MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING CAN THO UNIVESITY SUMMARRY OF DOCTORAL THESIS Specialized: Rural Development Code:9620116 PHAM XUAN PHU FARMER’S INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE AND THEIR ADAPTIVE CAPACITY WITH FLOODS IN AN GIANG Can Tho, 2019 THE PhD THESIS WAS COMPLETED AT CAN THO UNIVERSITY Scientific supervisor: Assoc Prof Dr NGUYEN NGOC DE The doctoral thesis was evaluatedby The Board of Examiners at basic level Meeting at: Meeting room 3, 2nd floor, administrative house, Can Tho University At 8:00 a.m, date 04/08/2018 Reviewer 1: Assoc Prof Dr DUONG NGOC THANH Reviewer 2: Dr LE NGOC THACH The thesis can be referred at: Learning Resource Center, Can Tho University National Library of Vietnam LIST OF PUBLICATION P.X.PHU and N.N.DE, 2016 The situation and solutions for using indigenous knowledge of local people in adaptation to floods in An Giang province, Vietnam Asia-Pacific Journal of Rural Development, Volume XXVI, Number (2016) ISSN 1018-5291 Pham Xuan Phu and Nguyen Ngoc De, 2017 Assessment of vulrerrability on livelihood of farmer’s due to floods in An Giang province Journal of Agriculture and Rural development, No (2017) ISSN 1859-4581 Pham Xuan Phu and Nguyen Ngoc De, 2017 Farmer’s indigenous knowledge and their adaptive capacity to floods in An Giang province Can Tho University Journal of Science, No 50 (2017): 13-25 ISSN: 1859-2333 Pham Xuan Phu and Nguyen Ngoc De, 2018 Study on assessment of indigenous knowledge in adapting of farmes in An Giang Journal of Science and Technology Development – Science of the Earth and Environment, Volume 2, Number (2018) ISSN: ISSN: 1859-0128 Phu PX, De NN and Tran NTB Use of indigenous knowledge to adapt with climate change: A case study in An Giang province, in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam, 2019 Biomedical Journal of Scientific and Technical Research, Volume XII, Issue (2019): 1-4 ISSN 2574-1241 Pham Xuan Phu, Nguyen Ngoc De and Ngo Thuy Bao Tran, 2019 Contribution of indigenous knowledge to adapt to floods in Mekong Delta, Vietnam:Case study in An Phu, Chau Thanh, Tri Ton districts, An Giang province Journal of Modern Environmental Science and Engineering, Volume 5, Number (2019): 92-102 ISSN 2333-2581 Pham Xuan Phu, Nguyen Ngoc De and Ngo Thuy Bao Tran, 2019 Study on assessment of indigenous knowledge in adapting to floods of farmers in An Giang province, Mekong Delta, Vietnam Journal of Acta Scientific Agriculture, Volume 3, Number (2019): 275-283 ISSN 2581-365X Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Necessity of dissertation An Giang, one of the headwater provinces in the Mekong River Basin, should be influenced by the annual floods When floods coming, besides bringing a huge amount of silt and improving soil fertility, field sanitation, washing alum (Duong Van Nha, 2006); as well as creating jobs and income for local people through natural fishing, aquatic vegetable picking, tourist services, ect However, from 2000 to the present, the abnormal flood circumstances have affected livelihoods of local people To be able to adapt to the changes of the flood, with the changes of the society and environment, human must always know how to use indigenous knowledge to exploit natural resources appropriately and manage more flexibly (CRES, 2010) Indigenous knowledge in adapting to floods in An Giang is understood as experience that has been accumulated by the local community over many generations and inherited widely It is reflected in the lives of local people and harmonized responses to floods every year to effectively exploit resources brought by the flood, but to avoid the damage caused by floods (Van et al., 2011).Responding to floods activities based on prior knowledge of the local community should be investigated and disseminated effectively to contribute to the sustainable development of the locality before the circumstances of climate change are affecting vagaries of floods There had many systematical research and evaluation relevance system to indigenous knowledge to adapt to flooding changes in agricultural production in the study area in the scene of climate change, preserve medicinal plants, preserve genes, local varieties, live with floods in the Mekong Delta, change the weather of author Warren (1995); Luise (1999); Hoang Xuan Ty and Le Trong Cuc (1998); Mai Van Tung(2006); Hoang Thi Hoang Ngan (2010), Van et al., (2011); Bui Quang Minh (2013); Ngo Van Le et al., (2016), Le Thi Thanh Huong and Nguyen TrungThanh (2016) However, the fact that there has not had many systematical research indigenous knowedge system and assessment of indigenous knowledge in adapting to floods of farmer’s in study sites in context climate change For these reasons, it is necessary to carry out the study on “ Farmer’s indigenous knowedge and their adative capacity to floods in An Giang province” This research was carried out to systematize and assess the appropriateness of farmer’s indigenous