Transformation of household livelihoods in adapting to the impacts of flood control schemes in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta

- Flood management schemes provide different social-ecological conditions for the development of livelihood patterns.
- Farming households have to transform their livelihood practices to adapt to changes caused by scheme operation.
- The transformation process is associated with the emergence of various farming initiatives.
- Household groups are polarized during the livelihood transformation process.

Flood control and irrigation play a significant role in supporting rice intensification and agricultural diversification in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta. Arising out of these mandatory policies have exhibited complicated realities surrounding the linkages between flood control schemes (dykes) and rural livelihoods. However, little has been known about how these development processes shape the social and physical landscapes of the delta, and how rural households have transformed their traditional livelihoods to adapt to change. This paper aims to investigate these household-led practices that have occurred in the wake of the scheme operation across three flood-prone areas in the delta. It employs the mixed methods approach that guides data collection using focus group discussions, in-depth interviews with key informants and household surveys. The analysis suggests that the rural communities have witnessed the dramatic transformation of livelihood practices to adapt to emerging social and environmental conditions. Household groups have devised and adopted a variety of livelihood strategies, which consequently gave rise to polarity among household groups. This study highlights the increased recognition of rural households' role in contributing farming initiatives to the reframing process of local adaptation policies.