Assessing Livelihood Vulnerability to Salinity Intrusion and Climate Variability A Case Study in Coastal Provinces of the Mekong River Delta of Vietnam

Abstract

Both ST (Soc Trang) and KG (Kien Giang) are coastal provinces of the Mekong River Delta and are most vulnerable to saline intrusion and climate variability. In 2016, thousands of Hhs (Households) in these coastal provinces were at risk due to severe drought and saline intrusion. This study applied the LVI (Livelihood Vulnerability Index) to estimate saline intrusion vulnerability of those two provinces. Data on socio-demographics, livelihoods, health, social networks, physical, financial and natural resources, natural disasters and climate variability were collected from a survey of 298 Hhs. From these data, the LVI of each coastal province was calculated. Results show that the overall LVI of KG province is higher than that of ST province. The analysis revealed that this practical method can be applied in different circumstances of climate change and purposes.