Numbers are in percentages)........................ 14
Table 3: Profile of respondents representing government and mass organizations in Coastal andMountainous study regions............................................................................................................ 14
Table 4: Health service infrastructure in Ninh Thuan province .................................................... 18
Table 5: The development of education facilities in Ninh Thuan province .................................. 18
Table 6: Impact of past droughts on different sectors ................................................................... 23
Table 7: Area (ha) under irrigation reservoirs in Ninh Thuan province........................................ 23
Table 8: Area (ha) under 76 small dams in Ninh Thuan province ................................................ 24
Table 9: Piped water supply for city and rural areas ..................................................................... 24
Table 10: Impacts of Flood on Ninh Thuan Province ................................................................... 25
Table 11: Climate change simulations for Vietnam ...................................................................... 27
Table 12: Ranking of disasters at study locations (Percentage of respondents)............................ 28
Table 13: Disaster trend in the past 30 years................................................................................. 28
Table 14: Impacts of the most prevalent primary disaster on the households............................... 29
Table 15: Top five ranked impacts of drought on the households (Gender disaggregated data) .. 29
Table 16: Does drought has differential impacts on different genders?........................................ 31
Table 17: Vulnerability of different sections of society to drought impacts (gender disaggregateddata) ............................................................................................................................................... 32
Table 18: Is your vulnerability changing over the years? ............................................................. 33
Table 19: Responses of local, provincial and central governments to drought (% of responses) . 37
Table 20: Drought mitigation programs being implemented at study locations by NGOs andgovernments .................................................................................................................................. 38
Table 21: Climate change trends observed by communities (% of responses) ............................. 40
Table 22: Gender disaggregated responses on awareness of climate change impacts .................. 40
Table 23: Autonomous adaptation strategies identified by communities (% of responses).......... 41
Table 24: Planned adaptation actions identified at study locations (% of responses) ................... 42
Table 25: Gender disaggregated responses on activities to reduce the vulnerability to climatic
events (top ranked options by respondents) .................................................................................. 43
Table 26: Vulnerability ranking of various sectors to climate change .......................................... 44
Table 27: Ranked impacts of recurring droughts in Ninh Thuan province ................................... 46
Table 28: Root causes identified for the most important ranked impacts ..................................... 48
Table 29: Drought risk reduction action identification matrix ...................................................... 50
Table 30: The responsibility of different bodies in drought management boards ......................... 53
5

TitlePage No

Figure 1: Components of the research methodology..................................................................... 11
Figure 2: (a) Map showing the location of study villages in Ninh Thuan Province, (b) Map
showing the location of hydro-met stations from where the climatic data was obtained.............. 13
Figure 3: Training field volunteers in implementing the survey ................................................... 15
Figure 4: Finding root-causes of drought in a focused group discussion ...................................... 15
Figure 5: Interviewing a member of Peoples Committee of a commune ...................................... 16
Figure 6: Maize cultivation provides an assured income to the rural population in this part ofVietnam ......................................................................................................................................... 18
Figure 7: The area (ha) and production (tons) of maize in Ninh Thuan province since 1992....... 19
Figure 8: The change in number of domestic animals in Ninh Thuan province since 1992 ......... 20
Figure 9: The percent of area under forests in Ninh Thuan province during recent years ............ 21
Figure 10: The coastal fisheries have mushroomed in the drought prone province putting morestress on already scarce water resources........................................................................................ 21
Figure 11: The change in area (ha) and yield (tons) of shrimp over the years .............................. 22
Figure 12: Annual total rainfall (A) and mean deviation of annual total rainfall (B) recorded atPhan Rang station in Ninh Thuan province................................................................................... 25
Figure 13: Mean annual maximum (A) and minimum temperatures (B) recorded at Phan Thiet in
Binh Thuan province ..................................................................................................................... 26
Figure 14: Recurring crop failures due to severe droughts is a cause for concern........................ 29
Figure 15: Interviewing female respondents: exploring the gender differentiated impacts .......... 31
Figure 16: Illegal cutting of forests is a main cause for concern................................................... 33
Figure 17: Early warning systems are well developed for the flood warning but not for the
drought warning ............................................................................................................................ 35
Figure 18: Water storage jars supplied by UNICEF in Phuoc Thanh commune........................... 36
Figure 19: Indigenous cattle breed needs to be replaced with the improved ones for better income
security and drought resistance ..................................................................................................... 39
Figure 20: Digging wells has been a prominent drought adaptation option by many intervening
agencies while ignoring the groundwater recharge on the other hand .......................................... 43
Figure 21: An example impact tree diagram for agriculture ......................................................... 47
Figure 22: An example impact tree diagram for animal husbandry .............................................. 48

6

The Mekong River plays an important role in the wellbeing of China, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar,
Thailand and Vietnam as it is the major river supporting agriculture and many other economic
activities in the region. It also brings regular floods to the region which, although sometimes
damaging, are an integral part of the lives of many in the Mekong River basin. However, during
recent times, one can see reports of the Mekong River basin increasingly becoming vulnerable todroughts. A notable example is the drought of 2004, which began a couple of years earlier andhad grown into serious proportions in the year 2004. Dealing with drought requires a different
strategy than that of dealing with the floods and typhoons that have been known in the Mekong
region for years. The local communities, governments and NGOs are aware about how to deal
with these age-old problems. However, being a slow onset disaster with crippling impacts,
drought needs to be looked from a different perspective. This perspective is difficult to get in aregion that has less experience of drought, and less local knowledge on how to deal with it. This
could have catastrophic effects unless efforts are made to know and understand what droughtmeans to this flood prone region.
This study, the collaboration between Oxfam in Vietnam, International Environment and Disaster
Management (IEDM) laboratory of Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies (GSGES),
Kyoto University, Japan and Peoples Committee of Ninh Thuan goes into some aspects of therecent droughts in the Mekong region and tries to find out what could be the reasons behind themand how best they could be mitigated. The study has come out with valuable observations onwhat communities perceive of drought, climate change and on how the local governments andNGOs could manage climatic disasters, particularly drought. It identifies that the drought impacts
are in real sense a reflection of developmental problems and provides policy options that could be
implemented by communities, governments and NGOs.
In this report, Chapter 1 forms the executive summary and Chapter 2 introduces the backgroundof the work, objectives and aims. Chapter 2 also provides information on methodology, concepts
adopted and an overview of study locations. We provided the overview of Ninh Thuan province
in Chapter 3, giving the developmental context of the province. The fourth chapter on Disasterand Climate Change Vulnerability discusses the present status of various disasters and future
projections of climate change. This chapter also makes interesting and contrasting observations
on the climatic data between what communities perceived and what is presented. The actual
results of the study are discussed in detail in Chapter 5. The policy options for dealing withdrought risks are then presented in Chapter 6. This chapter also includes the recommendations of
the National Forum on Community Based Adaptation to Drought in the Context of Climate
Change. Chapter 7 gives a brief note on future directions for all those interested in drought risk
mitigation based on this work.
Readers whose time is limited are suggested to read the preface, executive summary andintroduction and then turn to chapters 6 and 7. Summary checklist tables of drought impacts androot causes can be found in tables 27, 28 and 29 and other charts in these chapters outline thesubsequent suggestions and recommendations.
While this is an ongoing pilot work, we hope that it helps improve widespread understanding of
the problem and help initiate developmental programs by bringing various stakeholders together.
Any feedback is highly appreciated.
Research TeamIEDM/GSGES/Kyoto University
Prof Rajib Shaw, Associate Professor
Dr SVRK Prabhakar, Postdoctoral Fellow
Mr. Huy Nguyen, Research Student

Oxfam in Vietnam
Mr. Steve Price- ThomasCountry Programme Manger, Oxfam GB

7

Few recognize the time, energy, manpower and financial resources required to organize a work ofthis kind. The uniqueness of this work has been the collaboration between the development andeducation oriented organizations. The list of persons who contributed to this project seems
endless, certainly too long to mention here without fear of some omission. This work could nothave been accomplished without immense support from the commune, regional, and national
level stakeholders. We would like to thank People’s Committee of Ninh Thuan province without
whose cooperation this project would have been impossible. The support of the Peoples’
Committee of Bac Ai district, Peoples’ Committee of Ninh Phuoc district, Peoples’ Committee ofPhuoc Thanh commune, and Peoples’ Committee of An Hai commune is highly appreciated.
Consultation with the other non-governmental organizations was also an important aspect of thiswork. We acknowledge the contributions of the Netherlands Red Cross and World Vision
throughout the consultation process and in enriching the discussions during the final forum
conducted in Ha Noi. We acknowledge the leadership provided by Dr Nguyen Dinh Ninh of
Water Resource Department, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. We also
acknowledge inputs given by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Department ofPlanning and Investment, Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, and Department of
Natural Resources and Environment at the national level. We thank the Phan Rang Centre of
Hydrological and Meteorological and the Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology for providing
necessary climatic data for this report.
We would like to acknowledge the postdoctoral fellowship provided by the Japanese Society for
Promotion of Science (JSPS) to Dr SVRK Prabhakar, doctoral fellowship provided by the
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) to Mr Huy Nguyen,
additional funds from GSGES Vietnam Project and MEXT/JSPS research grants that made thisresearch work a possibility. We also acknowledge the logistic and financial support provided by
Oxfam in Vietnam.
We profusely thank Ms Linh Nguyen, Oxfam Consultant in Vietnam for supporting us in
conducting the field surveys. We would be failing if we don’t acknowledge the immense support
received from the volunteers we recruited during the field surveys. Thanks also due to all thosecommunity members and government officers who participated in our questionnaire surveys andfocus group discussions. We also appreciate the many forum participants who shared their ideas
and experiences with the hope of stimulating progress in this very important aspect ofdevelopment. Our acknowledgements will not be complete if we don’t mention the tremendous
support received from Mr John Magrath, Oxfam GB Programme Researcher and Climate Change
Advisor in meticulous review and enriching comments on the concept note and the final report
before it is shared with the wider audience. Last but not the least, our gratitude to Dr Saleem Ul
Huq, IIED; Steve Price-Thomas, Oxfam Country Programme Manager; Peter Choudhry, Oxfam
GB Researcher; and Floor Grootenhuis, Emergency Food Security and Livelihood Advisor,
Oxfam East Asia, and Nguyen Thi Yen of Oxfam HK for their comments at various stages ofdeveloping the concept.
Research TeamIEDM/GSGES/Kyoto University

Oxfam in Vietnam

Prof Rajib Shaw, Associate Professor
Dr SVRK Prabhakar, Postdoctoral Fellow
Mr. Huy Nguyen, Research Student

Mr. Provash Mondal, Humanitarian
Programme CoordinatorDuring recent years, drought has become a common sight in most of the areas in the MekongRiver Delta of the Mekong region including 9 provinces in the Southern Central and Central
Highland regions in Vietnam. The Department of Water Resources, Ministry of Agriculture andRural Development (MARD) has estimated nearly 1-1.3 million people as drought affected inthese provinces, representing 13-17% of the total population, and hence are in need of assistance.
Ninh Thuan province is the most affected among these provinces.
This project is part of the collaboration between International Environment and Disaster
Management (IEDM) laboratory of the Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies, Kyoto
University, Japan, Peoples Committee of Ninh Thuan, Vietnam and Oxfam in Vietnam. The
current research focuses on the impacts of recurring droughts on the livelihoods of the ruralcommunities in the drought-prone areas of Ninh Thuan province. The study also puts emphasis
on finding the perceptions of local communities and government functionaries as to how far the
drought related vulnerabilities could be traced to climate change at the global level.
We assessed the drought vulnerability of the rural communities in the most drought prone areas inNinh Thuan province by identifying drought impacts on different livelihood sectors such as
agriculture, animal husbandry, and fisheries. The impacts were ranked and root causes wereidentified based on which appropriate policy interventions are drawn. Due emphasis was given on
the gender-disaggregated impacts and adaptation measures, wherever possible. At the end, a note
has been provided on the future directions for various potential stakeholders in order to takeforward the findings of the study.
The study revealed that the rainfall in Ninh Thuan province has actually been increasing over thetime. However, there are indications of increasing inter-annual variability of rainfall as depictedby the increasing deviation from the long-term mean. This could be the main reason for theincreasing incidence of drought rather than due to any decline in long-term rainfall. Anotherreason for increasing drought conditions is increasing demand for water. The province has
witnessed a steady growth in the area under wet paddy cultivation, under maize and otherperennial crops which need substantial water when compared with the dry rice grown during
earlier years. The heavy reliance on groundwater has significantly led to saline water intrusion.
The proliferation of aquaculture in many areas of Ninh Thuan province has further contributed tothe drought problem.
Communities were well aware about climate changes happening around them, notably higher
temperatures and erratic rainfall. They attributed the drought not only to decline in forest cover,which is corroborated by the declining forest cover in the province, but also to the badenvironmental management practices elsewhere. Communities were of the opinion that theprovision of better financial facilities and facilities which would help diversify their livelihoods
would substantially reduce their vulnerability to climate related extremes. Discussions withgovernment and non-governmental officials have corroborated these findings.
Policy options identified in participation with communities consist of better water use
management strategies, both at the field as well as the basin/command level, and introduction of
better crop management practices including enhanced irrigation efficiency and introduction ofdrought resistant crop varieties that use less water while not compromising the yield. The
National Forum has recommended establishing dedicated Drought Management Boards at
commune level on lines of the flood management boards, which have been successful. Suchboards will not only enhance the response and relief operations but would also help identify andimplement appropriate drought mitigation programs by understanding the local vulnerabilities.

