Vulnerability and resilience to drought and saltwater intrusion of rice farming households in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam

This study examines the distribution of vulnerability and resilience to drought and salt intrusion impacts among rice farmers in the rural Mekong Delta in Vietnam. By defining both aspects independently, it examines potential differences in the socio-economic factors that steer them and analyses how these two aspects of adaptive capacity are related. 

Using fixed-effect regressions, the study finds that poorer communes are more vulnerable to direct environmental impacts (loss in rice yield). Supportive policies targeting this particular socioeconomic group to enable transition to non-crop or off-farm labour would substantially improve their resilience to future environmental events. Distinguishing between resilience and vulnerability enables a broader understanding of the mechanisms influencing the distribution of direct and indirect adverse impacts, which enables drafting targeted policy measures for specific socioeconomic groups.