knowledge and their abilityadapt with the flood in An Giang province, results of the research will provide a scientific foundation for proposing solutions to conserve and enhance the use of indigenous knowledge in reducing the vulnerability of people living in flooding changes in agricultural production in the study area in the scene of climate change 1.2 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES 1.2.1 General objective To provide information on farmer’s indigenous knowedge and their adative capacity to floods in An Giang province provide a scientific foundation for proposing solutions and policies to conserve and enhance the use of indigenous knowledge in reducing the vulnerability of people living in flooded areas and livelihood strategies of flood affected people are both effective and sustainable 1.2.2 Specific objectives (1) To systematize and assess the appropriateness of farmer’s indigenous knowledge and their adaptive capacity to floods of diffirent zone (upper zone, middle zone, lower zone) (2) To analyze the farmer’s vulnerability and their adaptive capacity to floods of diffirent zone (upper zone, middle zone, lower zone) (3) To propose solutions to conserve and enhance the use of indigenous knowledge in reducing the vulnerability of people living in flooded areas 1.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS (i) What is farmer’s indigenous knowledge in applying to floods of diffirent zone ? (ii) What is farmer’s indigenous knowledge and their adaptive capacity to floods of diffirent zone ? (iii) How are vulnerable factors affect of farmer's livelihood capacity to floods of diffirent zone ? (iv) What are proposing solutions to conserve and enhance the use of indigenous knowledge in reducing the vulnerability of people living in flooding areas and livelihood strategies of flood affected people are both effective and sustainable? 1.4 REASEACH SUBJECT AND SCOPE OF STUDY 1.4.1 Reasearch subjects Farmers are living in floodplains (upper zone, middle zone,lower zone) in no dyke and high dyke in An Phu, Chau Thanh, Tri Ton district in An Giang province 1.4.2 Scope of study This study was conducted from July 2015 to March 2016 in An Giang province 1.5 NEW CONTRIBUTIONS DISSERTATION OF THE 5.1.1 Scientific significance - The thesis contributes to systematizing indigenous knowledge of local peopleand operationalizes concepts related to indigenous knowledge and adaptive capacity to cope with flood events These concepts include concepts include indigenous knowledge, natural disasters and climate change, vulnerability to floods and climate change, method of determination qualitative vulnerability to floods and climate change - The results of the thesis summarized the folk experiences myths for flood prediction based on the biological appearance and environmental changes The information is very important to implement scientific research and translate folk stories into rural life - The folk expereince is very accurate to project flood which can be dissimilated into the annual flooded communities in order to observe, monitor, and predict floods in the community - Effective flood adaptation measures could be dissimilated in the community in order to reduce risk, damage induced by climate changes 5.1.2 Practical sinificance - The results contributed to the scientific baseline in flood risk management in An Giang and the Mekong Delta The government should develop suitable polices to ultilize the local folk knowledge in order to reduce the vulnerability due to floods, to enhance adaptive capacity by promoting livelihood strategies for adapting to climate change - The thesis synthesizes lessons, experience and scientific evidence in flood risk management These knowledge helps people and communities in An Giang province and the Mekong Delta developing appropriate measures in using indigenous knowledge for adapting to floods in agricultural production and life The thesis proposes some basic solutions to preserve and promote indigenous knowledge of people in adapting to floods in agricultural production and life This solution can be be scaled out and scaled up in similar Asian and global deltas 1.6 OUTLINE OF THE DISSERTATION The dissertation includes 290 pages of introduction, literature review, Research Methods, results and discussion, conclusion and recommendation, references and annexes, and also contains 36 tables, 42 figures, 14 information box and 148 references Chapter 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 2.1 APPROACH RESARCH In order to satisfy the research objectives, a sustainable livelihood approach study (DFID, 1999) was used to assess the vulnerability of flood-affected livelihoods and the effects of floods that were considered in the context of vulnerability The framework of sustainability In this study, livelihood damage was defined as the vulnerability to impact or disturbance occurring in and outside of the household related to household livelihoods The vulnerability