9

Climate change has brought new risks for humanity. It is important to understand the nature ofthese risks, where natural and human systems are most vulnerable, and what may be achieved byadaptive responses1. Adaptation to climate change has the potential to substantially reduce manyof the adverse impacts of climate change through enhancing the capacity of governments andcommunities to withstand the climate change impacts. While climate change adaptation has been
discussed over several years past, including organizational response, little attention has been
focused on community level adaptation, and integrating community adaptation methods at thepolicy level.
Since some of the worst sufferers of climate change are rural communities, whose livelihoods are
dependant on agriculture, it is important to focus on the impacts of climate change on theirlivelihoods and re-establish the links among poverty, defined as stable purchasing power tomaintain decent living, livelihood and environment. However, focusing on communities is notenough; so long as the community initiatives do not become part of the government policies it isdifficult to sustain their efforts, which means that the emphasis should be from both ends. Perhaps
the most important prerequisite for creating sustainable livelihoods and for achieving sustainable
development is good and accessible government2. Thus, the link between local, state, and national
governments to the community is of utmost importance.
The research focuses on Ninh Thuan province. Rated the 59th poorest province of Vietnam, Ninh
Thuan is one of the nine provinces that are most affected by drought. Drought is not a newphenomenon in Ninh Thuan; it has been a regular occurrence down the ages. But droughts are
increasing - in number, duration and intensity during recent years. The province was severely
affected by the major drought in August 2004 with reduction in rainfall by 50% of the normal.
The drought has continued in 2005 and 2006 with poor rainfall during the first two cropping
seasons. Prolonged dry days have caused significant damage to agriculture and changed thesalinity of groundwater thus damaging aquaculture. The increasing drought events in Ninh Thuanprovince are a major concern for both the governments and local communities. A systematic
study is needed to relate these changes with climate change and to understand what kind of
preparedness mechanisms may be put in place to reduce the impacts of droughts. This research isa contribution to that process.

2.1. Aim and Objectives
2.1.1. Aim
The aim of this study is to understand the factor of climate vulnerability and to improve theresilience mechanisms through community based risk reduction planning in some of the mostclimate risk prone areas in Ninh Thuan province. This study is regarded as a pilot initiative tounderstand various issues related to climate change so that the focus areas of intervention in the
climate risk prone areas can be identified and implemented.

Climate Change 2001: Impacts, Adaptation and vulnerability: Contribution of Working group II to theThird Assessment Report of the International Panel on Climate Change
Sustainable Livelihoods: Kristin Helmore and Naresh Singh, 2001

10

2.1.2. Objectives
The specific objectives to achieve the above aim are:
1. To assess the climate vulnerability of rural communities in the most drought prone areas ofNinh Thuan province, Vietnam. As a part of this activity, perception surveys were conducted
to reveal the limitations posed by the perceptions of communities on the efficacy of activities
being taken up by various intervening agencies.
2. To identify possible adaptation measures to mitigate the impacts of ever increasing climate
variability and change, in terms of droughts, on rural communities with an emphasis on
identification of gender-disaggregated impacts and adaptation measures. This objective is met
through systematic use of ‘How to reduce drought risk’ tool developed by the Preparedness
and Mitigation Working group of the Western Drought Coordination Council, USA.

2.2. Research Methodology
The project used a mix of vulnerability assessment methodologies due to the interdisciplinary
nature of the problem. Much of the methodology has been drawn from ‘How to Reduce Drought
Risk’ of Western Drought Coordination Council3, because it is a simple step-by-step process forusers (Communities, local, provincial and national governments; NGOs and other institutions) to
identify actions to reduce the impacts, and a combination of participatory rural appraisal
techniques were used in the study.

2.2.1. Components
The Figure 1 depicts the components of the methodology. The methodology is based on the past
impacts of the drought for the very reason that the impacts reflect well the local vulnerabilities ofcommunities, institutions and governance mechanism.
Analysis of Past Impacts
Identification of major sectors
affected, Impact
characterization, and ranking of
impacts

Finding out root-causesof vulnerability• Climate change projections• National developmental
strategies, roadmaps andscenarios

Action identification
To do list
(Policy advocacy)• Past impact assessment
reports• Q surveys• Stakeholder consultations• Climate change impact
studies• Met data analysis• Sectoral data analysis• Stakeholder consultations• Q surveys

Stakeholder
consultations

Figure 1: Components of the research methodology

Impact assessment
With impacts as starting point, the study further investigates into finding root causes for the
impacts which could be institutional and sectoral inefficiencies, community vulnerability factors
and those of climate. In areas where past impact assessments could not be obtained or sufficient3

Knutson, C., Hayes, M and Phillips, T. 1998. How to reduce drought risk. Western Drought Coordination
Council, National Drought Mitigation Center, Nebraska, USA.

11

information is not available, the information from the questionnaire surveys and group
discussions were supplemented to the process. Due emphasis was given for the gender related
issues.

Impact characterization
Based on the impact assessment, those sectors which are impacted by the past droughts wereidentified and ranked in the order of importance. The ranking was based on the extent of impact asector received and its relative importance in the general well-being of communities in the region.
Impacts were ranked based on their relative degree of importance in consultation with thestakeholders. Efforts were also made to identify if certain kinds of impacts are becoming more ofa problem than others.

Finding root causes
The differential impacts or impacts per se are due to the root causes of vulnerability. The root
causes could be lack of irrigation facilities, cultivation of susceptible crops and mismanaged
cropping systems, dykes to stop floods and lack of coastal belt plantations etc. In order to find theroot causes, discussions were made with communities, institutions and governments. Problem
trees or impact trees were constructed based on the discussions and the root causes or underlying
factors were identified.

Action identification
Appropriate actions were identified based on the above analysis. This was done throughdeveloping a matrix which lists the impacts and root causes of the impacts (vulnerabilities).
Action identification also considered the possible mitigation of climate change impacts. The
actions were classified as mitigation, response, and preparedness actions based on how they fit in
the risk management cycle.

Policy advocacy
While this study stops at the stage of action identification, the policy advocacy or preparation of ato-do list is a stage when all the stakeholders should sit together and discuss about the outcomesof the above analysis. We suggest that the stakeholders sit together and prioritize the actions to betaken based on the resources available. This part has been dealt briefly in the section on ‘Future
Directions’.

2.2.2. About study locations
Four villages in two communes, from 2 different districts, were identified in Ninh Thuan province.
The Table 1 and Figure 2 provide information on study locations.
Country
Vietnam

Province
Ninh Thuan

Table 1: Study locations

Districts
Ninh Phuoc

Communes
An Hai

Bac Ai

Phuoc Thanh

Hamlet• Long Binh
• Hoa Thanh-Nam
Cuong• Da Ba Cai• Ma Ro

12

2A

2B

Figure 2: (a) Map showing the location of study villages in Ninh Thuan Province, (b) Map showing
the location of hydro-met stations from where the climatic data was obtained

An overview of Phuoc Thanh commune
Located on the North-West of Ninh Thuan province, Phuoc Thanh is one of the mountainous
communes with 10,086 ha area. It has a forest cover of 7,667 ha and agricultural area of 9,117 ha.
The commune has a population of 2,649 living in 527 households and 5 hamlets. There are 2547
(96.2%) Reglays (ethnic communities) and 102 (3.89%) Kinh communities. The main livelihoodof the people is agriculture. They grow rice, maize, cassava and cashew. Their secondary
livelihood is animal husbandry and they grow cattle and goats. Communities do not have mucharea under forests and hence are planting and protecting the State’s forest in various programs.
Due to poor conditions and shifting cultivation, the State’s forests are usually affected bynegative impacts of human activities. Most households are poor and food scarcity is common.
According to the data of People’s Committee of Phuoc Thanh commune, there were 193 (36.6%)
poor households in 2005.

An overview of An Hai commune
An Hai is one of the coastal communes located on the East of Ninh Thuan province. The
commune has 1,057 ha under agriculture, 4,239 ha under forestry, 4,833 ha under dwelling andthe rest of the area is under aquaculture and other uses.
Total population of An Hai commune is 12,890 living in 2,596 households in 6 hamlets in 2005.
The main livelihood of communities is agriculture with main crops of rice, grape and shortduration vegetables such as tomato, carrot, chilli and potato. Animal husbandry is one of thestrengths of An Hai commune as they rear cattle, sheep and goats. Located along the 1A highway
and near by Phan Rang – Thap Cham town, the An Hai commune has developed small scaletrading. Aquaculture has been very much developed in the past 5 years in this commune.
Nowadays, due to diseases and water pollution, the area under aquaculture has been decreasing.
According to the data of People’s Committee of An Hai commune, there were 521 (20.7%) poor
households in 2005.

13

2.2.3. Overview of respondents
Community respondents
The Table 2 provides an overview of respondents. It can be discerned that majority of
respondents are farmers, irrespective of the study location. However, a small difference could beobserved between coastal region and mountainous region with major proportion of the later
owning the land than the earlier. The majority of respondents are young (67.5 %) with a sex ratio
little more than 1.7 males/female.
Table 2: Overview of the community respondents (Numbers are in percentages)

S No
1

2

Parameter
Occupation

a
b
c
d

3

Coastal Region
Hoa ThanhLong Binh
Nam Cuong

Farmers
Landless laborers
Artisans
Traders
GenderMale
FemaleAge group
Young (20-50)
Old (>50 years)

Mountainous Region

Da Ba Cai

Ma Ro

83.3
6.7
6.7
3.3

65.4
19.2
7.7
7.7

92.0
4.0
4.0

100.0
0.0
0.0

65.0
35.0

57.7
42.3

68.0
32.0

59.3
40.7

73.3
26.7

65.4
30.8

72.0
28.0

59.3
40.7

Government and mass organizations
The profile of respondents is given in Table 3. A total of 20 officials of government and massorganizations were interviewed by using structured questionnaires and personal interviews.
Table 3: Profile of respondents representing government and mass organizations in Coastal andMountainous study regions

S No
1Administrative
boundary
Commune2

District3

VillageAffiliations/Departments

•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

Young association
People’s Committee
Women Association
Farmer association
People’s Committee
Department of Economics and Agriculture
Department of Animal Husbandry
Department of Natural resources andEnvironment
Department of Statistics
Village Leaders

9

Number of
respondents

65

2.2.4. Data collection procedure
Various participatory rural appraisal techniques including structured questionnaire surveys,
meetings, focused group discussions and transect walks to familiarize with the local conditions
were used in the study. Iinterviews and group discussions were conducted with the elected
commune leader/s, commune, district and provincial level authorities, officers of the Departmentof Meteorology, Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Department of Animal

14

Husbandry, Department of Water Resources and 2 leading NGOs active at study locations(ACTION AID and Red Cross).
At the Provincial Level, individuals were interviewed and secondary data was collected from therepresentatives of Provincial People’s Committee, the Planning and Investment Department, theDepartment of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Department of Natural Resources andEnvironment, and the Center of Meteorology and Hydrology.
At the District Level, individuals were interviewed and secondary data was collected from therepresentatives of District People’s Committees, the Department of Economics and Agriculture,
the Women’s Union and the Action Aid (NGO).

Figure 3: Training field volunteers in implementing the survey

At the Commune Level, individual interviews were conducted and secondary data was collectedfrom the representatives of Commune People’s Committees, the Youth Union, the Farmers’
Associations and the Women’s Union.
At the Village Level, interviews were conducted with the village heads, Managing Board
members of the village, and households. Livelihood sector ranking exercises were carried out.

