Digital extension services (DESs) play a crucial role in transforming the agri-food sector while creating the potential to enhance production towards sustainable development via ensuring resource efficiency, environmental resilience, and economic viability for smallholder farmers. However, there is less research on the availability and quality of digital advisory information to provide the foundation for the ways forward to ensure accessible and timely benefits of science-based extension and innovation for smallholder farmers. This study used a systematic review method to explore the opportunities and barriers to develop interactive DESs in developing countries (2005–2021). Features of 141 articles were summarized resulting in the identification of 13 opportunities and 21 barriers. Opportunities indicate that interactive DESs were the best source for learning and the exchange of information/ideas/experiences, useful for enhancing agricultural productivity and profitability, creating network collaboration among farmers and stakeholders, and making extension service delivery cost-effective. Barriers of interactive DESs include a lack of a two-way interaction information, lack of a centralized information network between farmers and service providers, lack of technical know-how on ICTs, poor internet connection, and lack of effective training on ICTs. However, farmers’ awareness, motivation, and readiness to use interactive DESs has increased in several countries. It is therefore a great opportunity to invest in digital platforms as a long-term intervention to boost sustainable agricultural sustainability.

In the context of increasing interest in ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA), there remains a paucity of discussion regarding the transition from perception to practice in aiding farmer households to adapt to climate change (CC) while maintaining the provision of essential ecosystem services. Thus, this study aims to explore policymakers’ and local people’s perceptions, from thinking about the implementation of EbA strategies to responding to CC in current and future agricultural production and forestry in upland Thua Thien Hue province, Vietnam. This study has adopted the Model of Private Proactive Adaptation to CC to investigate the perceptions of EbA among various administrative and household levels through in-depth interviews and focus group discussion methods. Our findings indicate a significant relationship between the perceptions and understanding of EbA among policymakers and farmer households, and the adoption of EbA practices. Many EbA practices are already well-established and have demonstrated their ability to enhance ecosystem services provision, adaptation benefits, and livelihood and food security. These benefits are crucial for helping farmer households to adapt to CC. However, current financial, technical, and market constraints hinder the broader adoption of these practices. Therefore, to increase adaptive capacity to CC and upscale EbA practices, EbA interventions must consider technical, financial, and market aspects. Furthermore, it is essential to provide evidence from both scientific and practical perspectives and disseminate information on EbA practices to encourage broader adoption by local farmers. In addition, supportive policies from various departmental and agency levels are necessary for managers in the agricultural and forest sectors as well as households to recognize EbA as a vital strategy for developing agriculture and forestry in a manner that is sustainable and resilient to CC.

In April 2016, four provinces of Vietnam were struck by one of the largest manmade environmental incidents in Vietnam. Through a discharge of toxic chemicals by Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Corporation, oceanic waters along Vietnam’s central coast were severely polluted. Consequently, the livelihoods of over 510,000 people living in coastal communities were severely affected by the Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Corporation incident (FHS incident). This study focusses on ex-ante and ex-post differences in livelihoods, and the subjective resilience of small-fishery households affected by the FHS incident in Hải Dương commune, a small coastal community, in central Vietnam. This was done through a qualitative analysis of livelihood strategies and resilience capacities of the affected households. Semi-structured interviews (n = 30), expert interviews (n = 3) and secondary data analysis were conducted from March to May 2018 employing a case study approach. Results show that the level of subjective resilience was strongly affected by a combination of social, financial, and human capitals. The presence, or lack, of these capitals combined with contextual factors influenced the livelihood strategies a household could pursue. Households that were able to pursue a combination of intensifying and diversifying livelihood strategies were most successful in recovering from and adjusting to the environmental incident. Households with restrained access to livelihood capitals were limited to intensifying livelihood strategies, having no real other option than persistence and increased dependence on government subsidies. Lastly, migration as a livelihood strategy and subsequent transformative resilience capacities remained generally low.

This study investigated the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on livelihoods of households with migration workers, who returned home to the central coastal region during the peak disease outbreak in Vietnam. Five hundred and twenty-nine households with returned migration workers aged eighteen and above in the coastal areas of Quảng Bình, Quảng Trị, and Thừa Thiên Huế provinces participated in this study. Results showed that the livelihoods of all studied households were highly vulnerable due to impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, with almost 90% at moderate or high risk according to the vulnerability index. All livelihood assets were negatively affected, and financial, psychological, and social assets were the most affected, with Common Vulnerability Score System scores of 3.65, 3.39, and 3.17, respectively. Male, younger workers, or those with a lower education level and fewer social networks were found to be more vulnerable than others. This study suggests that young laborers could aim to attain a higher level of education and/or practical skills to be able to obtain stable employment with benefits such as social insurance if they desire to out-migrate. Further, social programs which allow for migration workers at the destination to meet each other may have positive impacts on their vulnerability.

This study was conducted to reinforce the hypothesis that ecotourism in Quang Loi commune’s lagoon created differences in income and lagoon resource protection of different beneficiary groups. Data was collected through secondary sources, 3 key informant interviews and interviews of 62 households in three household groups: tourism service, fishing, and aquaculture households. The results reveal that ecotourism services in Quang Loi commune started in 2010 and thrive since 2017, relying on the advantages of the local natural resources. Local community organized and provided tourism services such as: sightseeing on the lagoon, fishing experience, dining and accommodation, and some other services. By joining such services, labors in ecotourism service households earned 39.07 million VND/ year, which significant contributed to improve household’s income. Ecotourism service households, therefore, had higher income than that of fishing group and aquaculture group (85.15 compared to 72.29 and 60 million VND, respectively; p value < 0.05). The lagoon environmental protection activities such as: lagoon night patrol, waste collection, propaganda and advocating for lagoon environmental protection, etc. were paid more attention by the local community since the development of ecotourism. Similarly, there was a significant higher participation time of tourism service households in the above activities in comparison with the rest groups (p value < 0.05). The lagoon environment and resources was assessed to be improved by local residents. This result implicates that ecotourism development is a suitable strategy to improve the local people's livelihood and Tam Giang lagoon resources protection currently.

Ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) has been widely recognized as the key strategy for supporting farmers in adapting to climate change. The success of EbA requires a cohesive alignment from the national level to community implementation. However, harmonized efforts from central governments to local farmers remain underexplored in the literature on climate change and adaptation, especially in the context of mountainous areas of Vietnam. This study applied multiple qualitative research methods, including 12 key informant interviews, six focus group discussions, and 18 in-depth interviews to explore the varying perspectives of EbA between government officials and farmers, and how these perspectives influence their involvement in governmental initiatives. Using matrix coding visualization in NVIVO, this study revealed notable differences in perceptions of EbA between government officials and farmers, which in turn impact EbA practices at the commune level. This study also found factors affecting EbA practices, including knowledge, economic priorities, institutional support, labor shortages, limited market access, and funding inadequacies. The policy implications drawn from this study are necessary for bridging top-down policy with local realities, to ensure the sustainability and effectiveness of EbA. Furthermore, this paper contributes to the EbA literature by highlighting the need for context-specific adaptation strategies to enhance the effectiveness and inclusivity of EbA practices in vulnerable communities.