Livelihood transformation towards climate change adaptation in Ben Tre: A gender analysis

In Vietnam, coastal areas are considered to be at risk of livelihood vulnerability due to climate change, with the Mekong Delta being the most vulnerable (MONRE, 2021). The Delta is a predominantly agricultural region, incorporating rice cultivation, aquaculture, fisheries, and forestry. It contributes 50 percent of Vietnam’s rice production (90% of which is grown for export) and 70% of its aquaculture products (IUCN and VAWR 2016). Communities along the Mekong are being affected by changes in climatic and hydrological conditions affecting household incomes as well as social and economic changes affecting their well-being (WWF-Greater Mekong, 2016). Therefore, people in the Mekong Delta are transforming their livelihoods and lifestyles to become more resilient and adapted to climatic changes over time. In particular, climate change is a threat to the livelihoods of the farming community, in which men and women play their roles in the livelihood transition process depending on the tasks assigned to them in their family's agricultural work.

Ben Tre, a province in the Mekong Delta, provides an example of how transformation towards climate change adaptation is well reflected through a gender perspective.