Figure 4: Finding root-causes of drought in a focused group discussion

15

Field volunteers were recruited to implement the questionnaire surveys. The volunteers were
given a day-long orientation on the subject of the study and were trained on how to implement thequestionnaire survey.

Workshops, forums and stakeholder consultations
To obtain information on drought impacts, difficulties faced while managing droughts, andinnovative solutions to overcome the problems, two workshops and one national forum wereorganised. Two workshops were organised with the participation of Department of Irrigation(MARD), Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (MoNRE), Oxfam GB, Red Cross andWorld Vision in Hanoi, Vietnam, The National Forum was organised by Oxfam GB, Red Cross
and MARD with the participation of 80 persons from 8 provinces and different organizations.
Consultation with Oxfam’s Humanitarian and Livelihood Programme staff helped in fine-tuning
the work especially in the areas of gender, impact assessment and drawing policy suggestions.

Figure 5: Interviewing a member of Peoples Committee of a commune

Ninh Thuan is located in the farthest South of the Central Vietnam with coordinates of 11o18’14”
to 12o09’15” North latitude and from 108o09’08” to 109o14’25” East longitude bordering Khanh
Hoa at the North, Binh Thuan at the South, Lam Dong at the West and East Sea at the East. The
province has a total area of 3,358 km2 with 105 km of coastline. The geography is characterizedby plain, mountain (with ranges surrounding the province) and coastal areas. The diversified
terrain slopes to the east, towards the sea. The capital, Phan Rang, is at the centre of the province.
There are five districts: Thuan Bac, Ninh Hai, Ninh Phuoc (coastal plain districts) and Ninh Son,
Bac Ai (mountainous districts).

3.1. Topography
The province is surrounded by the mountains on the 3 sides. The topography slopes from theWest to the East and Northwest to the Southeast. The high mountain areas occupy 60% of thetotal geographical area. There are 8 mountains with the height more than 1000 m; 6 mountains in
Bac Ai and 2 mountains in Ninh Hai districts.

3.2. Meteorology and Climate
Ninh Thuan is one of the most drought-ridden and hottest areas in the country. The Truong Son
mountain range is situated such that it obstructs the wind throughout the year. The province has
the lowest average rainfall in the country. Some storms and floods occur in October andNovember. The terrain is an enabling factor for storms to become highly damaging characterized by heavy rains and floods and with harmful impacts on crop production andlivelihoods.
Ninh Thuan province is the hottest province of Vietnam with the average temperature of about 27
O
C. The highest temperature recorded was 40.5 0C at Nha Ho station in 1937. The lowest
temperature recorded was 14 0C at Nha Ho station in 1964 and 14.4 0C at Phan Rang station in
1931. There are two seasons: the rainy season that starts from July to November and the dry
season that starts from December to June. Normally, the amount of rainfall received is different
between the mountainous and the costal regions. The annual rainfall in the coastal town of Phan
Rang – Thap Cham is 712 mm, 1,071 mm in Tan My and 1,659 mm in Song Pha. The rainfall canreach 2,200 mm/year in the upstream. The rainy season is strong during the three months of
September to December.

3.3. Socio-economic Conditions
3.3.1. Population
Ninh Thuan is one of the provinces in Vietnam which has a population density (167 persons/km2)
lower than the national average (252 persons/km2). It recorded a population of 564,403, with
279,097 (49.5%) males and 285,306 (50.5%) females, in 2005. The fertility rate has been
decreasing from 38.3 % in 1992 to 20.6% in 2005; though the population continued to increase.
The mortality rate decreased during 1992-2004 and increased again in 2005. The population
growth has put additional demand on the environment and natural resources.
There are 28 ethnic groups in Ninh Thuan province. Majority of the population in Ninh Thuan isrepresented by Kinh, Cham and Reglay communities. According to the census data of 1999, there

17

were 57,100 (11.3%) and 47,600 (9.4%) Cham and Reglay communities distributed in costal andmountainous regions respectively.

3.3.2. Health services
There has been reasonable development of health services in the province, recently. The numberof beds and medical staff have been increasing though are still not enough (feedback from thelocal communities).
Table 4: Health service infrastructure in Ninh Thuan province

Number of health establishments
Hospitals, clinics, sanatoriums etc
Number of sick-beds
Total health staff

2001
76
1,085
1,289

2002
78
1,154
1,337

2003
73
1,145
1,324

2004
72
1,165
1,289

2005
74
1,294
1,299

3.3.3. Education
The education facilities in the Ninh Thuan province have also shown rapid development, alongwith the population growth.
Table 5: The development of education facilities in Ninh Thuan province

NumberSchoolClasses
Teachers
Students

2001
168
3,604
4,567
122,834

2002
175
3,754
4,750
126,444

2003
181
3,837
4,999
126,696

2004
194
3,871
5,139
128,607

2005
198
3,877
5,231
126,138

3.4. Main Livelihoods

Figure 6: Maize cultivation provides an assured income to the rural population in this part of Vietnam

Accounting for 50% of the province’s GDP, agriculture employs over 70% of the labor force.
Main agricultural crops grown are rice, maize and peas. Recently, in the coastal areas, theaquaculture industry (shrimp farming) has emerged with some remarkable initial benefits.
Rearing of drought resistant sheep breeds and growing grapes are on the rise during recent times.

18

There has also been expansion in maize cultivation because of its versatility and low waterrequirements when compared with the crops such as wetland rice.

3.4.1. Agriculture
Main crops of Ninh Thuan province are rice, maize, peas, grapes and short-day crops such as
tomato, carrot, and potato. The agriculture sector plays a very importance role in the economic
development, food supply and livelihoods of most of the population of Ninh Thuan province.
There has been a change in the area under paddy due to growing population, economic
development and increasing demand for food. The area under paddy cultivation had increased
from 28,713 ha in 1992 to 33,852 ha in 2004. In 2005, due to drought, the area under paddy
cultivation was reduced by 50%. Along with paddy, maize is a very important crop for the peopleof Ninh Thuan in general and Reglay communities, who live in mountainous areas, in particular.
Maize is the secondary food source for the people here. Due to recent droughts, some of the
paddy area has been converted into maize cultivation (Figure 7). As a result, the production ofmaize has grown several multiples since 1990s.

Area (Ha) Production (tons)

40000

Area (Ha)Yield (ton)

35000
30000
25000
20000
15000
10000
5000

19
92
19
95
19
96
19
97
19
98
19
99
20
00
20
01
20
02
20
03
20
04
20
05

0

Year
Figure 7: The area (ha) and production (tons) of maize in Ninh Thuan province since 1992

3.4.2. Animal Husbandry
Farmers in Ninh Thuan province raise mixed flocks of goat and sheep. They keep large herds on
small farms at a low cost by integrating their production with neighbouring farms. The animals
are fed on cut-and-carry basis during the wet (cropping) season. Most farmers grow Napier grassfor cutting or some other type of improved pastures. They also grow tree legumes such as
Gliricidia, which provide forage and add nutrients to the soil.

19Buffaloes
Pigs

120000Cattles
Goats&sheeps)

Number

100000
80000
60000
40000
20000

05

20

04

03

20

20

02

01

20

20

00

99

20

19

98

19

97

19

96

19

95

19

19

92

0

Year
Figure 8: The change in number of domestic animals in Ninh Thuan province since 1992

The animals graze on fallow land of neighbouring farms as farmers are happy to let them graze intheir fields during the dry season. The herds help keep down weeds and fertilize the soil with the
droppings. Some farmers sell the manure to fruit and vegetable farms in the upland areas. The
Sultan breed of sheep from India, which is tolerant to high temperatures, is the most preferred
breed in the province. They are bred for their meat and not for their wool and hence do not needshearing. Most farmers keep mixed herds of sheep and goats. There is a good market demand forboth sheep and goat meat, which sell at the same price. Cattle are also one of the priority animals
and contribute to the livelihoods of communities.
Poultry is also an important livelihood activity for communities. Almost all the households keep
poultry birds as it provides a regular source of proteins and income. However, recently, thenumber of poultry has been decreasing due to bird flu.

3.4.3. Forestry as a source of livelihood
Ninh Thuan province had a forest area of 147,536 ha in 2005 comprising of 139,657 ha of naturalforest area, 7,879 ha of planted forest, 768,634 ha of bald hill and 111,606 ha under others. There
had been some changes in the forest area during recent years. Though the forest cover seemedhigh (43.9% in 2005), the forest density had decreased due to excessive illegal deforestation andsevere drought induced forest fires.

20

% of total geographical area

48
47
46
45
44
43
42
2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

Year

Figure 9: The percent of area under forests in Ninh Thuan province during recent years

3.4.4. Fisheries and Aquaculture
Ninh Thuan has a coastline of 105 km covering 18,000 sq km including the three seaports ofDong Hai, Ca Na, and Khanh Hai. Ninh Thuan territorial waters are one of the four biggest
fishing grounds supplying significant seafood to the country. The province also has lot of
potential for developing tourism and fishing industry. The sea near Ninh Thuan has over 500
kinds of fishes and shrimps including read snapper, grouper, mackerel, tuna, prawn, and squids.
The total fish and shrimp reserves amount to 120,000 tons.
“We got good income
from shrimp cultivation
during 2000-2003. Since
2004, we suffered losses
due to lack of enoughfresh water for
managing the shrimp
ponds. We are in severe
debt to the bank.”

Nguyen Van Thinh,
Villager of Hoa ThanhhamletFigure 10: The coastal fisheries have mushroomed in the drought prone province putting morestress on already scarce water resources

The area under aquaculture reached 1,591 ha in 2004 due to the expansion of lagoons, bays, andbig sandbars which are convenient for making salt. Big scale aquaculture is concentrated in Nai

21

lagoon, Ca Na, Vinh Hy etc. The area had decreased in 2005 due to droughts, diseases anddeclining profits. Pollution of water has also contributed to the decline in the area.
4500

Area (ha)Yield (ton)

4000
3500

Number

3000
2500
2000
1500
1000
500
0
1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
Year

Figure 11: The change in area (ha) and yield (tons) of shrimp over the years

22

! !

"#

"

$ % #

&#

4.1. Disaster Vulnerability
4.1.1. Droughts
The fluctuations in the time and duration of occurrence of rains
are the reasons for prolonged droughts affecting socio-economic
conditions in Ninh Thuan province. The Table 6 shows the impactof recurring droughts on various sectors. The Table shows that the
drought which started in 2002 had persisted till the end of 2004
making 2004 as the most severe drought year. The 2004 drought
was considered to be a historical drought with severe impact on
the socio-economic conditions in the province. During this year,
the irrigated area was reduced by 5,000 ha. This phenomenon was
unknown to the governments and communities and caught themunawares. Lack of preparedness and lack of local knowledge indealing with the persistent droughts has even exacerbated thesituation.

