By the sea (Vietnam)

This chapter excerpt from the new book, Sharing rice for peace and prosperity in the Greater Mekong Subegion, by Peter Fredenburg and Robert Hill, shows how innovative research in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam promotes farmers' fair sharing of natural resources.
 
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Some 2,000 kilometers from its start on the Chinese border, Vietnam’s fabled National Route 1 cuts flat and straight across the Mekong Delta province of Bac Lieu. Lining the two-lane highway are houses and shops, many of them perched on stilts over canals. Bicycles, motorbikes, pedestrians, and buffalo carts hem the edges of the road, as buses, vans, and trucks career down the middle, vying noisily for right-of-way.

The haphazard flow of traffic is routine. What makes this stretch of Route 1 unusual is how the road’s century-old embankment is now being used to regulate the flow of water to improve agricultural productivity. The results are raising questions that challenge the entrenched assumptions and priorities that govern natural resource management. Beyond improving the lives of poor Vietnamese farmers today, the lessons being learned in Bac Lieu may help other regions cope with a future affected by global warming.

Farmland, like natural wilderness, is a complex ecosystem in which one altered feature can have far-reaching consequences. Managing natural resources in a way that ensures food security, promotes farmers’ livelihood, and protects the environment is a delicate balancing act. Getting it right requires the active participation of farmers, agricultural scientists, extension workers, and government policymakers.

 

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