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SUMMARY

REPORT

on

LOCAL KNOWLEDGE RESEARCH

in

THE MEKONG DELTA

Case study:

Phu Tho A Village, Phu Tho Commune, Tam Nong District, Dong Thap Province

Vam Nao Village, Tan Trung Commune, Phu Tan District, An Giang Province

Vietnam

2013

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The Mekong Delta of Vietnam, which receives rich sediments and water from the

Mekong River, takes advantage of its natural resources in the development of its agriculture

and fishery sectors. Recently, changes caused by nature and by humans have put the Delta

in a challenging situation where water resources have been affected in terms of quantity,

quality and the timing of flood surges. This research aims to document the methods used by

local people in two villages of the Mekong Delta to take advantage of the rich riverine

resources to earn a living. It also documents the challenges and threats to the water

resources of the villages. This local knowledge research was conducted under the lens of 27

local people from Vam Nao and Phu Tho A villages during a ten month period from January

to October in 2013. After documenting local knowledge and understand the problems of

their own villages the local researchers, along with the researchers from WARECOD, gave

recommendations for sustainable usage of the water resources in their locales. An

innovative aspect of this local knowledge research is to empower local people with the

capacity to use video and still photography to enable them to take pictures of the things

they deem important to the research and to make short videos about their locale. After

completion of the research this local knowledge will be preserved not only in papers, but

also in photos and videos. The results of this research will be shared and used for advocacy

activities in promoting sustainable water management and food security in the Mekong

Delta by WARECOD and Vietnam Rivers Network (VRN).

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Results of the Local Knowledge Research

1. The establishment and natural – economic and social conditions of the two villages

Vam Nao village is located at the confluence of the Vam Nao and Hau Rivers; the village is a

center for commercial activities in the region. Vam Nao is famous for a delicious kind of fish:

catfish (or in Vietnamese: cá Bông lau). Currently, the village is home to 603 households,

mostly supported by agriculture and fishery.

Phu Tho A village is only 10 kilometers from Tram Chim National Park. Since the

village is far from the main river, the water is channeled to the households and fields

through many channels. 615 households live in this village.

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In terms of the economy, agriculture and fishery are the two main sectors for both

areas. Phu Tho A village still has an economy based on cultivatating rice; the village has even

built dykes to enable the cultivation of more rice fields. Local people in Vam Nao village,

however, have turned to the cultivation of other kinds of plants whose economic values are

higher, plants such as corn, taro, chili pepper and watermelon. Some handicrafts have

persisted until today, such as making matches, bricks and incense. Services such as tailoring,

internet centres, ecotourism and agricultural services such as pumping and pesticide

spraying have emerged.

Developing in the Mekong delta, Vam Nao and Phu Tho A villages share some

characteristics in culture, architecture and charitable activities. For instance, villagers use

local herbs to improve their health and to cure some diseases. Houses in both villages are

built high enough to deal with rising water in flood season, and the area below the houses is

used to store things in the dry season.

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2. Current situations of ecosystems

Vam Nao village is part of a riverine ecosystem. The whole village can be divided into

five sub-ecosystems:

Field. Before 1970 the villagers for the most part grew rice. Beginning in 1975 they

began to grow sticky rice and make use of the former rice fields to grow watermelon, green

beans, soybeans and tobacco. Currently all the field area is used to grow taro, chili pepper,

corn and other kinds of vegetables since these crops have a higher economic value than rice.

Islet. Thanks to the annual sediment depositing process, the islet gradually became

larger. However, this process ceased after the dyke was built; new soil is no longer being

deposited. The existing rich soil is an outstanding characteristic of the islet. Consequently,

the islet is not only quite varied in flora but also in fauna, especially different kinds of fish.

Wetland. In the past, the wetland was inundated all year round and few villagers

cultivated in the dry season. At present, more people cultivate in this area with different

kinds of vegetables. The cultivation area, as a result, is expanded. Some people started to

raise fish in the wetland.

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River. The river is about 12-25 meters in depth and 700-750 meters in width. The

water runs swiftly, especially in the flooding season. The water in the main river brings many

sediments, turning the color of the river water to red. Large fish normally gather in the main

river and are caught by the local people during the year. For the famous catfish of Vam Nao

village (cá bông lau), the fishing season is from November to March of the Lunar Calendar.

Pond and Channel.