“The Central
Government had built
Song Sat dam andreservoir to provide
water for 4 communes
in Bac Ai district but
we don’t have enoughcapacity to build thesecondary canals tobring water from thereservoir.”The part of the drought vulnerability of Ninh Thuan province
Nguyen Van Tuan, Vice
could be attributed to lack of adequate surface and subsurface
Chairman of People’s
water resources and declining irrigation capacity of the irrigation
Committee of Bac Ai
infrastructure facilities. Analysis of the available irrigation
district.
facilities reveals this fact. The total designed irrigation capacity of 6 irrigation reservoirs and 76
small dams in the province is 25,229 ha. However, they could only irrigate 16,573 ha (66%) asindicated in the Table 7 and 8.
Table 6: Impact of past droughts on different sectors

Sectors

Unit

1. Areas of Agriculture land effected by drought

Ha

4,400

2,909

5,185

Ha
Ha

750
3,650

607
2,302

1,241
3,944

Ha
Ha
Person

730
600
138,823NA
500
45,0001,200
NA150,000

26,886150,000
138

72,40570,00030

184,115230,000
140

Paddy
Other Crops
2. Loss of planted forest
3. Areas of aquaculture effected by drought
4. Number of people needing water
5. Number of people needing food6. Number of livestock needing water
7. Economic damage

Name ofreservoirs
1. Tan Giang
2. Thanh Son
3. Suoi Lon

heads
Billions
VND

2002

2003

2004

Table 7: Area (ha) under irrigation reservoirs in Ninh Thuan province

Location

Ninh Phuoc
Phan Rang
Ninh Phuoc

Areas (km2)

148.3
17.5
8.0

Design Area (ha)

3,000
250
125

Current
command area
(ha)
1,400
140
35

23

Name ofreservoirs
4. CK7
5. Song Sat
6. Bau Ngu
Total

Name of dams
19/5
Song Ong
Tra Co
Ma NoiNha Hui
Nha Trinh
Tuan Tu30 other dams
Undergroundwater facility
Total

Location
Ninh Phuoc
Bac AiNinh Phuoc

Areas (km2)
30
137.0
21.5

Design Area (ha)
100
3,510
160
7,145

Table 8: Area (ha) under 76 small dams in Ninh Thuan province

Location

Ninh Son
Ninh Sin
Bac Ai
Bac Ai
Bac AiNinh Hai, Phan
Rang and Ninh
Phuoc
Ninh Phuoc
The
whole
provinceThe
wholeprovince

Current
command area(ha)
110
Under constructing
Under constructing
1,685

Areas (km2)

Design Area (ha)

32
30
60
33
25
2,140

300
3,200
50
63
300
12,800Current
command area
(ha)
200
2,000
45
40
300
11,515

250
621

180
358

500

250

18,084

14,888There is a big gap between water demand and water supply in Ninh Thuan province. The capacityof irrigation systems could only satisfy 33% of the demand.
In addition to this irrigation and water infrastructure, water supply systems have also been
established to provide piped water supply to the urban and rural areas. With the current watersupply systems, each person in cities could get a water supply of 80 l/day. Due to the policy of
the Central Government on clean water supply for rural areas, the provincial governments, NGOs
and districts have built number of groundwater systems supplying 50m3/day to 500m3/day ofwater to rural areas. This enabled nearly 46% of the rural population to get clean water in 2004.
Table 9: Piped water supply for city and rural areas

Water works
1. Urban Waterworks
Thap Cham
Phuoc DanTan Son
2. Water supply for rural areas
Ninh Phuoc
Ninh Hai
Ninh Son
Bac AiNumber of projects
3
1
1
1
39
11
14
5
9

Water source

Cai River
Underground water
Ong River
Groundwater
Ground water
Ground water
Ground water

Capacity (m3)
14,00012,000
1,000
1,000
6,915
1,869
2,436
1,945
665

24

4.1.2. Floods
According to the Floods and Storm Management Board, Ninh Thuan province is also vulnerable
to floods. The Table 10 provides an overview of impacts of recurring floods on Ninh Thuanprovince.
Table 10: Impacts of Flood on Ninh Thuan Province

Sectors
1. People died2. Houses collapsed
3. Class rooms damaged
4. Boats sunk
5. Area flooded
Paddy
Other crops
GardenOther trees
6. Animals died
7. Irrigation systems damaged

Units
PeopleHouses
Rooms
Boats
Ha
Ha
Ha
Ha
Ha
Heads
Projects

8. Roads damaged
9. Aquaculture
10. Economic damage

Projects
Ha
Billion VND

1998

30
10,61427
913,094
7,034
4,012
2,048
4,012
1,085
18
85
100
133.4

1999

1
438
3

2000

3,083
2,241
552
290
550
550
15

11
7,859
143
5
7,082
3,988
2,199
895
1.324
27,000
17

8
10
7.1

73
64
122.4

2003

15
23,000137
22
15,591
9,190
4,886
1,515
4,765
45,644
50
170
1,059
191.0

4.1.3. Storms
Storms caused by low atmospheric pressure often occur during October to December. On an
average, less than 1 storm event occurred in Ninh Thuan province per year (one in three years).
Years 1968 and 1995 recorded 2 and 3 storms respectively which are considered as the moststorm affected years in the history of Ninh Thuan.

4.2. Climate Change Vulnerability
Ninh Thuan province was formed in the year 1991 and the Meteorological station established atPhan Rang has started recording temperature from 1993. For this study, the temperature data was
obtained from Phan Thiet meteorological station (source: Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology,
Hanoi) while the rainfall data was obtained from the Phan Rang station (source: Center ofMeteorology and Hydrology, Ninh Thuan Province). The graphs below show the long-term trendof annual total rainfall and mean minimum and maximum temperatures. Please refer to Figure 2b
for the location of hydro-met stations.
A

B

Figure 12: Annual total rainfall (A) and mean deviation of annual total rainfall (B) recorded at Phan
Rang station in Ninh Thuan province

25

A

B

Figure 13: Mean annual maximum (A) and minimum temperatures (B) recorded at Phan Thiet in Binh
Thuan province

The long-term data indicated an overall increase in the rainfall, and the mean annual minimum
and maximum temperatures. Though the increasing rainfall may appear to be a favorable
phenomenon to some extent, caution is required in reading the data presented here. The Figure
12B indicates a steady increase in the deviation of annual rainfall from the long-term mean. The
figure also shows large difference between years which is an indication of the high rainfall
variability. Such a large variation in the rainfall could mean droughts and floods if the surface
water resources and rainwater are not managed appropriately.
The Figures 13A and 13B show changes in mean annual maximum and mean annual minimum
temperatures indicating a steady increase since 1978. The slope of the minimum temperature ismuch higher than the maximum temperature indicating warming nights over the years. Thismeans that more transpiration even during the nights and hence higher water demand by the crops.
The simulation experiments conducted by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment,
Vietnam (2003) indicated that the South of the South Central Vietnam will receive increased
rainfall to the tune of +5% of the long-term average (Table 11). This means continuation of thepast trend. Under these circumstances, it is clear that the inter-annual rainfall variability becomes
more important in the sustainability of this region and that the relevant management practices
may be taken up to deal with the risk.

26

4

Factors
Temperature isincreasing

Rainfall is increasing (+)
or decreasing (-) (%)

Table 11: Climate change simulations for Vietnam

Region

Northern plain
North of Central
Middle of Central
South of Central
High land
South
Northwest, Northern of North
Northern plain
North of Central
Middle of Central
Northern part of South Central
Southern part of South Central
Central HighlandSouth

Sea level rise (cm)Season

2010

2050

2070

Rainy
Dry
Rainy
Dry
Rainy
Dry
Rainy
Dry
Rainy
Dry
Rainy
Dry
Rainy
Dry
Rainy
Dry
-

0.5
0.3
0.3
0.3
0.3
0.5
0.3
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
9

1.8
1.1
1.1
1.1
1.1
1.8
1.1
0 to +5-5 to +5
0 to +5-5 to +5
0 to +10
0 to +5
0 to +10
0 to +5
0 to +10
0 to +5
0 to +5-5 to +5
0 to +5-5 to +5
0 to +5-5 to +5
33

2.5
1.5
1.5
1.5
1.5
2.5
1.5
0 to +5-5 to +5
0 to +5-5 to +5
0 to +10
0 to +5
0 to +10
0 to +5
0 to +10
0 to +5
0 to +5-5 to +5
0 to +5-5 to +5
0 to +5-5 to +545

Northwest, Northern of North

All coastal line

4

Initial National Communication, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Socialist Republic ofVietnam, Ha Noi, 2003.

27

'

! !

"#

"

$

(

!

This section discusses the results of questionnaire surveys of both communities and government
officials. For the community responses, gender disaggregated data is presented wherever possible.

5.1. Communities
5.1.1. Disasters and their trends
At all locations, respondents ranked droughts and floods as the first and second most prevalent
primary disasters respectively at their locations. The survey revealed that the most prevalentsecondary disaster is spread of infectious diseases which are reflection of deficiencies in the postdisaster response mechanisms.
Table 12: Ranking of disasters at study locations (Percentage of respondents)

Parameter

Coastal Region
Hoa ThanhLong Binh
Nam Cuong
85.0
100.0
15.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
15.0
0.0
15.0
0.0
85.0
100.0

S No
1
2
3

Most prevalent disaster I
Most prevalent disaster II

Drought
Storm
Flood
Drought
Storm
Flood

Mountainous Region

Da Ba Cai

Ma Ro

100.0
0.0
0.0
100.0
0.0
0.0

100.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
100.0
0.0

Respondents could identify changes in disasters at all locations occurred in the past 30 years.
They reported that the droughts are getting prolonged due to increasingly scanty rainfall. There isalso a shift in the flood season with floods happening later than usual.
Table 13: Disaster trend in the past 30 years

S No

Parameter

Coastal Region
Hoa Thanh-Nam
Long Binh
Cuong
81.7
61.5

Mountainous Region
Da Ba Cai

Ma Ro

20.0

100.0

1

Prolonged drought

2More flood events

10.0

3.8

0.0

0.0

3

More storm events

0.0

3.8

0.0

0.0

4

Flood season comes later

5.0

3.8

32.0

0.0

5

Reduction in rainfall

0.0

15.4

48.0

0.0

6

Cannot say

3.3

11.5

48.0

0.0

The reason for the change in disaster trends is not clearly known to communities. However,
respondents attributed the impacts to bad environmental practices elsewhere (36.7%) rather than
within their own community (14.3%). (Only respondents in Ma Ro believed that the observedchanges are due to bad practices within their community (25.9%) rather than the practices
elsewhere (14.8%)).

5.1.2. Disaster impacts
Recurring disasters had multiple impacts on communities. The impacts identified by communities
are listed in Table 14. The impact on crops and animals was identified as the most important. The
loss of income, which is a cumulative effect of impact on cropping and animal husbandry, was28

ranked third at most of study locations. Impact on availability of fodder and children’s education
has also emerged as significant.
“I am well but not
happy. Our harvests aremuch smaller thanusual. My family used
to get about 3 quintalsof rice but we only got
50 kg per season in thelast 2 years. The
drought has started
from April 2004 andsince then everything
has dried up.”
Le Xuan Tri, Hoa ThanhhamletFigure 14: Recurring crop failures due to severe droughts is a cause for concern

Impact1
2
3
45

Table 14: Impacts of the most prevalent primary disaster on the households

Coastal Region
Long Binh
Hoa Thanh-Nam Cuong
Crop failure
Crop failure
Losses in animalhusbandry
Loss of income

Losses in animalhusbandry
Loss of income

Lack of fodder for
cattleSchool dropout of thechildrenImpact on the health
School dropout of thechildrenMountainous Region
Da Ba Cai
Ma Ro

Crop failure

Crop failure

Losses in animalhusbandry
Impact on thehealthDeath of garden
and forest trees

Losses in animalhusbandry

Loss of jobs

Loss of jobs

Loss of income
Death of garden andforest trees

The responses by both genders were segregated and tabulated in Table 15. Both gender agreed on
many drought impacts presented below.
Table 15: Top five ranked impacts of drought on the households (Gender disaggregated data)

ImpactMales

Females

Coastal Region
Long Binh
Hoa Thanh-Nam Cuong
1. Unprofitable
1. Failure of crops
aquaculture
2. Unprofitable animal
2. Unprofitablehusbandry
animal husbandry
3. Lower income from3. School dropouts
animal produce
4. Loss of jobs
4. Loss of income
5. Lack of feed for
5. School dropouts
animals
1. Unprofitable
agriculture

1. Failure of crops
2. Loss of income

Mountainous Region
Da Ba Cai
Ma Ro
1. Failure of
1. Failure of crops
crops
2. Unprofitable
2. Unprofitableanimal husbandry
animal
3. Loss of income
husbandry
4. Death ofvegetation
3. Loss of
income5. Loss of jobs
4. Death ofvegetation
5. Loss of jobs
1. Failure of
1. Failure of crops
crops
2. Unprofitable29Impact

Coastal Region
Long Binh
Hoa Thanh-Nam Cuong
2. Unprofitable
3. Unprofitableanimal husbandryaquaculture
3. Lack of feed for
4. Loss of jobs
animals
5. School dropouts
4. Health losses
5. School dropouts

Mountainous Region
Da Ba Cai
Ma Ro
2. Unprofitableanimal husbandry
animal3. Death of natural
husbandry
vegetation
3. Lack of fodder 4. Loss of income
for animals
5. Loss of jobs
4. Decline inwater
resources
5. Loss of
income)&* $The following impacts were identified by the National Forum conducted in Hanoi:
Livelihoods
1. Lack of fodder, drinking water for cattle, for irrigation purposes and industries
2. Reduced crop yield and quality
3. Impaired productivity of forest land
4. Land degradation
5. Damage to fish farming
Food security
1. Loss of availability of food
2. Loss of availability of nutritious food
Health
1. Dependence on unsafe drinking water sources
2. Insufficient water for hygiene purposes
3. Stress due to loss of livelihoods and income
Economic impacts
1. Loss of income from agriculture and fishery
2. Loss of employment
3. Increased prices of food and fodder
Social impacts
1. Migration and related impact on families/communities and on social structure
2. Loss of human life
3. Increased inequity among social groups
4. Increased conflicts
5. Increased mental & physical stress
6. Increase in crime rate
7. Reduction in school attendance
8. Increase burden on women and children
9. Increase burden on Government and Non Government Organizations
Environmental impacts
1. Increase in deforestation, partially due to forest fires
2. Environmental pollution
3. Extinction of endangered species and loss of bio-diversity

Impacts on different genders, age groups and livelihoods
The drought impact on women and children need to be emphasized. Women in thesecommunities collect water from nearest water source, the distance of which often gets prolonged30

in each drought; do work such as cooking and cleaning, rear children, and collect firewood. In
addition, they also work in agricultural farms earning income for their family. Women in thesecommunities have fewer skills to be able to work in less burdensome jobs. This means enormous
physical burdens on them on daily basis. The situation worsens during droughts With fewer water
sources near the dwelling, they will have to walk long distances to fetch drinking water.
“My children had todropout of school tohelp me in collecting
drinking water from thestream very far fromour house.”