to change in the study communes was calculated by applying the LVI calculation method proposed by Hahn et al.,(2009) The variables used to calculate the vulnerability index are the vulnerability of communities when floods are impacted and classified according to five different livelihood assets in the sustainable livelihoods framework such as natural capital, human capital, physical, social capital, financial capital (Figure 2.1) Predict floods water color by to know the flood next year large or smaller than the current year such as On December 30 of lunar year, people weigh a bottle of river water; On January 1, people get a different river water bottle at the same position then weigh two bottles, big flood are about to take place if the later bottle is heavier In the south wind, if the wind blows with rain, the water will rise quickly and flow strongly, then the flood will be high, vice versa if the wind blows back, then the flood Observing the behavior of animals such as ants, termites, nesting birds on tall trees; hammock on high; chicks, storks follow the herd; spider web is more in July lunar month, there will be heavy rain Observation of vegetation is based on (i) Reed shoots have 4-5 segments during Lunar May (2 segments indicate small flood); (ii) Reed leaf tip has more than segments (1 segments indicate smallflood),; (iii) Reed has 50 cm long segments.; (iv) Grass leaf grows near the tip or grows multiple segments (v) Young bamboo shoot grows higher than older ones; (vi) Elaeocarpus hygrophilus roots grows more than usual However, household interview results showed thatmost of the people in diffirent zone (upper zone, middle zone, lower zone) can not predict floods, of which the highest proportion of people without flood forecast (middle zone) is 89.4%, next to middle zone (86,7%) and upper zone (76,7%) The number of people predicted flood in all of diffirent zone is very low In addition, people also believe that the signal to forecast the flood has changed but not much Signs of flood forecasting such as cyclical and flood time observations, water color observations, 16 vegetation and water measure are no longer accurate Therefore, in order to forecast floods, people need to combine more information together Local people also said that in recent years, due to the unusual weather and complicated weather, the accuracy of flood forecasting and weather is not as high as before Particularly in 2011, bamboo shoots are not taller than bamboo shoots, but the water level is still high, or in 2015 there are many water eggs but no floods (PRA, 2016) 3.1.2 The situation of using indigenous knowledge of the local people to adapt to floods in study sites By living with the floods every year, local people have accumulated many experiences to forecast and adapt to floods in order to protect lives and property of people in life and in agricultural production By living experience with the floods from the previous floods, the people actively prevented and reduced flood damage First of all, local people in the flood area know how to build a house on stilts with lifts; When there are signs of rising water, people actively raise the floor For agricultural production, people actively change the seasonal calendar, cultivating, fertilizing, tillage and harvesting techniques Local people also know how to protect their livestock during the flood season by banana rafts, straw and mud on the raft, cattle and poultry on the raft Organic fertilizer for plants In catching aquatic species in all three study areas based on water level, observe fish caught to predict fish species will be present in the next day Facing abnormal floods, people in three study areas have changed the way floods are forecasted Unlike in the past, when floods were forecasted, people often paid 17 attention to the natural signs of prediction, but now they know how to combine indigenous knowledge with flood forecasting and the evolution of floods the media to find the appropriate response This approach was chosen by most people in all three regions (93,3%) Setting up a mobile kindergarten (floating house) means concentrating the children in a place to avoid floods of adults replacing children sitting to help keep parents safe during the flood season However, in the three study areas only the upper zone established the mobile kindergarten, the remaining two did not at middle zone and lower zone The cause may be that in the upper zone, floods are always flooded more deeply than the other middle zone and lower zone, local people in this area often use the flood season to exploit natural resources, in addition due to the ability to flood often The most common cause of death in children is higher than in the other two regions Therefore, this mobile kindergarten helps to reduce the loss of children's lives during the flood season Living house on stilts, this is a method of adaptation to floods that have been used by local people in floods for a long time In the past, local