tailieunhanh - Households’ vulnerability to climate change in Thua Thien Hue province

This paper measures the relative vulnerability of households living in Thua Thien – Hue province using the indicator approach. Information wascollected via key informant interview, focus group discussion and a questionnairesurvey of 597 households in the coastal, delta and upland areas of Thua Thien Hue province. | JOURNAL OF SCIENCE, Hue University, Vol. 70, No 1 (2012) pp. 227-236 HOUSEHOLDS’ VULNERABILITY TO CLIMATE CHANGE IN THUA THIEN HUE PROVINCE Bui Dung The, Bui Duc Tinh College of Economics, Hue University Abstract. This paper measures the relative vulnerability of households living in Thua Thien – Hue province using the indicator approach. Information was collected via key informant interview, focus group discussion and a questionnaire survey of 597 households in the coastal, delta and upland areas of Thua Thien Hue province. It is established in the present study that households in the province are highly exposed to climatic hazards, particularly aquaculture and fishing households in the coastal and lowland areas. There is significant difference in adaptive capacity across different household groups. Household with aquaculture, cropping and capture fishery as the main livelihoods are highly sensitive to climactic hazards. Given the situation, agriculture and aquaculture should be given priority in interventions to enhance local adaptive capacity. High levels of exposure and low level of adaptive capacity are the main contributors to the vulnerability of households in the province. Keywords: climate change, vulnerability, households. 1. Introduction The IPCC Assessment Report (2010) defines vulnerability as: “The degree to which a system is susceptible to, or unable to cope with, adverse effects of climate change, including climate variability and extremes. Vulnerability is a function of the character, magnitude, and rate of climate variation to which a system is exposed, its sensitivity, and its adaptive capacity” (McCarthy et al., 2001). Vulnerability includes an external dimension that is represented by the exposure of a system to climate variations, as well as a more complex internal dimension comprising its sensitivity and adaptive capacity to these stressors. A highly vulnerable system would be one that is very sensitive to modest changes in climate, where