Ca To Thieu, Villager of
Ma Ro hamlet
Figure 15: Interviewing female respondents: exploring the gender differentiated impacts

Recurring disasters had differential impacts on different genders. On an average, 63% of
respondents agreed that there are differential impacts of disasters on different genders of thesociety. 74% of respondents believed that the women were more impacted by the drought than themen. The percentage of respondents who reported higher impact on females was higher in Hoa
Thanh-Nam Cuong (91.7%) than at other locations. Differential impacts of the drought on
different genders were due to differential water needs of genders itself, respondents opined.
Water scarcity makes women walk long distances to fetch water. The survey also reiterated thefact that old members of the society and children are much more vulnerable to the drought. These
impacts were attributed to the prevalence of heatwaves and malnourishment during drought.
Table 16: Does drought has differential impacts on different genders?

S No
1
2

Yes
No

Coastal Region
Males
FemaleMountainous Region
Male
Female

50.3
49.7

74.6
25.4

53.6
46.4

59.7
40.3

Respondents believed that farmers are more affected due to drought than any other section of thesociety. The response was uniform throughout study locations. This signifies the fact that the
primary impact of the drought is on crops. Due to insufficient water resources, both surface andsubsurface, crops often face hydrological drought. Rural artisans were ranked the second mostimpacted after farmers. It indicates the declining purchasing power in rural areas, which in turnaffect the much-needed economic activity to keep up the secondary rural livelihoods, such as
those of rural artisans.
Largely, there was an agreement between different genders on gender-differentiated impacts ofthe drought. However, a higher difference of opinion was found in the mountainous region wheremore males (74.6%) than females (59.7%) believed that the drought has differential impact on
different genders.
31Table 17: Vulnerability of different sections of society to drought impacts (gender disaggregateddata)

Respondents
Males
Females

Coastal Region
Hoa Thanh-Nam
Long Binh
Cuong
All are vulnerable
All are vulnerable
Old persons
Old persons
All are vulnerable
All are vulnerable
Old persons
Old persons

Mountainous Region
Da Ba Cai
All are vulnerable
ChildrenAll are vulnerable
Children

Ma Ro
Men
Old persons
Women
Old persons

The above table provides information on what different genders perceived about the vulnerabilityof different sections of the society to drought. There was an agreement on the vulnerability of all
to the drought with old persons and children being more vulnerable. Surprisingly, the male
respondents from Ma Ro identified that males are more vulnerable than others most probably due
to the failure of crops, loss of jobs and income (Table 17). They believed that women had no
economic activity and hence had nothing to lose due to the drought.
Increase in health problems in women:
Unhygienic conditions and drought go hand in hand in study areas. Due to insufficient water tobathe, many women either do not bathe or bathe sparingly leading to hygiene related healthproblems. For example, if it is any indicator of the above fact, the percentage of women affectedby gynaecological diseases has increased from 57% in 2004 to more than 60% in March 2005
across the province while in the Bac Ai and Ninh Phuoc districts it was 55% and 61% (2004),
respectively (source: Oxfam’s assessment report conducted in 2005).
Increase in the prevalence of diarrhoea among the children:
According to the statistics of Provincial Health Centre, 1,304 cases were reported with diarrhoea
in the whole province, an increase of 4.9% compared with normal levels due to water scarcity andunhygienic conditions. Often, hygiene practices such as washing may have been reduced due towater scarcity. Boiling water was not a prevalent practice as it was never necessary before or due
to scarcity of firewood (Source: Oxfam’s assessment report conducted in 2005).

5.1.3. Vulnerability trends
Communities believed that they are increasingly becoming
vulnerable to natural disasters such as droughts and floods(77.3%). The percentage of such believers was higher in the
coastal region than in the mountainous region, though thedifferences were not high (statistically not tested). Interestingly,
the percentage of respondents who believed that theirvulnerability is reducing over time was higher in the mountainous
region (13.6%) than in the coastal region (1.9%). Thisvulnerability is cumulative of both the primary and secondary
disasters in both the regions. However, the percentage of
respondents who did not perceive any change in theirvulnerability was higher in the coastal region (18.5%) than in themountainous region (11.6%). It is discernable that vulnerabilities
are increasing over years despite developmental initiatives.
Alternatively, it can also be inferred that developmental initiatives
have failed to instill confidence among communities.
The gender-disaggregated analysis of changes in vulnerability“The humans andanimals use the samewater source in thisstream. The polluted
water is the source of
health problems.”

Cato Sinh, Da Ba Cai
hamlet32

didn’t reveal much difference in the opinion among respondents. However, more female
respondents in the mountainous region believed that their vulnerability is reducing over time than
was felt by their counterparts in the coastal region.
Table 18: Is your vulnerability changing over the years?

S No
1
2
3

Increasing
Decreasing
No change

Coastal Region
Males
FemaleMountainous Region
Male
Female

79.5
3.3
17.2

81.8
12.1
6.1

79.2
0.0
20.8

61.4
17.0
21.6

The discussions and questionnaire surveys did not reveal much information on what communities
think about why their vulnerabilities are increasing. To this end, on an average across study
locations, 83.6% of respondents could not identify reasons why their vulnerabilities to natural
disasters are increasing. However, more respondents in the coastal region could identify thereason (cutting of forests, 19.5%) than in the mountainous region (due to changing weather,
3.9%). When asked if changes they observed were due to climate change, only 12.7% agreed
while 83% could not comment on it.
“We don’t want to go toforest to cut trees but wehave no choice. We haveto go there for our
food.”

Chamale Anh, Ma Ro
hamletFigure 16: Illegal cutting of forests is a main cause for concern

5.1.4. Disaster management
Communities were also asked about what they believe about disaster management systems invogue in their location. Questions were focused more on the early warning and preparedness
mechanisms as they enable communities to be prepared and help in reducing the impact ofrecurring disasters.

33

*
The following limitations were identified by the National Forum conducted in Hanoi

1.1.1. Policy and regulation related limitations•

Lack of sufficient importance given to drought risk management including preparedness
programs by the government institutions•

Lack of drought management board at provincial, district and commune levels•

There is no policy for agriculture assistance•Lack of long term programs for drought preparedness•

Poor participation of appropriate authorities in decision making and development
planning•

There is a conflict between various social and economic sectoral organizations that is
hindering the development and implementation of drought risk management initiatives•

The overlap of administrative management in sharing authority and decision making•

Lack of appropriate regulation on water exploitation•

Poor management of irrigation projects•

Poor participation of communities in long term drought mitigation programs

1.1.2. Knowledge, technology and human resources•

Lack of knowledge on drought preparedness•

Lack of information on appropriate agricultural practices•

Lack of human resource especially the technical staff who can guide farmers on better
management practices•

Lack of reliable drought forecasting mechanism•

The perception of communities and some governmental institutes on climate change,
drought and environment is a limitation in taking up appropriate drought mitigation
activities•

Lack of drought resistant crop varieties and animal breeds

1.1.3. Financial limitations•

Lack of sufficient financial support during drought times•

Deficit finance on irrigation projects•

No budget for drought preparedness at province and below levels

Early warning systems
Drought is known to provide several natural indicators before and during its occurrence. Globally,
there has been much emphasis on identifying such traditional early warning systems. Indicators

34

used in traditional early warning systems include animal behaviour, vegetation characteristics,
nutritional characteristics and weather and climate behaviours. However, the survey could not
identify existence of traditional early warning mechanisms such as changes in animal behaviours
as they seem to have been overshadowed by the modern approaches such as obtaining weather
information from community leaders and from other communication channels such as radio andtelevision. More communities obtained the early warning information from their community
leaders in the mountainous region (55.2 %) than in the coastal region (0%) reflecting the active
community leadership in disaster risk management. Coastal communities obtained the early
warning through modern communication media such as radio, television etc (86.5% of
respondents). Contrarily, only 16% of respondents in the mountainous region obtained early
warning from radio and television. This could be inferred as an indication of developmental
differences between these two regions. When asked specifically about from whom they obtain
early warning within the government, majority of respondents, irrespective of the region, said thatthey obtained the early warning from local community leaders (78.2%). The early warning was
better developed for the flood forecasting than for drought.

Figure 17: Early warning systems are well developed for the flood warning but not for the drought
warning

Most of respondents felt that the existing early warning systems are sufficient for them to identify
the impending disaster such as floods (52.9%). This number is much higher in the coastal region(67.8%) than in the mountainous region (37.9%). Such differences could be potentially attributed
to the medium through which the early warning is received (community leaders in mountainous
region vs. television and radio in coastal region) and the type of information they received (thesurvey didn’t look into the contents of the early warning provided to communities). 77.6% ofrespondents believed that the early warning was timely. Improving the radio broadcasting systememerged as a major suggestion from communities at all study locations in the coastal region(64%). In Hoa Thanh-Nam Cuong, communities wanted training on understanding the early
warning and dissemination (11.5%) and provision of weather information direct to communities
so that it can be readily disseminated within the community (3.8%).
When asked about the time taken for their areas to be declared disaster affected, 55.8% of
respondents in the coastal region said they usually received the declaration in the second week
after the occurrence of disaster. The time taken to declare the areas affected by the disaster ismuch higher in the mountainous region. Communities in the mountainous region believed that35

they are declared as disaster affected only after three weeks of the disaster incidence (36.4%).
When asked about the role of communities in the disaster declaration, 38% of respondents
believed they had no role. This percentage was higher in the coastal region (52.7) than in themountainous region (23.3). However, community members had a role in reporting the disaster
impacts to community leaders at both study locations, 44.6% of respondents reported. The
communication of disaster information to neighbours was higher in the mountainous region(30.1%) than in the coastal region (4.7%). This corroborates earlier results on information sources
at both locations. Communities said they had a role in reporting the damage (40.1%) and damage
assessment (15.4%) while 44.5% of respondents felt they were not involved in disaster damage
assessment or disaster declaration. More communities were involved in reporting the damage inthe mountainous region (57.2%) than in the coastal region (23.1%).

Disaster response
The objective of providing early warning is to help enhance the preparedness such that the
response after the disaster is much faster and the impacts are reduced to minimal. Irrespective of
the study location, respondents believed that communities are first to respond to disasters(85.4%). All respondents in the coastal region reported communities as the first respondents.
Relatively, NGOs (20% in Da Ba Cai) and local governments (18.5% in Ma Ro) were also
reported to be first respondents to disasters in the mountainous region. Food preservation(storage) appears to be the major adaptation mechanism of communities (32.7% of respondents)
followed by preservation of seeds for the next cropping season (24.6% of respondents).
Communities in the coastal region gave more preference to saving water (21.3% of respondents)
than in the mountainous region (13.3% respondents) due to more relative scarcity in the former
place.
“We built 5 big cementtanks for filling
drinking water fromthe streams but thestreams have dried up
so there is no water tofill the tanks.”