people in the flood area have known to build houses in the style of stilts on the lift; When there are signs of rising water, local people actively raise the floor However, for this adaptation method, there was a difference in the proportion of people using the three study areas, with 93,3% of the surveyed households in the upper zone, while in the middle zone and lower zone only 80% of households use this measure The results also showed that in the high flood area, the majority of local people in the house on stilts have the 18 height of 1,6-2,9m, accounting for 53,3% and the floor on 3m is 6,7% higher The remaining two areas are in lower zone and middle zone flood areas In contrast, people in the middle zone and lower zone flood areas have houses on stilts of 1,2-1.5 m, accounting for 46,7% and 33.3% higher than flood This showed that local people in high flood areas have high water levels, so they have higher house on stilt with lower floodplains and floods In each region, local people did not tend to change the height of the floor in the future accounts for 50% because people think they have taken the landmark of the two major floods to rebuild the house in 2000, 2011 Beside 35,6% of people in the study area wanted to raise the trend of raising houses more because local people think that the weather is very complicated, so in the following years the floods may be high in 2000 and in 2011 and very few people have the opposite trend 3.1.3 The situation of using indigenous knowledge of the local people to adapt to floods in agricultural production Based on the results of the survey, in agricultural production, local people in three research areas still obtain a lot of experience to adapt such as crop calendar change, seed cultivation, fertilization, tillage and harvest accordingly In addition, research results show that people need to access information from the media quickly to adapt to floods in agricultural production in climate change because current information usually they give very delay so they are unlikely to adapt In addition, the average level of education of the households is low, mainly illiterate or primary education and secondary education , which in part 19 has affected the adoption of science and technology in production to adapt to climate change On the other hand, the majority of farmers in general and cultivation of rice in particular often follow the experience not recommended by the scientists, so the farmers not have the attitude should certainly not follow advice and guidance of the professional 3.2 ASSESSING OF STABILITY FOR USING FARMER’S INDIGENOUS KNOWEDGE AND ADAPTIVE CAPACITY TO FLOODS IN AGRICULTURE PRODUCTION 3.2.1 Assessing of stability for farmer’s indigenous knowedge in flood forecasting The results showed that people predicted floods by priority rank one is wind direction, second comes based on animals, third is based on cycle and flood time, fourth is water color, fifth is vegetation Local people priority based on wind direction and animals still follow the laws of nature should remain consistent and accurate should preserve and promote this knowledge Based on the cycle and time of flood, water colors are not as accurate and consistent as before due to human impact 3.2.2 Assessing of stability for farmer’s indigenous knowedge in agriculture production and life activities The study compiled 39 indigenous knowledge and adaptability to floods and weather forecasts in agricultural production and livelihoods of local people in the study area In which, there are 31/39 indigenous knowledge still valuable in predicting and adapting to floods However, this knowledge has not been specifically recorded and 20 stored appropriately for transmission to the latter and widely shared in the community In addition, there are 8/39 indigenous knowledge that is no longer relevant and misleading compared to the present It should be considered in the current context due to human impacts and climate change Therefore, the possibility of flood forecast of the people also decreased, only a small number of people can predict the flood, the weather It is necessary to increase knowledge and encourage people to combine indigenous knowledge and scientific knowledge to minimize the damage caused by floods 3.3 ASSESSMENT ON VULNERABILITY TO FLOOD CHANGES ON THE LIVELIHOODS OF FARMERS IN NO DYKE AND HIGH DIKE IN STUDY SITES 3.3.1 Assessment on vulnerability to flood changes on the livelihoods of farmers in no dyke in study sites Through the analysis of sources and livelihood vulnerability index (LVI) of 10 key components, 30 subcomponents and capital sources showed that the upper zone is the most vulnerable in study sites Within capital sources such as: Natural capital, Human capital, Financial capital and Social capital have high vulnerability index in all three regions On the contrary, physical capial have the lowest vulnerability index (Figure 3.1) 21 Natural disater and climate… Livelihood strategy Human