Livelihood Pathways of Indigenous People in Vietnam’s Central Highlands

Exploring Land-Use Change

verfasst von: Huỳnh Anh Chi Thái

Verlag: Springer International Publishing

Buchreihe : Advances in Asian Human-Environmental Research

Enthalten in: Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" , Springer Professional "Technik" , Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

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Über dieses Buch

This study focuses on impacts of the environmental and socio-economic transformation on the indigenous people's livelihoods in Vietnam's Central Highlands recent decades since the country's reunification in 1975.
The first empirical section sheds light on multiple external conditions (policy reforms, population trends, and market forces) exposed onto local people. The role of human and social capital is examined again in a specific livelihood of community-based tourism to testify the resilience level of local people when coping with constraints. The study concludes with an outlook on implications of development processed which still places agriculture at the primary position livelihood, and pays attention to human capital and social capital of indigenous groups in these highlands.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Frontmatter

Chapter 1. Vulnerability Context: A Study on Livelihood Pathways of the Indigenous People

Abstract

The socioeconomic transformation in Vietnam’s Central Highlands has achieved good results in developing diverse cash crops that have a high output. However, this situation pushed indigenous inhabitants into the vulnerability context of livelihood constraint, which is caused by a lack of land and insufficient key assets. To examine the specific context of the indigenous people, this chapter forms a theoretical framework, which is constructed by three components of vulnerability (exposure, sensitivity, and resilience). More importantly, the actor concept is integrated in this framework to form the core connection of the three components and shed light on the active agent role of indigenous people. In addition, this chapter deals with the main methods, which combine spatial data and survey data.

Huỳnh Anh Chi Thái

Chapter 2. Exposure Context: Socioeconomic Transformations and Land-Use Change

Abstract

The vulnerability context of indigenous people is driven by natural and social factors. Of these factors, land-use change is considered one of the major driving forces causing the constrained status of indigenous people. Other trends, including massive migration and market change, contribute to indigenous people’s vulnerability. This chapter deals with an integrated examination of this multifacet context in the Central Highlands. The context is described based on various sources of historical digital data (satellite images and maps), secondary data, and historical information from interviewees. The results present a common picture of land use, which depicts the consequence of historical factors, and various contemporary scenes, which reflect the dynamic livelihoods at the study sites. Besides, the perception of indigenous people about their vulnerability context is revealed, which mainly relates to land-use change and is recognized as driving force motivating them to make change in their livelihoods.

Huỳnh Anh Chi Thái

Chapter 3. Sensitivity in Livelihood Pathways

Abstract

In the vulnerability context of the indigenous inhabitants, livelihood stress is emphasized as the main pressure in this chapter. The ways indigenous people make their living are examined through a pathway lens to reveal the dynamics of their decisions. Case study, a reasonable methodology, is applied in this chapter. From October 2014 to February 2015, in-depth interviews were conducted with 60 households. The results show that although indigenous people still depend heavily on the land, land constraints do not directly affect their livelihood pathway. A holistic people-centered focus is used in this chapter to highlight the existence of household assets and the ways indigenous people mobilize these assets in their livelihood pathways. Among the assets, knowledge-experience and social position are the most important assets that affect indigenes’ potential to engage in high-value livelihoods regardless of whether it is non-agricultural or agricultural.

Huỳnh Anh Chi Thái

Chapter 4. Livelihood Resilience – A Case Study: Community-Based Tourism (CBT)

Abstract

This chapter examines community-based tourism (CBT) – one of the pathways indigenous people choose to cope with livelihood stress – through the lens of resilience livelihood. Social capital is a significant asset for vulnerable groups to develop CBT and a good example of resilience, in that CBT shows how the transformed social capital maintains its role in facilitating collective actions. Bonding connections and bridging networks are applied to assess the implications of social capital for community participation in tourism activities. The results describe three stages of CBT development at three study sites in which social capital contributes to the formation of different tourism management styles: private business, cooperative business, and community enterprise.

Huỳnh Anh Chi Thái

Chapter 5. Conclusion and Discussion

Abstract

This study aimed to explore the vulnerability context of indigenous people in Vietnam’s Central Highlands. The study sheds light on the topic by objectively examining external and internal factors. Land-use change and socioeconomic transformation were investigated as external conditions. Meanwhile, the actor role of indigenous people was examined as an internal factor that enables them to cope with external conditions. The summary of this book highlights the main contributions that this study sought to provide: (1) To what extent do land-use changes and other external conditions influence the livelihood dynamics of indigenous people? (2) What internal factors impede indigenous people’s livelihoods, and to what extent do these factors contribute to their ability to cope with constraints?

Huỳnh Anh Chi Thái

Backmatter

Titel: Livelihood Pathways of Indigenous People in Vietnam’s Central Highlands
verfasst von: Huỳnh Anh Chi Thái
Verlag: Springer International Publishing
Electronic ISBN: 978-3-319-71171-3
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-71170-6
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71171-3