Chamale Tien,
Chairman of Phuoc
Thanh people’scommittee

Figure 18: Water storage jars supplied by UNICEF in Phuoc Thanh commune

The response of NGOs to droughts includes provision of water storage facilities such as
temporary storage tanks and water jars (23.5% respondents in coastal region and 18.5% in
mountainous region) (Figure 18); supply of food grains (20.2% in coastal region and 5.6% in
mountainous region) and imparting training in disaster management (only in coastal region).
Provision of food grains, building community wells, and establishing community volunteer teems
to supply water constitute the primary response of local and provincial governments (Table 19)
while the central government is known to provide food and financial assistance.
36

The adequacy of responses by communities, NGOs and governments was found to be different at
different locations. Communities in the coastal region were more happy with the response byvarious stakeholders (59.2% said adequate) than in the mountainous region (only 4% said that the
response was adequate). Lack of knowledge in dealing with drought situations and lack of enoughmeans of storing water were identified as major limitations in drought risk management acrossstudy locations, despite the efforts made by various stakeholders at all study locations.
Table 19: Responses of local, provincial and central governments to drought (% of responses)

Responses
Communities
1. Saving water
2. Preserve food
3. Preserve seeds
4. All aboveNGOs
1. Water storage facilities (tanks, ring wells and jars)
2. Food assistance
3. Disaster Training
4. All above
0. Do not know
Local Government
1. Provide seeds
2. Building commune wells
3. Establish the volunteer team to provide free water
3. All above
Provincial government
1. Food assistance
2. Irrigation facilities
3. All AboveCentral government
1. Food assistance
2. Loan
3. All above
4.. Do not know

Mountainous
RegionCoastal Region
Long
Binh

Hoa ThanhNam Cuong

35.0
13.3
0.0
51.7

Da Ba Cai

Ma Ro

7.7
38.5
11.5
42.3

0.0
44.0
56.0

0.0
0.0
0.0
100.0

31.7
25.0
-*
23.3
20.0

15.4
15.4
7.7
53.8
7.7

0.0
0.0
100.0
-

37.0
11.1
51.9

0.0
0.0
100.0

7.7
19.2
30.8
42.3

0.0
0.0
100.0

0.0
0.0
100.0

0.0
0.0
100.0

0.0
0.0
100.0

0
100
-

0.0
0.0
100.0

0.0
0.0
100.0
-

46.2
42.3
0.0
11.5

0
0
100
-

100.0
-

* indicates no data from these open ended questions due to no identification of them as a choice.

Communities were aware about the existing long-term drought mitigation programs being
implemented by NGOs and local governments (85.6% said they know). However, the majority of
respondents believed that they had no role in these programs (89.3%) while others identified roles
such as participation in the local risk identification process (e.g. risk mapping), identification of
possible drought mitigation programs etc. However, number of people who participated in suchprograms and processes was low as only 10.7% of respondents said they participated in these
programs. Some of the drought mitigation programs in vogue are given in Table 20.

37

Table 20: Drought mitigation programs being implemented at study locations by NGOs andgovernments

1

Organizations
Central Government2

Provincial
Government

3
4Local Government
Oxfam GB

5

UNICEF

6

Action Aid

7

Red Cross

8

World Vision

9Counterpart
International* Long term programs

Mountainous areas- Program Number 135 (*)- Program Number 134 (*)- Reforestation program (*)- Constructing irrigation systems(*)- Food assistance- Development of new drought
resistant varieties (*) by the centre
at Nha Ho- Constructing irrigation systems(*)- Digging wells- Provided the low price of new
seeds for farmers- Digging wells- Improving food and income
security for poor women and men
in Bac Ai district (*)- Poverty reduction project in 2
communes in Bac Ai district (*)- Food and water storage
facilities and public health camps
for communities in Bac Ai district- Construction of wells and small
water reservoirs- Establishing pump service teamin all villages of 2 communes in
Bac Ai district
Drought response fund for 2
communes in Bac Ai district- Water supply for ethnic groups(*)–- Provision of food and water
storage facilities- Provision of food and water
storage facilities in Bac Ai district- Food assistance for 5 districtsof Ninh Thuan province

Costal areas- Reforestation program (*)- Constructing irrigation systems(*)- Food assistance- Development of new drought
resistant varieties (*) by Nha Hocentre- Constructing irrigation systems.
(*)- Digging wells- Subsidies for new varieties- Digging wells- Food and water storage
facilities and public health camps
for communities in Ninh Phuoc
district-

Installation of pump wells- Community based model fordisaster mitigation andmanagement in Ninh Phuoc
district. (*) (Training and relief
assistance)- Provision of food and water
storage facilities

“The animal husbandryin Ninh Phuoc district
has been coping withmany problems. Thereis no enough fodder anddrinking water foranimals in the dry
season. The price of
fodder is increasing andthe price of animals isdecreasing.”
Ba Nien Huong,veterinary doctor of Ninh
Phuoc district.

Figure 19: Indigenous cattle breed needs to be replaced with the improved ones for better income
security and drought resistance

5.1.5. Climate change
Impacts
An attempt was made to identify if communities understand and differentiate the short-term
weather phenomenon and long-term climate change phenomenon. To our surprise, allrespondents said they know differences between weather and climatic processes. However, none
could explain the difference. In addition, it was not so easy to obtain information on how
communities use weather and climate information in crop planning. Farmers here mostly rely
upon the crop calendar decided by the agricultural department of the provincial government
which provides information on when to sow the seed and when to take up management practices.
Respondents said that the reliance on this mechanism made them to think independent of weather
and climatic information available outside the crop calendar.
Awareness about climate change is an important aspect to initiate
desirable actions by stakeholders. Communities differed in theirawareness about climate change in coastal and mountainous
regions. Majority of respondents in the coastal region were awarethat the climate is changing (88.7% of respondents) while none in
the mountainous region could state that the climate is changing.
Communities were asked to identify specific changes they haveobserved in the climate. The responses were presented in Table 21.
Communities could identify increasing temperatures, declining
rainfall, biodiversity (number, density and composition) andincreasing disasters. It is possible to conclude from the results that,though communities in mountainous region could not ‘state’ thatthe ‘climate is changing,’ they could very well identify thechanges in various parameters of climate such as those listed inTable 21. This brings us to the fact that the term ‘climate change’
may well not be in vogue among communities but they could
always identify impacts of it. However, majority of respondents“I do not know about
the climate change, I
just feel the change of
weather. It is getting
hotter day by day.”

Chamale Hung, Villager
of Da Ba Cai hamlet

39

could not identify reasons for these changes (73.7% in coastal region and 100% in mountainous
region). It is relevant here to cross check these findings with the actual data presented in Figure
12 which shows increasing trends in the rainfall. The difference between observed and perceived
trends could be attributed to the lack of long-term memory among communities and putting moreemphasis on short-term changes in the climate such as inter-annual variability of rainfall andtemperature.
Table 21: Climate change trends observed by communities (% of responses)

Impacts
1. Temperature (Increasing)
2. Rainfall (declining)
3. Biodiversity Composition (Declining)
4.
Biodiversity
Number/density(Declining)
5. Disaster (magnitude, duration andintensity)

Coastal Region
Hoa ThanhLong Binh
Nam Cuong
83.3
73.0
76.7
73.1
53.3
50.0

Mountainous Region
Da Ba Cai

Ma Ro

80.0
80.0
60.0

92.3
65.4
57.7

50.0

48.0

52.0

80.8

80.0

52.0

76.0

88.5

The gender disaggregated analysis of responses on impacts of climate change revealed more orless agreement between genders. While both males and females could identify, broadly, that therainfall and biodiversity were decreasing and temperatures and disasters were increasing, theydiffered to a certain extent in their agreement on the finer details of trends they reported. The
differences were much higher in Da Ba Cai where female respondents observed no change in thebiodiversity while males reported a moderate decrease in number and composition of thebiodiversity (Table 22).
Table 22: Gender disaggregated responses on awareness of climate change impacts

Impacts
Males
Temperatures
Rainfall
Biodiversity composition
Biodiversity number
Disasters
Females
Temperatures
Rainfall
Biodiversity composition
Biodiversity number
Disasters

Coastal Region
Long Binh
Hoa ThanhNam Cuong

Moderately
increasing
Decreasing
steeply
Decreasing
steeply
No change
Increasing
steeply
Moderately
increasing
Decreasing
steeply
Decreasing
steeply
Decreasing
steeply
Increasing
steeply

Mountainous Region
Da Ba Cai
Ma Ro

Steeply
increasing
Moderately
decreasing
Moderately
decreasing
Moderately
decreasing
Steeply
increasing

Steeply
increasing
Moderately
decreasing
Moderately
decreasing
Moderately
decreasing
Moderately
increasing

Steeply
increasing
Moderately
decreasing
Moderately
decreasing
Moderately
decreasing
Steeply
increasing

Steeply
increasing
Steeply
decreasing
Moderately
increasing
No change

Steeply
increasing
Steeply
decreasing
No changeNochange/Steeply
increasing

Moderately or
steeply
increasing

Steeply
increasing
Moderately
decreasing
Moderately
decreasing
Moderately
decreasing
Steeply
increasing

No change40Adaptation strategies
Both autonomous and planned adaptation strategies were discussed with communities and results
are presented here.
Autonomous adaptation strategies
The summary of findings is provided in Table 23. Communities could identify autonomous
adaptation strategies in agriculture, animal husbandry, water resources, food and economic safetythat are in vogue. Growing new crop varieties and formulation of seasonal calendar were majorautonomous adaptation strategies to deal with drought impacts on agriculture. In animalhusbandry, change of animal breeds and finding new feed and fodder sources were the mostimportant practices in the mountainous region while growing fodder crops became an important
strategy in the coastal region. Communities in the coastal region followed a wider number ofanimal husbandry strategies than in the mountainous region which could be a reflection of theirdevelopmental level.
Table 23: Autonomous adaptation strategies identified by communities (% of responses)

Long Binh

Coastal Region
Hoa Thanh-Nam Cuong

Agriculture
1. Saving seeds
2. Change the crop plan

5.0
16.7

11.5
46.2

60
40

3.8
0.0

3. Change seeds (drought resistant, short day crops)
4. Change seeds and crop plan
5. All above

6.7
55.0
16.7

26.9
15.4
0.0

-*
-

69.2
26.9
-

Animal Husbandry
1. Change breeds
2. Looking for new feed resource

0.0
0.0

11.5
7.7

32
68

19.2
38.5

42.0
0.0
58.0

26.9
7.7
3.8
42.3

-

42.3

Water resources
1. Digging wells

21.7

50.0

32

30.8

2. Reuse of water
3. Economizing the water use
4. All above

15.0
55.0
8.3

19.2
26.9
3.8

44
24.0
-

30.8
15.4
23.1

Food safety
1. Save food
2. Do nothing

95.0
5.0

69.2
30.8

100

61.5
38.5

21.7
26.7

26.9
15.4
3.8
53.8

-

-

100

100.0

Strategy

3. Grow grass
4. To vaccinate animals
5. All above
6. No action

Economic safety (by improved income)1. Looking for new jobs
2. Move to big cities for job
3. Saving money
4. Do nothing

51.7

Mountainous Region
Da Ba Cai Ma Ro* indicates no data from these open ended questions as respondents couldn’t identify any adaptation practice in vogue.

41

Planned adaptation strategies
Information on planned adaptation strategies is presented in Table 24. The major planned
adaptation option in agriculture is to extend irrigation facilities through establishing deep wells
and open wells. Provision of latest varieties at low prices has also being taken up by governments
and NGOs. Vaccines for animals were provided in Long Binh during drought. Other major
adaptation measures found in the water sector were digging of wells by both NGOs andgovernments and provision of water storage facilities such as portable tanks and jars by NGOs.
Supply of food grains and provision of loans during stress times were other adaptation measurestaken up by the NGOs and governments. Respondents felt that these measures could help them in
reducing the drought impacts partly (59%). Male and female respondents from the mountainous
region have less migration opportunities due to the limited education, knowledge and skills that
may be of use elsewhere. Majority of mountainous people are from the ethnic minority and are
deprived of education facilities. They prefer to live without much external intervention, one of
respondents observed.
Table 24: Planned adaptation actions identified at study locations (% of responses)

Parameter
Agriculture
1. To build irrigation system (NGO & GOV)
2. Provide seeds (low price) (GOV)
3. All above
Animal Husbandry
1. Vaccine (GOV)
2. Do nothing
Water resources
1. Provide tools to collect and save water (NGO)
2. Digging pump wells (NGO & GOV)
3. Chemicals to treat polluted water
4. All above
5. Do not know
Food storage/safety
1. Food assistance (NGO & GOV)
2. Do not know
Economic safety
1. Loans (GOV)
2. Do nothing

Coastal Region
Hoa ThanhLong Binh
Nam Cuong

Mountainous Region
Da Ba
Ma Ro
Cai

0.0
0.0
100.0

76.9
15.4
7.7

20
24
56

30.8
69.2
-*

100.0
0.0

34.6
65.4

100

42.3
57.7

0.0
0.0
0.0
100.0
-

23.1
15.4
15.4
7.7
38.5

100
-

100.0
-

66.7
33.3

53.8
46.2

100
-

100.0
-

65.0
35.0

50
50

100
-

50.0
50.0

* indicates no data from these open ended questions due to no identification of them as a choice.

