Addressing Livelihood Vulnerability for Improved Flood Management Policies in An Giang Province, Vietnam
This policy brief examines livelihood vulnerability to floods in An Giang Province, Vietnam, using the Livelihood Vulnerability Index (LVI) to identify factors affecting flood-prone communities. It highlights policy measures to strengthen livelihoods, improve flood management, and support more effective local responses to flood risks.
An Giang province in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam is one of the provinces in Vietnam that is most vulnerable to floods. Every year, the floods caused by the monsoonal rains affect thousands of households. Despite a number of efforts by both the local and central government, flood management was not effective due to several factors of which one of the most important was the lack of tools for assessment of livelihoods and vulnerabilities to understand how people especially the poorer sections live and make their livelihoods. Other key barriers to effective flood management included:
- Current policies, guidance and recommendations for flood damages reduction are ambiguous, not specific, and not directly applicable to the local context especially to local people’s livelihood. Local government agencies find it difficult to implement these policies.
- Flood disaster management is fragmented with sectorial policies (e.g. agricultural policies, etc.) and line agency responsibilities, while assessment of local livelihood vulnerability remains a challenge. Development activities in coping with flood disasters often ignore the needs of people’s livelihoods and this worsens flood-related vulnerability and poverty.
An Giang province in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam is one of the provinces in Vietnam that is most vulnerable to floods. Every year, the floods caused by the monsoonal rains affect thousands of households. Despite a number of efforts by both the local and central government, flood management was not effective due to several factors of which one of the most important was the lack of tools for assessment of livelihoods and vulnerabilities to understand how people especially the poorer sections live and make their livelihoods. Other key barriers to effective flood management included:
- Current policies, guidance and recommendations for flood damages reduction are ambiguous, not specific, and not directly applicable to the local context especially to local people’s livelihood. Local government agencies find it difficult to implement these policies.
- Flood disaster management is fragmented with sectorial policies (e.g. agricultural policies, etc.) and line agency responsibilities, while assessment of local livelihood vulnerability remains a challenge. Development activities in coping with flood disasters often ignore the needs of people’s livelihoods and this worsens flood-related vulnerability and poverty.
