scholarly journals Assessment of the livelihood sustainability of rice farmers in the upper floodplains of the Vietnamese Mekong delta

Author(s):  
Doan Thi Diem Thuy ◽  
Tran Duc Dung ◽  
Pham Dang Manh Hong Luan ◽  
Nguyen Thi Thanh Duyen

Rural areas and rural livelihoods in many countries have been affected by changes in natural and environmental conditions. In areas where livelihoods relied on the floodwater, changes in flood regimes and the natural environment had significantly impacted many farmers' livelihoods. In the Mekong Delta flooded areas, flood patterns changed mainly due to the hydropower development and the climate change. The livelihoods of many farmers, primarily rice farmers, were facing challenges and needed changes to adapt to the sustainable livelihood development. This study used a sustainable livelihood framework of DFID to assess factors affecting the sustainability in agricultural livelihoods in flooded areas of An Giang province, specifically at Phu Hiep and Phu Long communes of Phu Tan district. We interviewed 60 farmers based on the structured questionnaire and conducted two focus group discussions with more than 40 participating farmers. Our results of the Livelihood Capitals Index (LCI) showed that natural and physical capitals had less impact on household livelihoods. Phu Long is less affected than Phu Hiep by assessing five capitals. Farm households' current livelihoods were mainly affected by the lack of human resources and the unstability of market prices. The rate of consensus on transition to sustainable farming models was not high due to many factors. However, the transition is possible if their production and output are secured by the government.

Author(s):  
Abel Kinyondo ◽  
Joseph Magashi

Poverty reduction has been a difficult milestone for Tanzania to achieve despite recording remarkable economic growth over the past decade. This is because the attained growth is not inclusive, in that sectors contributing to this growth employ fewer people. Given the fact that agriculture continues to employ the majority of people in Tanzania, efforts to improve livelihoods should necessarily be geared towards transforming the sector. It is in this context that using a sample of 3,000 farmers from 13 regions of Tanzania; this Tanzania, this study set out to examine challenges facing farmers and their respective solutions following the sustainable livelihood framework. Findings show that improving farmers’ livelihoods would entail concerted efforts by the government to avail to farmers, quality and affordable seeds, fertilizer, agricultural infrastructures, subsidies, extension services, markets, information alert, affordable loans, and areas for pastures. This implies that the government needs to allocate enough funds to the agricultural sector if farmers’ needs are to be met. We note, however, that government’s allocation to the sector has alarmingly generally been exhibiting a declining trend for the past four years. It is against this background that we strongly recommend that the government rethinks its position and prioritize the agricultural sector in its budget.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Toluwalope Ogunro ◽  
Luqman Afolabi

PurposeRecently, multidimensional aspects of poverty has been increasingly focused on which includes education, economy and health, while access to modern energy such as stable electricity is also one of the possible solution; thus, this article aims to divulge the relation between access to electricity and progression in socioeconomic status in urban and rural areas of Nigeria in an attempt to propose a sustainable framework for access to electricity.Design/methodology/approachDemographic and health survey data are collected using four categories of model of questionnaires. A standard questionnaire was designed to gather information on features of the household's dwelling element and attributes of visitors and usual residents between the 2018 period. Biomarker questionnaire was used to gather biomarker data on men, women and children. Logistic model estimation technique was employed to estimate the socioeconomic factors affecting access to electricity in Nigeria.FindingsThese studies discovered that there are diverse set of factors affecting access to electricity in Nigeria especially in the rural areas. However, respondent residing in rural areas are still largely deprived access to electricity; most importantly, households with no access to electricity are more likely to use self-generating sets as revealed. Additionally, empirical findings indicated that the higher the level of your education and wealth, the higher the likelihood of having access to electricity in Nigeria. These factors included political will to connect the rural areas to the national grid, development of other infrastructures in those deprived areas and others.Practical implicationsThe problem confronting access to electricity in Nigeria has three components. The first is the significance of those deprived access to electricity in the rural areas and the physical resources needed to connect them to the national grid. The second is the political willingness of the government to have equitable distribution of public goods evenly between rural and urban areas especially on electricity access which will go a long way in reducing poverty in Nigeria. The third is lack of robust national development plans and strategy to tackle the problems facing electricity access in Nigeria.Social implicationsAs the rate of socioeconomic status/development increases, access to electricity is anticipated to rise up in Nigeria.Originality/valueThe findings can be used by the policy makers to address problems facing access to electricity in Nigeria.


Author(s):  
Tran Thi Hieu ◽  
Tra Van Tung ◽  
Le Thanh Hai ◽  
Le Quoc Vi ◽  
Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao ◽  
...  