Heavy reliance on groundwater had resulted in decline of groundwater table and saline water
ingression in coastal areas. Communities believed that better financial support by governments
and better access to markets are needed to reduce their vulnerabilities. While better education,
facilities for income diversification and improving livelihoods were prioritized by the coastal
communities, communities from the mountainous region have identified income diversificationand provision of better financial facilities as most important strategies to reduce theirvulnerability. At both locations, respondents felt that very few livelihood options are available tothem. Communities have equally rated government and NGOs in reducing community’svulnerabilities.

42

“Most of the villagers
are trying to dig new
wells but the wells
are becoming saline
since 2003.”

Vo Xuan Thanh, Hoa
Thanh hamlet
Figure 20: Digging wells has been a prominent drought adaptation option by many intervening
agencies while ignoring the groundwater recharge on the other hand

Gender disaggregated responses showed that communities prefer financial support rather thanother options for reducing their vulnerability to climatic events. However, more of the female
respondents in Da Ba Cai and Ma Ro believed in income diversification than in direct financial
support. This can be understood from the fact that both locations are in the mountainous region
where income generation opportunities are poorly developed.
Table 25: Gender disaggregated responses on activities to reduce the vulnerability to climatic events(top ranked options by respondents)

Impacts
Males
Females

Coastal Region
Long Binh
Hoa ThanhNam Cuong
Better financial
Better financial
supportsupportBetter financial
Better financial
supportsupportMountainous Region
Da Ba Cai
Ma Ro

Better financial
support
Incomediversification

Better financial
support
Incomediversification

5.2. Government Officials and Mass Organizations
This section provides a brief on interaction with government and non-governmental officials atvillage, commune, and district levels. The aim was to assess their perceptions on climate change
and disaster management interventions being taken up.
Officers, without exception of level at which they operate (i.e. village, commune and provincial
levels both in coastal and mountainous regions), were well aware that the climate has beenchanging. However, they were are not aware about how to translate the state of being aware aboutclimate change into tangible actions in their respective departments because of lack of
information on what kind of interventions could be implemented to reduce the impact of climatechange. Officers were asked to rank sectors based on their vulnerability to climate change
impacts. Results from the coastal region showed that the agriculture is the most vulnerable toclimate change followed by animal husbandry, aquaculture and forestry (Table 26).

43

Table 26: Vulnerability ranking of various sectors to climate change

1
2
3
4

Rank

Coastal Region
SectorAgriculture
Animal husbandry
Aquaculture
Forestry

1
2
3

Rank

Mountainous region
SectorAgriculture
Animal husbandry
Forestry

Some indicators of change in disaster profile are given below:•

Change from floods and storms to more drought conditions.

•

Increasing temperatures.

•

Decrease in the number and intensity of storms.

The change in disaster behavior (in intensity, duration and periodicity of occurrence) was
attributed to the climate change. All officers were aware that communities, governments andNGOs can adapt to the changing climate. The following adaptation options were identified during
focus group discussions.
1. Preparation of hazard, vulnerability and risk maps
2. Imparting training to farming communities on various best management practices that
reduce the water consumption while obtaining higher productivity
3. Introduction of high yielding, short duration and high temperature resistant cultivars
4. Establishing small scale irrigation schemes
5. Provision of micro-finance loans for women to initiate small-scale livelihood options
such as petty-shops, purchasing livestock, growing crops etc
6. Imparting training on raising new shrimp breeds that could withstand higher temperaturesand resist diseases
The following issues emerged during the group discussion conducted with government officials
where they were introduced to the findings of the study.
One of the root causes of vulnerability of communities to climatic events is related to the poor
knowledge as well as lack of capacity to cope with natural
disasters. It is more to do with the developmental state of study“We do not have enoughlocations rather than to do with the changing rainfall situation.
fresh water for our basic
Inadequate food availability and consumption are common
needs since 2004. Almost
problems with ethnic communities in the mountainous region
all the pump wells in thissince time immemorial, which was due to harsh environmental
village are affected byconditions and lack of knowledge on better management
the saline water
practices.
intrusion.”
Drought (lack of water and saline water intrusion into fresh water
areas) is believed to be partly due to methods of cultivation. For
example, there has been tremendous growth in the area under wet
paddy, due to conversion from the dry paddy, which has
considerably increased the demand for water. Introduction ofhigh-yielding varieties has only increased the burden on limited
water resources. Part of the increasing water demand was also
Mr. Diem, Long Binh
due to increase in population. In addition, issues such as heavy
village leader
reliance on ground water resources, deforestation and shifting

cultivation have worsened the situation. Another reason is increasing area under shrimp
cultivation. There has been a tremendous boost in shrimp cultivation during recent years. Figure
11 supports this fact. The area decreased in 2005 due to declining fresh water availability,
diseases and water pollution. For example, in the past 40 years, the per capita water availability
per person per year was about 17,000 m3. In 2005, that amount has reduced to 4,600 m3. The root
cause is the ‘water war’ between sectors such as agriculture, aquaculture, industry, and tourism.
There is a need to share the limited water among all sectors with appropriate prioritization to thepriority sectors such as agriculture which provides livelihoods to more people than any otherlivelihood option. The part of health problems during drought as well as normal times is due tothe prevalence of unhygienic conditions caused by raising the animals near house and water
source and using the same water source for both animal and human consumption.

5.2.1. Short-term programs
The following short-term options emerged during discussions with officers.
-

Food assistance, fresh water supply in drought season for both areas – mountainous
region and coastal region (by NGOs, Government and others)

5.2.2. Long-term programs
The following long-term options emerged during discussions with officers.
Programs
Enhancing the perception of communities on environmental and natural
resource issues
Develop drought resistant crop seeds
Enhancing the irrigation efficiency
Establish/find the markets for animal products, grapes, cashew etc
Reduce the area under paddy cultivation and change land-use practices
Create new livelihoods that rely less on water (e.g. handcrafts, small-scaleindustries)
Establish individual water supply companies to provide water for rural
areas
Forest conservation by appropriate laws and reforestation on bald hills toenable groundwater recharging
Reduce the area under shrimp farming and improve the drainage canalmountainous
regioncoastalregion

x

x

x
x

x
x

x

x
x

x

x

x

x

x

x
x

The water war between different sectors could be reduced by assessing water needs and watersupply for each sector; controlling the water usage through taxes and subsidies as incentives; andincreasing the water use efficiency.

45

)

#

(

!

Policy options for planning drought risk mitigation and reducing the vulnerability to climate
variability and change are identified in this section. Many of the policy options identified in thissection corroborate with suggestions from officials presented in the previous section.

6.1. Impacts
Impacts of recurring droughts and their root causes were identified through focused group
discussions. Initially, participants were asked to identify various impacts of droughts in theirlocality. These impacts were subsequently ranked according to the relative importance placed bycommunities on each of them. Identified impacts were grouped into economic, social andenvironmental categories and presented in Table 27.
Table 27: Ranked impacts of recurring droughts in Ninh Thuan province

Category
Economic

Coastal Region
Hoa ThanhLong Binh
Nam Cuong
Agriculture • Damage to• Damage to
crops
crops
• Unavailability• Income lossof water for
irrigation• Income loss
Sub
category

Animalhusbandry

Water
resources

Social• Reduced
productivity ofcattle• Unavailabilityof feed andfodder• Unavailabilityof water• Lack of water• High cost ofwater

Health and • Health related
nutrition
problems(Diarrhea andcold)• Food shortage

Mountainous Region

Da Ba Cai

Ma Ro

• Death ofmaize, rice andcassava crops• Drying andshedding of
cashew nut
fruits• Income loss
• Lack of fodder • Lack of fodder• Lack of water • Lack of water• Diseases, undernutrition andstarvation• Death ofmaize andcassava crops• Drying andshedding of
cashew nut
fruits.
• Income loss
• Lack of fodder• Lack of water• Diseases,
undernutrition andstarvation• Lack of water• High cost ofwater• Disruption ofwater supplies
for various
activities• Lack of water• Health related
problems(Malaria,
diarrhea, heatstroke)• Food shortage• More stress on
women incarrying water• Women suffer
more
nutritional
problems• Health related
problems• Food shortage

Gender• Both genders• Both genders
spend
spend
considerable
considerable
time in getting
time in getting
water from longwater fromdistanceslong distances

Others• School dropout• Short duration• Disruption ofwater supplies
for various
activities• Lack of water• Health related
problems(Malaria,
diarrhea, heatstroke)• Food shortage• More stress on
women incarrying water• Less per-capita
consumption ofwater byfemales• Shifting into46

CategorySub
category

Environmental

Coastal Region
Mountainous Region
Hoa ThanhLong Binh
Da Ba Cai
Ma Ro
Nam Cuongmigration
small• Migration todwellings
other provinces • Migration toand cities forother provinces
work
and cities forwork• Old people areleft unattended
due to excessive
migration of
young
Loss of
Loss of• Saline water• Cutting down
biodiversity
biodiversity
intrusionof forests forfetching• Overfirewood as an
exploitation of
economicgroundwater
activity• Loss of• Loss of
biodiversity
biodiversity

6.2. Root Causes
In this section, root causes (underlying causes) are identified. Impact tree diagrams wereconstructed for ranked impacts and root causes were arrived by asking probing questions such as‘why lack of water’. Some examples are given in Figures 23 and 24. Root causes are presented inTable 28. In some instances, more than one root cause was identified for each impact. Similarly,
the same root cause can be traced to multiple impacts. Root causes for different hamlets withincoastal and mountainous region were merged as root causes were identical within the region.

Figure 21: An example impact tree diagram for agriculture

47

Figure 22: An example impact tree diagram for animal husbandry

Table 28: Root causes identified for the most important ranked impacts

Category
EconomicDrought Impact
Damage of crops

Unavailability ofirrigation anddrinking water

Income loss

Loss ofproductivity ofcattle anddegradation ofhealthImportant root causes
Coastal Region (Long Binh &Mountainous Region (DaHoa Thanh-Nam Cuong)
Ba Cai & Ma Ro)• Lack of drought tolerant• Lack of financial capitalmaize and cassava varieties• Rainfall variability• Rainfall variability• Lack of timely weather
forecasting and agromet• Lack of timely weather
advisory
forecasting and agromet
advisory• Lack of knowledge on best
management practices• Lack of regulations to stop
• Lack of canal distribution
network for the existing
unlawful withholding of waterat the upper reaches of thewater storage facilities
canal• Lack of rains• Decline in the water table• Lack of financial capital• Decline in storage capacity ofreservoirs and dams
• Lack of sufficient electricity• Lack of rain water harvesting
practices• Lack of alternative livelihood• No access to good market
activities and sole dependence
facilities and hence lesson agriculture
power to bargain good priceof animals reared.
• Lack of financial capital• Lack of financial capital• Lack of knowledge on better• Lack of knowledge on better
rearing practices
rearing practices• Lack of drought tolerant breeds • Cannot diversify to poultry
due to avian flue
• Lack of veterinary healthfacilities• Cannot diversify to piggery
due to lack of productive• Lack of better fodder varieties
stock• High fodder prices• Lack of veterinary healthfacilities• Lack of better fodder
varieties

48

CategorySocialEnvironmental

Important root causes
Coastal Region (Long Binh &Mountainous Region (DaHoa Thanh-Nam Cuong)
Ba Cai & Ma Ro)
Lack of fodder• Lack of common grazing land
• Lack of common grazing
land• Insufficient or no fodder supply
during relief• Insufficient or no fodder
supply during relief
Loss of• Availability of more labor force • Insufficient economic
employment
within the hamlet
activity within the hamlet• Lack of sufficient work
• Lack diversified skills
opportunity within the hamlet(dependence on primitive
livelihood activities)
Health,• Social structure (less power in • Inability to speak
nutritional, anddecision making)Vietnamese hindering
physical problems • Expectation of doing lesswomen to participate ineconomic activities
burdensome works
Food shortage• No abundant relief supply• No abundant relief supply
Migration• Lack of jobs locally• Lack of jobs locallyStress on old• Migration of young• Migration of young
peopleCutting of forests • Lack of employment facilities• Lack of alternative
employment facilities
Loss of• Recurring droughts and heat
• Recurring droughts and heatbiodiversity
stressstressSaline water• Excessive withdrawal of
intrusion
groundwater
Over-exploitation • Lack of regulatory policies
of groundwater
Drought Impact

6.3. Policy Options to Reduce Drought Vulnerability
Based on above root causes, policy options were identified for drought risk reduction (Table 30).
These could be implemented by governments, NGOs and communities. Emphasis has been given
to identify a mix of policy options containing mitigation and response strategies.
A national forum was organized on adaptation to drought in the context of climate change on 3-4
May 2007 at Hanoi, Vietnam. Officers of provincial, district and commune levels from 8
provinces that are affected by the drought have participated in the forum. The forum has focusedon impacts of drought at the commune level and identified difficulties and existing gaps in copingwith the drought. The forum had also come out with appropriate suggestions to overcome thecommunity vulnerability to drought. The suggestions are listed below.