Phu Tho A village is located far from the river. The village is near Tram Chim National

Park, a biodiversity spot of the region. Local researchers have classified the village as

belonging to two different sub-ecosystems:

Wetland. The wetland in Phu Tho village has not been completely changed into an

agricultural area. However almost all traits of the natural ecosystem have disappeared.

Channel.

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3. Natural exploitation process

In Vam Nao village.

In the past, villagers grew floating rice, mostly for self-consumption. Rice and other

plants such as watermelon, corn, and taro were planted by the bank of the main river. Since

then, many changes have appeared gradually in terms of the kinds of plants grown, the

production methods, and the use of fertilizer and pesticides. As the rice yield increased

people started to sell rice to other provinces and to other countries. However, starting at

the end of 2012 villagers ceased growing rice and turned to other higher-value crops, mainly

taro, watermelon, chili peppers and corn. Agricultural practices have long received support

from the government., Villagers are able to borrow money from the government; training in

farming and the use of pesticides and fertilizers was organized in order to build agricultural

capability for villagers.

The abundant amount of fish in the river has provided many households with

livelihoods. Approximately 30% of the households once made their living by fishery and

around 90% of households caught fish in the flood season. Before 1990, a village fisherman

could catch 50-100 kilos of fish in one night. A fisherman might catch 10-20 kilos with one

throw of a net. However, the amount of aquatic resources has now been drastically

reduced, lowering the yield for one throw of a net down to 1-2 kilos. Some destructive

fishing gear is now being used, and as a result the amount of aquatic resources has gone

down dramatically. Villagers acknowledge that for some species the catch has been reduced

by 95%.

This change has made some aquatic resources, such as shrimp, become quite scarce,

although in the past they were very common. A resulting change in livelihoods is that,

because natural aquatic resources have become much less available, villagers have turned to

growing fish in man-made ponds.

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In Phu Tho village.

In the 1960s the main livelihoods of the 200 households were cultivation and fishing

under self-production and self-consumption practices. With traditional, simple production

methods, there were insignificant impacts to the ecosystem from humans in the village. In

the early 1970s the increase in population (to 300 households) exploited the natural

resources more extensively. In agriculture, machines and fertilizer began to be used. In

fishery, the number of tools and the scope increased. Some kinds of aquatic products were

sold to other locals and not simply consumed in the households collecting them. However,

there were not yet signs of reduction in the aquatic resources at this period. But since 1975

major changes have occurred in the village, from the increase in the number of households

to the production-exploitation methods of villagers in their livelihoods. People have built

dykes to enable them to grow two crops of rice per year. More fertilizer and pesticides have

been used. By 2012, the whole village had been surrounded with dykes and villagers grew 3

crops per year.

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4. Influential factors on the ecosystems and the lives of the community

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Natural factors. Local researchers recognize that the uncertainties of weather and

climate have become more pronounced in the last 30 years. In the past, local people could

tell the level, the speed and timing of water rising and declining, but now this has become

much more unpredictable.

Human factors. Population increase, resulting in an increase in demand for food and

services, is one of the reasons for the current production and exploitation methods of this

area. Local people look for immediate benefits from natural resources rather than seeking to

exploit them in a sustainable way. A second reason for the use of exploitive methods is the

lack of knowledge and skills. In some locales there has been some training on improving

livelihoods, but the issue of conservation was not emphasized in that training and did not

make a strong impression with local people. Consequently, earning a livelihood is still at the

top of people’s priorities, and conservation communication has been ineffective. Some

current activities are not sustainable, such as continuous farming which leads to

degradation of the soil, and the overuse of pesticides and fertilizer.

Challenge from upstream. Although there is not yet adequate information to prove

that the impacts of development activities upstream have been harmful to downstream

areas, the local researchers mention that these activities might well be a reason that the

amount of aquatic resources has been drastically reduced. The mainstream dams on the

Mekong River have also raised the concern of local people downstream about a future

decline in the amount of valuable sediments and aquatic resources, although they have little

information on the issue.

5. Recommendations

At the community level. It is recommended that conservation activities should be

stressed in both villages. Vam Nao village has begun a Fish Release festival, a good example

for conservation activities. Ecotourism in Vam Nao might also be a new and promising

business for villagers, enabling them to both earn a living and raise awareness of the need to

protect natural resources in their locale.

At the level of higher authorities. Because the usage of destructive fishing tools still

persists, authorities at all levels should collaborate with households to create new

livelihoods or turn them to more sustainable livelihoods. Also, it is necessary to

communicate more effectively to local people on conservation issues.