Application of Livelihood Vulnerability Index to Assess Risks From Flood Vulnerability and Climate Variability – A Case Study in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam
This study applies the Livelihood Vulnerability Index (LVI) to assess the vulnerability of flood-prone communities in An Giang Province, Vietnam, to floods and climate variability. Comparing two villages, the findings show that Phu Huu is more vulnerable than Ta Danh, particularly across livelihood, social, physical, and financial factors.
An Giang of the Mekong Delta is one of the most vulnerable provinces to flood and climate variability impacts, and that by annual flood, thousands of households are being at risks due to severe flood. Current management interventions remain a challenging task for decision makers and less understanding people livelihoods that leads to more vulnerable to flood and poverty. This study applied the livelihood vulnerability index (LVI) that developed by Hahn et al. (2009) to estimate flood vulnerability in two villages, Phu Huu (An Phu district) and Ta Danh (Tri Ton district) of An Giang province. We surveyed 120 households in each village to collect data on socio-demographics, livelihoods, health, social networks, physical and finance, natural resources, natural disasters and climate variability. Gathered data were calculated for LVIs using a composite index and differential vulnerabilities were compared. Results show that the overall LVI of Phu Huu is higher than overall LVI of Ta Danh village. The result is also suggested that this practical method may be applied for other purposes, to monitor vulnerability, evaluate potential program or policy effectiveness by introducing scenarios into the LVI model for baseline comparison.
Note: This article was published in Environmental Science and Engineering A, Volume 2, Number 8.
An Giang of the Mekong Delta is one of the most vulnerable provinces to flood and climate variability impacts, and that by annual flood, thousands of households are being at risks due to severe flood. Current management interventions remain a challenging task for decision makers and less understanding people livelihoods that leads to more vulnerable to flood and poverty. This study applied the livelihood vulnerability index (LVI) that developed by Hahn et al. (2009) to estimate flood vulnerability in two villages, Phu Huu (An Phu district) and Ta Danh (Tri Ton district) of An Giang province. We surveyed 120 households in each village to collect data on socio-demographics, livelihoods, health, social networks, physical and finance, natural resources, natural disasters and climate variability. Gathered data were calculated for LVIs using a composite index and differential vulnerabilities were compared. Results show that the overall LVI of Phu Huu is higher than overall LVI of Ta Danh village. The result is also suggested that this practical method may be applied for other purposes, to monitor vulnerability, evaluate potential program or policy effectiveness by introducing scenarios into the LVI model for baseline comparison.
Note: This article was published in Environmental Science and Engineering A, Volume 2, Number 8.