capital 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.0 Financial capital Upper zone Natural capital Social capital Physical capital Middle zone Lower zone Figure 3.1 Vulnerability diagram of five capital of upper zone, middle zone, lower zone in no dyke in study sites Specifically, livelihood vulnerability index average of H, N, S, P, F (In which: H: Human capital; N: Natural capital; S: Social capital; P: Physical capital; F: Financial capital) in Phu Huu commune is the highest at 0,390; Vinh Phuoc commune at 0,331; and the lowest is Vinh An commune at 0,287 The values of the LVI components ranged from (low level of vulnerability) in the center of the figure to 0.5 (maximum extent of vulnerability) in the outermost region and the oscillation range was 0,1  LVI-IPCC vulnerability index no dyke in sudy sites Results calculated in accordance to LVI-IPCC (level of exposure, adaptive capacity and sensitivity) based on the sub-components of household characteristics, livelihood strategies and social networks in three communes in Phu Huu Vinh An, Vinh Phuoc indicate that interviewed households in Phu Huu (upper zone) with 22 greater level of influence, sensitivity and adaptability than households in Vinh An and Vinh Phuoc; Vinh An commune (middle zone) has lowest level of influence, sensitivity and adaptive capacity 3.3.2 Assessment on vulnerability to flood changes on the livelihoods of farmers in high dyke in study sites Through the analysis of sources and livelihood vulnerability index (LVI) of 10 key components, 30 subcomponents and capital sources showed that the lower zone is the most vulnerable in study sites For each of cappial sources of the three in study sites in high dykes showed that human capital in middle zone had a higher vulnerability index than the upper zone and lower zone On the contrary, lower zone of the social capital and financial capital have higher vulnerability than the upper zone and middle zone For upper zone of the vulnerability indexes are lower than middle zone and lower zone Specifically, livelihood vulnerability index average of H, N, S, P, F (In which: H: Human capital; N: Natural capital; S: Social capital; P: Physical capital; F: Financial capital) in Luong An Tra commune (lower zone) is the highest at 0,258; An Hoa commune (middle zone) at 0,201; and the lowest is Phuoc Hung commune at 0,183 The values of the LVI components ranged from (low level of vulnerability) in the center of the figure to 0.5 (maximum extent of vulnerability) in the outermost region and the oscillation range was 0,1  LVI-IPCC vulnerability index high dyke in sudy sites Results calculated in accordance to LVI-IPCC (level of exposure, adaptive capacity and sensitivity) 23 based on the sub-components of household characteristics, livelihood strategies and social networks in three communes in Phuoc Hung, An Hoa, Luong An Tra in high dyke study sites The results showed that the vulnerability of people in three communes is low and medium (Figure 3.2) In particular, Luong An Tra (lower zone) has the LVI-IPCC vulnerability index as the lowest, followed by An Hoa commune (middle zone), the highest is Phuoc Hung (upper zone) with the index times turns is -0,016; -0,011 and 0,005 The vulnerability to climate change in the three communes in the high dyke area is nearly the same and there is no difference in the three communes with high dike systems, which makes the high dyke in the less vulnerable caused flood Figure 3.2 Vulnerability diagram of five capital of upper zone, middle zone, lower zone in high dyke in study sites 24 3.4 RELATION BETWEEN LIVELIHOOD VULRERABILITY INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE STUDY SITES 3.4.1 Comparison of household livelihood vulnerability in no dyke and high dyke in study sites The results of the household survey show that the index of livelihood damage caused by the impact of floods outside the dyke is higher than that in the dyke This shows that the area outside the annual dyke is heavily influenced by floods such as floods that cause crop failures, affecting houses and livelihoods, mainly based on natural resources It is also limited and less of a job during the flood season However, in the dyke area, there are also many difficulties The dike is not affected by the floods, but it is polluted by water, the stock of pesticides and agricultural diseases, especially affecting More health than the dike Therefore, the area outside the dike is more vulnerable to livelihoods due to flood than the embankment Specifically through the LVI and LVI-IPCC indicators Table: 3.1 Comparison of household livelihood vulnerability in no dyke and high dyke in study sites Study sites LVI LVIIPCC Phuoc Hung 0.183 High dyke An Luong Hoa An Tra 0.201 0.258 Phu Huu 0.390 No dyke Vinh An 0.287 0.001 Vinh Phuoc 0.331 -0.015 3.4.2 Comparison of household indigonous knowledge in agriculture producton in no dyke and high dyke in study sites The results (Table 3.2) show that with α = 5%