The objective of this study is to apply the AIZES: Agro – Industrial zero emission system (including components such as garden - livestock - biogas - household- treatment) for households whose main livelihoods are mango and pig farming to minimize environmental pollution and creating livelihoods for farmers in rural areas in the Mekong Delta. The results show that the amount of waste generated from the main components of the model is circulated and reused optimally. In this model, the biological componentsc (B: composting và Biogas) are important in converting the organic waste generated in the model into other useful products to re-serve the model. The T component (Biochar wastewater treatment station) is also important in the treatment of wastewater after biogas tanks to achieve standards and reuse in garden water supply, the remaining components play a role in contributing waste to the model for the best operation of the model (V: gaeden provide leaves, broken branches to burn to form Biochar, ....). In addition, the AIZES model has created a sustainable livelihood and contributed to an increase in household income of 77.100.000 VND after 1 year of application.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 851-856 ◽  
Author(s):  
Quoc Nghi Nguyen ◽  
Van Nam Mai

Relationship quality plays a key role in maintaining the connection among parties in a supply chain. Relationship quality promotes loyalty of the supply chain’s factors. This study applies structural equation modeling (SEM) to point out factors affecting the relationship quality and loyalty between farmers and food companies in the rice supply chain. The research data were collected by stratified sampling with a sample size of 232 farmers associating with food companies in the rice supply chain in the Mekong Delta. The four impacting factors that the study has found out include trust, perceived benefit, support policy, and payment terms. Most importantly, the study has demonstrated that relationship quality has a positive correlation with loyalty among parties in the regional rice supply chain.


2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 13
Author(s):  
Kindeye Fenta Mekonnen ◽  
Yohannes Abera

Modern renewable energy is an important tool to achieve socio-economic transformation, particularly in rural areas of developing countries like Ethiopia. However, most people do not access modern energy and thus providing it is one of the daunting tasks that the government has faced. Knowing energy choice of households is one of the important factors to bring energy transition. However, limited studies are undertaken in the Country on this area. Thus, this paper tried to address the gap by investigating factors affecting households lighting energy choice by taking sample of 442 households in Mida Oromo and Wonisho Districts of Ethiopia. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were employed for analyzing the data. The result shows that households consume a range of traditional, transitional and modern lighting energy sources available in their areas. Wealthy households prefer lighting energy sources that are clean and relatively expensive including, grid electricity and solar energy unlike households in lower income category who opt to cheap and easily available energy sources. The study further highlighted that income is not the only factor affecting household energy transitions. Family size, access to market and road infrastructure, asset of the household and the district of the households, mobile and radio ownership and education attainment of the head or family members are found to be an important determinants affecting energy transition of rural households. The study concluded that any program that aim to provide modern lighting energy sources need to consider all these diverse factors and local contexts.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tahira Sadaf ◽  
Rakhshanda Kousar ◽  
Zia Mohy Ul Din Mohy Ul Din ◽  
Qaisar Abbas ◽  
Muhammad Sohail Amjad Makhdum ◽  
...  

Purpose This study aims to analyze access of cotton growers to Sustainable Livelihoods Assets Pakistani Punjab. Design/methodology/approach This study uses the department for international development (DFID’s) sustainable livelihoods framework (DFID) (1999). Where data collection was done by using a well-structured questionnaire from 200 randomly selected cotton growers of the district Muzaffargarh. There are five livelihood assets (human assets, natural assets, financial assets, physical assets and social assets) in the SLF, this study has used three different indicators/proxies for each asset except natural assets, where four indicators were used to capture the salient features of the respondents’ access to that assets. Each indicator was given a weight by using the entropy technique to keep the consistency of the quantification. Livelihood assets indices were calculated in case of each livelihood asset for conducting Livelihood Assets Pentagon Analysis. Value of livelihood index ranged from 0–4. Findings Livelihoods Assets Pentagon analysis shows that cotton growers do not have proper access to all five livelihood assets. The asset with the highest capacity were social assets (sustainable livelihood index value = 0.3994), followed by natural assets (0.3294), financial assets (0.2511), human assets (0.2143) and physical assets (0.0897). Originality/value This study uses the SLF developed by DFID for analyzing factors affecting access to livelihoods assets of cotton growers in Pakistani Punjab. Sustainable agriculture and sustainable rural livelihoods lead to sustainable livelihoods where environment quality is taken into consideration. The study contains significant and new information.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (18) ◽  
pp. 4919 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jingbo Fan ◽  
Aobo Ran ◽  
Xiaomeng Li

As the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases, China has been attracting attention. In the global carbon emission structure, the proportion of household carbon emissions continues to increase, and it is necessary to focus on the issue of household emissions. Based on the perspective of the family sector and the comparison of urban–rural and interprovincial differences, this study makes a thorough and systematic analysis of the factors affecting direct household carbon emissions. The average carbon emission of urban households is higher than that of rural households. Both personal background and household energy consumption facility use have important impacts on household carbon emissions, and the degree of impact varies between urban and rural areas and between provinces. Reducing household carbon emissions and achieving a harmonious coexistence between man and nature are the common goals of the government and society. The government should explore the model of green sustainable development on the basis of ensuring the energy needs of residents. Residents should also further establish a low-carbon life concept and focus on the cultivation of low-carbon lifestyles.


