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*Living with floods*
Bangkok Post, 25 May 2008
Through adaptation methods, Vietnamese living in the Mekong River
Delta are benefiting from the annual inundation, writes SONGPOL
KAOPATUMTIP
For several decades, Huynh Van Phuc and fellow farmers in Vinh Binh
commune of An Giang province had suffered from the annual flooding in
the Mekong River Delta (MRD) that damaged infrastructure, disrupted
their commercial and agricultural activity, and caused human loss.
There were 407 deaths and property loss of around 2,284 billion dong
(about 4.7 billion baht) in the 1994 flood that affected An Giang and
six other Vietnamese provinces located in the MRD. The death toll rose
to 453 with property loss of 4,000 billion dong in the 2000 flood.
Significantly, the 1997 flood took the lives of many children, with
the overall death toll reaching 607 and 173,606 houses were destroyed.
In addition, vast quantities of paddy were damaged.
Concerned by the heavy loss of life and damage done to property and
farmland, the Vietnamese government has adopted important policies
aimed at enabling people in the MRD to live with floods.
More importantly, local governments have devised several methods to
exploit the potentially natural benefits of floods to improve people's
livelihoods.
Mr Phuc, for example, earns a monthly profit of 1.4 million dong by
raising eels in plastic boxes during the flood season. The project was
introduced by officials in Vinh Binh commune in Chau Thanh district of
An Giang province five years ago. The main feeds for eels are golden
snails and small fish which can be collected from floodplains using
home-based labour.
''This is a suitable flood-based farming practice for the poor, which
requires little capital investment,'' said Nguyen Van Kien of An Giang
University's Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Mr Kien has
conducted research on economic and social benefits of flood-based
livelihoods in the MRD for the past five years.
According to Mr Phuc, eel farming also creates more jobs for his
neighbours. For example, other people can collect golden snails and
sell to him. ''My family is no longer in debt. I also use part of my
income from eel farming to rent more land for growing rice after the
flood season,'' said the 60-year-old farmer. In his commune, more than
30 households are now engaged in eel farming.
Income generation is part of a major programme introduced by the
Vietnamese government in the late 1990s to enable people living in the
delta to adapt to and benefit from flooding. Called ''Living with
Floods,'' the programme involved four main components.
Firstly, residential clusters were built along dykes and roads so that
no more evacuation of people was needed during the flood season.
Secondly, low-interest loans were given to poor people to heighten the
foundations of their houses, or to build new houses on stilts to
mitigate the impact of floods.
Thirdly, large canals were dug to enhance flood release capacity of
the river system.
Fourthly, the crop calendar was shifted to allow rice farmers to
harvest the summer crop before the arrival of the floods in August.
In addition to these measures, each province also introduced flood-
based farming practices to improve farmers' livelihoods during the
flood season.
''Farmers can now grow three rice crops in the flooded areas. They
also raise prawns, fish and eels in paddy fields, ponds and net cages
to earn extra income,'' explained Kien. ''In 2005, 406,937 flood-
related jobs were created in the delta.''
In fact, according to Kien, floods in the Mekong Delta have
traditionally been known to bring benefits which contribute
significantly to sustainable agriculture development in the region.
''The beautiful floods provide natural freshwater fish, other aquatic
animals and aquatic vegetables for improving local food security and
livelihoods,'' he said. It is estimated that the average fish harvest
in the delta is about 500 kilogrammes per household per year, which
provides a significant protein source for local people.
Moreover, the annual floods deposit 150 million tonnes of sediments on
paddy fields which are natural fertiliser. This helps to replenish the
soil and maintain soil fertility for rice cultivation. ''Evidence
shows that after every flood season, local rice farmers not only gain
higher yields but also use less fertiliser because of the nutrient
sediment,'' explained Kien.
And last, but not least, he said the floods help flush salted water
out of the farmland.
Climate change
With more than 3,000 kilometres of coastline _ 700 kilometres of it in
the MRD alone _ Vietnam is also vulnerable to sea level rise due to
climate change.
A World Bank study projects that Vietnam will be one of the five most
affected countries in the world. Under the most extreme scenarios, it
warns that the entire southern tip of Vietnam, an area of about 40,000
square kilometres, could be inundated.
Local officials are concerned. ''Flood-related disasters will increase
if no preventive measures are taken,'' said Ms Nguyen Thi Phuc Hoa
from the coastal city of Hue. ''In Vietnam, sea levels have increased
an average of 1-2 mm a year.''
Mr Kien and Ms Hoa were at a recent conference organised by the
International Development Research Centre (IDRC) in Bali, Indonesia on
the theme ''Climate Change Adaptation.''
According to Ms Hoa, the Vietnamese government has already developed
disaster preparedness in vulnerable communes, districts and provinces.
The Central Committee for Flood and Storm Control, or CCFSC, has been
set up to deal specifically with this matter. ''In Hue, we have
witnessed erratic weather in the past several years. We have had to
deal with unusual drought and saline intrusion, not to mention higher
temperatures during the summer months,'' noted Ms Hoa.
Her view is shared by Mr Manuel C. Rangasa from the Office of the
Governor of Albay in the Philippines. ''As an archipelagic developing
country composed of more than 7,000 small islands, the Philippines is
highly vulnerable to climate-related hazards,'' he said. ''Our farmers
have to cope with an average of 20 tropical cyclones a year.''
Especially vulnerable are upland farmers who rely on natural rainfall
as a source of water for their crops. A recent study in a Philippine
watershed shows that climate variations have a significant impact on
crop yields. These impacts range from water scarcity that affects
yields to damage to crops by strong winds, according to Mr Rangasa.
While mitigation activities are beneficial, he added, adaptation is
necessary to address impacts resulting from the warming which is
already unavoidable due to past CO2 and other greenhouse gas
emissions.
Mr Soulideth Souvannalath of the Environmental Research Institute in
Vientiane called for an integration of adaptation to climate change
with development policies. In Laos, rice farmers can cope with climate
change because they also engage in livestock farming. ''In fact, the
average farmer's income from livestock is nearly three times higher
than from rice,'' he told the conference.
As Mr Soulideth pointed out, the cost of rice production in Laos is
higher than livestock production. ''Villagers can cope with lower rice
production when they can rely on livestock,' he added.
Mr Edsel E. Sajor from the School of Environment at the Asian
Institute of Technology in Bangkok, said policy-makers must also look
beyond the agricultural sector to impacts on urbanisation, as more and
more poor people are moving to cities where they earn more.
''Climate change involves many things. And we should talk more about
empowering the rural sector,'' added Mr Sajor.
Participants at the conference agreed that climate change is gaining
more recognition but political will is still lacking. ''It is a global
problem and there must be a global effort,'' said an observer from
Thailand.
''The old ways of thinking and the obsolete schools of thought must
now give way to the framework of sustainable development. Old
behaviours must change and climate-damaging policies abolished,'' he
added.
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