Gender differences in adaptation strategies to salinity intrusion in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam

Abstract 

There has been a growing interest in gender differences in adaptation strategies to climate change, due to the significant disparity in both knowledge and access to various resources between male and female farmers. The existing studies on gender differences have mostly examined the adaptation strategies of male-headed and female-headed farm households. Fewer studies have looked at the coping strategies of wives and husbands in response to climate change. This study investigates the opinions of wives and husbands in farm households concerning desirable adaptive responses to salinity intrusion. Data were collected via a survey of farm households in three coastal provinces in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam. The sample includes 117 married couples who have been growing rice for several years. The findings indicate that wives and husbands have different opinions on adaptation strategies. Different factors affect wives’ and husbands’ choices of adaptive measures as well as the number of adaptive measures that they would consider taking. We focus on the role of wives’ access to education, participation in formal institutions, and training on adaptation to salinity intrusion because those factors affect both the type and number of adaptive measures that wives indicate they would take. To equalize women’s access to information, wives in farming households should be given timely and adequate support, be encouraged to join more social activities and associations, and receive learning opportunities equal to those for their husbands. 

Keywords: Adaptation; Gender; Intra-household; Mekong Delta; Salinity intrusion