The objective of this study is to examine the impact of land fragmentation in rice production on household food insecurity in Vietnam. This study provides the first evidence on the effect of land fragmentation on household food insecurity in rice production. This study uses a relatively rich panel dataset of rice farming households across different regions from the Vietnam Access to Resources Household Survey (VARHS) 2012, 2014, and 2016. The research applies the ordered probit model to identify land fragmentation and other factors affecting household food insecurity at different food insecurity levels. Findings indicate that land fragmentation and rice seed types are positively correlated with household food insecurity. Importantly, the odds of an increase of 1% fragmentation land index increase the probability of household food insecurity at a very high level of 4.79% after controlling for unobserved heterogeneity. Other factors such as total cultivated area, access to credit, and household savings help reduce household food insecurity. These findings suggest that the government needs to foster the process of consolidating fragmented rice plots to help households produce efficiently and reduce food insecurity for their families. In addition, other approaches such as increasing farm size for each rice farmer and access to credit can increase the probability of food security for rural households in Vietnam.

The vulnerability assessment of small-scale households on the central coast of Vietnam has been inadequate despite the apparent impacts of climate change. This knowledge gap presents challenges for identifying at-risk individuals and communities and could impede effective public policy and resource allocation for adaptation efforts. To address this issue, this study employed the Livelihood Vulnerability Index referencing IPCC definitions (LVI-IPCC) framework to examine livelihood vulnerability and its determinants among 455 small-scale households in the coastal areas of Phu Vang district, Thua Thien Hue province, Vietnam. The LVI-IPCC calculation utilized a database of 11 major and 33 sub-indicators collected through a household survey conducted in 2021. The findings revealed that these households exhibit moderate vulnerability to natural disasters and climate shocks, as reflected by their high sensitivity index scores. Additionally, the study identified a persistent cycle of poverty and livelihood vulnerability among coastal communities, wherein poverty and reliance on nature-based income serve as the root cause of the exposure and a gateway to this loop. This study strongly advocates for a pro-poor approach that places poverty alleviation at the forefront of community development planning and climate change agendas. Under this approach, developing value chain models in agriculture and aquaculture and diversifying livelihoods through activities such as community-based tourism is highly recommended.

A nationwide survey of 162,738 firms in Vietnam asked firms to report the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the health of the business, coping strategies used, and various firm and situational characteristics. More than 80% of firms reported negative impacts from the pandemic with fewer than 4% reporting positive effects; 63% of the firms adopted at least one coping strategy. The coping strategies were categorized into seven groups as follows: (1) Non-adoption, (2) promoting e-commerce, (3) transforming key products/services, (4) training employees to improve professional qualifications, (5) finding new markets for input materials, (6) finding markets for products outside of the traditional market, (7) producing new products/services according to market demand during the epidemic period, and (8) other strategies. A multinomial logit regression model showed statistically significant associations between a firm’s selected coping strategy and several independent variables, as follows: (1) Firm size, (2) impact of the pandemic on firm health, firm access to inputs, and firm access to domestic markets, (3) decrease in firm revenue, and (4) receipt of government support. However, many businesses have not implemented coping strategies, leading to concerns regarding their resilience to upcoming threats and uncertainties.