2008 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 235-266 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roy Maconachie

ABSTRACTSierra Leone has recently emerged from a long period of political instability and civil war, and is ranked among the world's poorest countries. Thousands of displaced people are in the process of returning to their villages to rebuild their mainly farming-based livelihoods, and many are growing food crops for the first time in a decade. With pressure on food production increasing in rural areas, the inland valley swamps have been identified by the government as a vital resource for sustaining rural livelihoods and achieving food security through the production of rice and other commodities. However, previous government policies directed at enhanced wetland production have largely failed to achieve their goals, and have been criticised for neglecting the institutional challenges of development. Drawing on recent fieldwork carried out in two rural communities in the Eastern Province, this paper considers how institutional arrangements function in Sierra Leone's swamp wetlands, and explores how stresses associated with a post-conflict environment are shaping land-use decisions and mediating access to resources in new ways. The findings of the enquiry have implications for Sierra Leone's recently adopted commitment to decentralisation, a move that has, in theory, seen the state strengthen its position at the local level, and will allegedly create new spaces for increased interaction between state agencies, traditional leaders and communities. Two institutional challenges are examined – access to land and access to labour – that must be addressed if decentralised reforms to resource management are to be effective for wetland rice production. The analysis concludes by considering one recent initiative at the forefront of efforts to decentralise the Ministry of Agriculture, the ‘Agricultural Business Unit’ (ABU) initiative, to elucidate some of the challenges faced in post-conflict wetland rehabilitation.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 80-85
Author(s):  
Rubina Akhtar ◽  
Muhammad Amjed Iqbal ◽  
Allah Bakhsh

The fundamental point of the investigation was to assess the effect of various components on the pay of rural women in the region Faisalabad. For this, a stratified sampling procedure was utilized. At the first stage, the Faisalabad district was chosen purposively. In the second stage, five regions of each class were chosen through a simple random sampling technique. The total sample size was comprised of 150 respondents. A pre-tested questionnaire was used to gather the information from chosen respondents through the personal interview technique. Descriptive Statistics were used to explore the socio-economic characteristics of rural women. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to estimate the impact of different factors affecting the income of rural women. According to the estimated results, the age of the respondents has a positive and highly significant impact. This indicates that one year increase in the age of women would increase her income by 0.314 units. The estimated result of education described that for every one year in an increase in schooling year of women will increase the income by 0.191 unit. The variable of family sizes of the respondents has a significant and positive effect on the respondent’s income. Working hours of the respondents have a positive and significant effect on respondent’s income. The satisfaction of the respondents has a positive and significant effect on the respondent’s income. Female participation in the market increases with the growing levels of higher education. It is recommended that the government should provide education to the females especially in rural areas.


Author(s):  
Hamid EL BILALI ◽  
Michael HAUSER ◽  
Sinisa BERJAN ◽  
Otilija MISECKAITE ◽  
Lorenz PROBST

In rural areas, especially in low and middle-income countries, livelihoods have to diversify to include new on- and off-farm activities. However, sustainable livelihood concepts have so far not sufficiently accommodated transition dynamics. Mostly, rural livelihoods and sustainability transitions are addressed separately in the scientific literature. The aim of this review paper is to explore opportunities to integrate the Sustainable Livelihoods Approach (SLA) and the Multi-Level Perspective (MLP) on transitions. We provide an overview of the SLA and MLP. We then focus on the conceptual linkages between SLA and MLP, in particular regarding livelihood diversification strategies. Our review shows that the conceptual overlaps of the SLA and the MLP allow for a meaningful combination of both approaches to harness their respective strengths. Vulnerabilities from the SLA perspective (e.g. shocks, trends, changes) are considered at the landscape level in MLP. Policies, institutions, processes in SLA are part of ‘regime’ in the MLP heuristic. The livelihood diversification in SLA, e.g. the development of new on- and off-farm activities, can be described as niches in MLP. Some empirical work on agricultural transitions from the MLP perspective has adopted a territorial approach to take into consideration the pluri-activity of farms and the interactions between different subsystems (food, energy and tourism). This resonates well with the idea of livelihood diversification as a strategy in SLA. We conclude that integrating SLA and MLP will help to better understand livelihood diversification processes and we provide a preliminary proposal for a livelihood transition framework.


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