Communities•

Strengthen community organization by establishing or building upon social institutions like
village Self-Help Groups (SHGs), women groups and village water sub-committees•

Set up a commune seed bank / food credit coupon system•

Establish ‘Village emergency fund’•

Develop understanding that the drought may be a recurring phenomenon and they should
prepare themselves to minimize the impact•

Better forest management and avoiding forest fires

49

Impact of drought
Damage of crops

Unavailability ofirrigation anddrinking water

Income loss

Table 29: Drought risk reduction action identification matrix

Root causes• Lack of financial capital• Rainfall variability• Lack of timely weather forecasting and agromet advisory• Lack of regulations to stop unlawful
withholding of water at the upper reaches of
the canal• ‘Water war’ due to increased demand bydifferent sections of the society• Decline in the water table• Decline in storage capacity of reservoirs anddams• Lack of sufficient electricity to pump water• Lack of rain water harvesting practices• Lack of alternative livelihood activities andsole dependence on agriculture

Loss of productivity • Lack of financial capitalof cattle anddegradation of health

Lack of fodder

Loss of employment
Health, nutritional,
and physicalproblems to children• Lack of knowledge on better rearing
practices• Lack of common grazing land
• Lack of fodder storage facilities and knowhow
• Insufficient or no fodder supply during relief• Availability of more labor force within thevillage• Lack of sufficient jobs within the village• Social structure (less power in decision
making by women on how the food is
distributed in the family)• Expectation [by men] that women do lessPossible actions• Provision of more micro-finance options• Enhanced weather monitoring and forecasting• Improving agro-met advisory services• Regulations to restrict water usage through strict command level
irrigation scheduling and water distribution• Educating farmers on best management practices• Provide better access to water by establishing water allocation
systems• Educate on better irrigation practices to enhance irrigation
efficiency• Control of siltation through land stabilization in watersheds• Soil conservation practices in watersheds• Supply of solar-power systems using cooperative societies• Educate and introduce watershed management practices• Creating self-help groups and micro-credit systems• Introduction of non-agriculture based livelihood practices• Provision of training on alternative livelihood practices• Provision of improved cattle breeds on subsidy• Establishing cattle health camps• Imparting better know how on maintaining cattle herds during
drought times• Training on improved animal rearing practices

Mitigation(M), response
(R)
M
M
M
M

M
M
M
M
M

M

M

• Imparting know how on fodder storage practices• Know how on better feed management practices• Establishment of community based fodder banks• Supply of fodder during relief• Skill identification and enhancement through training programs• Providing cooperative market facilities to market the outputs

M• Education and awareness generation programs for all sections of
the society• Promoting the culture of collective action• Hygiene promotion

M

RM

Impact of drought

Food shortage

Root causes

Possible actions

burdensome work is leading to reduced foodallocation for them
• Lack of water and knowledge on hygiene• Lack of nutritious food
• No abundant relief supply• Lack of purchasing power• Providing clean drinking water• Additional food to women, pregnant and nursing mothers throughpublic distribution system

Migration• Lack of local employment

Increased workload
on women• Women do more household work and fieldwork and it increases during drought times

Less participation of • Women (especially ethnic women) don’t
women inhave security of land tenurecommunity programs • Women in general lack access to formal
resources• Women are discriminated against in
employment and hence the hindered skill
generation• Social role of being restricted to household
activities• Lack of social recognition of their work
Stress on old people • Migration of young
Cutting of forests
Loss of biodiversity• Lack of employment facilities• Recurring drought and heat stress

Saline water
intrusion and Overexploitation ofgroundwater• Excessive withdrawal of groundwater• Lack of regulatory policies• Modification of relief distribution practices based on the review ofexisting relief management• Establishing local food buffer stocks both by the government andlocal communities• Promoting non-agricultural livelihood options such as crafts• Skill identification and enhancement through training programs• Providing cooperative market facilities to market the outputs• Share workload among family members• Make available more water as discussed above• Identify water supply points near dwellings and piped water supply• Advocacy for changing land tenure and implementing Grassroots
Democracy Decree.
• Increase women participation and representation throughempowerment• Create opportunities for women to work through skill development
and providing small credit, technical training, jobs and market
information• Social mobilization to change attitudes towards women• Increase community awareness on gender equity• Same as above• Establishment of village teams to take care of old people in the
migration season• Same as above• Identification of vulnerable species• Encouraging community involvement in maintaining biodiversity• Introduction of better irrigation management practices• Water pricing and other similar regulatory policies

Mitigation(M), response
(R)

R

M
M

M

M
M
M
M

51

Agriculture•

Developing drought resistant crop varieties•

Provision of know- how on dry season cropping techniques•

Ensuring appropriate crop seeds in place before rains•

Develop village seed bank with seeds of traditional and improved drought resistantcrops/varieties•

Impart training on economic water use•

Subsidize/facilitate supply of seeds/irrigation equipment•

Establish farmer field schools and mobile libraries•

Meteorological forecasts and corresponding cultivation advise•

Improved soil moisture management•

Reduce run-off/increase rain water infiltration by planting barriers such as Vetiver, lemon
grass, Agave etc•

Increase fertility and water holding capacity of the soil through addition of organic manures
and green manures•

Proper land use planning as per the land capability classification•

Promote the mulching practices so that the limited available soil moisture is saved during
critical stages of the crop growth

Livelihood strategies•

Support and protect livelihoods, and livelihood diversification (carpentry, petty shops,
handicraft, etc.), so that people have a safety net to rely on during all stages of drought•

Establish/strengthen micro credit system

Domestic water use•

Rainwater harvesting (e.g. roof top rainwater harvesting)•Installing water pumps/wells•

Use of ‘home-made’, cheap and water-efficient drip irrigation for vegetable garden (for homeconsumption)

Health•Providing training in first aid (e.g. treating diarrhea and respiratory diseases)•

Public health promotion, awareness raising on health and hygiene•

Awareness raising on nutrition and home gardening•

Improve access to clean water•

Providing hygiene kits and knowledge to women on use of them52Animal husbandry•Store rice, paddy husk and other crop residues in barns for use during scarcity•

Grow seasonal grasses/perennial fodder trees in community forest, fallow lands, andpermanent pastures•

Recommend farmers to avoid burning of crop residues in the field and use them as animal
feed by treating them•

Establish fodder bank at community/household level•

Improve the quality and productivity of the existing livestock population either throughartificial insemination or other breeding practices or replacing them with exotic breeds•

Preserve endangered productive & drought resistant local animal breeds•

Promote rearing goat, sheep and dry ducks in areas of feed and water scarcity•

Construct rainwater harvesting structures (mini-ponds, tanks)

Formation of drought management boards
Vietnam is one of the most disaster-prone countries in the Mekong region. Floods and typhoons
have been very frequent during the past three decades, and seem to have a greater severity. Floods
and typhoons have been a constant threat to the life and productivity of the Vietnamese people.
Therefore, the governments have given importance to cope with typhoons and floods by
establishing Flood Management Boards at province, district, and commune levels. The national
forum has suggested establishing drought management boards at different levels of governments
and organizations. The participants have also suggested the roles of different organizations
participating in drought management board (Table 30).
It is often difficult to predict the exact onset and cessation of drought, hence making it difficult toinitiate response and relief operations in time. Absence of reliable drought forecastingmechanisms makes things even worse. Looking at the success of Boards for dealing with theflood and typhoon risks, Vietnam government should consider establishing special Boards fordrought risk mitigation as well. To begin with, the existing boards may be equipped to deal withthe drought related contingencies. Slowly, upon obtaining sufficient resources, dedicated Boards
could be established which will plan for drought risk mitigation, in addition to drought response
and relief. These Boards may be provided with sufficient technically skilled personnel who cankeep a watch on local meteorological conditions and develop contingency plans in association
with agriculture, water resources, and rural development personnel.
Table 30: The responsibility of different bodies in drought management boards

Body
Central Government
Provincial governments
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural
development- Department of Irrigation- Department of Agriculture and Rural
development in provincial
Ministry of Health
Ministry of Natural Resource andEnvironment- Department of Natural Resource andEnvironment

Responsibility- Provide guidance at the national level- Provide guidance at the province level- Water supply- Research on strategies for land use planning and water
regulation- Cropping patterns- Suggest cropping schedule- Provide health facilities in case of emergency- Drought forecasting- Drought declaration- Drought assessment- Development planning53

Ministry of Labor

Body

Ministry of Transportation
Ministry of Finance
Other Social organizations (Women’s
union, farmer associations etc)
Red Cross (International NGOs)
Local NGOs
Scientists and research institutes
Communities

Water supply and Irrigation companies
Media
Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Responsibility- Food supply- Implementation of food for work programs- Help other organizations in case of emergency- Water transportation managements- Provide finances for long-term and short-term programs tocope and mitigate impacts of drought- Participate in meetings- Provide ideas for better implementation- Promote public participation in programs- Provide relief- Strategic research- Community needs assessment- Food assistance- Capacity building- Providing sustainable livelihoods for communities- Research and training on drought risk mitigation- Developing sustainable livelihood for communities- Participate in programs- Help various stakeholders understand impacts of drought
and in designing better management programs- Coping with impacts of drought- Water supply- Implement water regulations- Disseminate drought forecasts and better management
practices- Negotiate on sharing water resource with other countries

54

*

+

!

There is a need to measure the water demand of all sectors in Ninh Thuan province and identify
appropriate water sources to, including extending irrigation and water harvesting facilities, tobridge the gap between supply and demand. Sectors to which water should be provided is to be
decided thorough consultation with stakeholders and based on the relative importance of eachsector in the economic wellbeing of the province. NGOs, government and communities should sit
together to find out solutions for drought prone areas.
We recommend that the following activities should be undertaken before acting upon the policy
options identified in the previous section.
1. Conduct feasibility studies•

To narrow down the policy options•

To increase the success of identified policy options

2. Conduct stakeholder consultations to•

identify stakeholders and distribute the responsibilities•

prioritize the policy options based on the resources available with various stakeholders•

identify the financial, technological and human resources needed for the drought risk
reduction activities•

identify the gaps in the existing capacity within the intervening agencies, and•to identify the time-frame for implementation of drought risk reduction activities

55

,

-!

.

!

Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, 2005. Final annual report. Ninh Thuan
Province
Department of Natural Resource and Environment. 2006. Inventory data on land use in Ninh
Thuan province in 2005. Ninh Thuan Province
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Province
Department of Statistics of Ninh Thuan province, 1996. Statistical Year Book 1995. Statistical
Publishing House, Ho Chi Minh City
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Department of Statistics of Ninh Thuan Province, 2002. Statistical Year Book 2001. Statistical
Publishing House, Ho Chi Minh city
Department of Statistics of Ninh Thuan province, 2006. Statistical Year Book of 2005. Statistical
Publishing House, Ho Chi Minh city
Institute of Irrigation Planning in the South of Vietnam, 2006. Checking and planning for
irrigation systems construction in Cai River valley from 2010 to 2020
Knutson, C., M. Hayes, and T. Phillips. How to reduce drought risk. Western Drought
Coordination Council, University of Nebraska, Lincoln
Oxfam. 2005. Assessment of drought impact in Ninh Thuan. Oxfam in Vietnam, Hanoi
Oxfam. 2005. Project proposal of livelihood programme for Ninh Thuan Province. Oxfam in
Vietnam, Hanoi
Sub-Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology in the South Vietnam. 2005. The Meteorology andHydrology characteristics of Ninh Thuan province
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Manager Unit, UNDP

56