The livelihood vulnerability and adaptive capacity of shrimp farmers to climate change: a case study in Tra Vinh province, Vietnam

Abstract This study calculated the vulnerability and current adaptive capacity of shrimp farmers to climate change in two districts (Duyen Hai –DH and Cau Ngang- CN) of Tra Vinh province, Vietnam. The IPCC framework of vulnerability assessment was employed to analyze three factors (exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity). We proposed 45 indices to calculate those dimensions based on the livelihood capitals (human, physical, natural, social and financial capital). Three methods of assessing climate change vulnerability index were applied to compare the livelihood vulnerability index of shrimp farmers in the two districts (Climate Vulnerability Index – CVI, Livelihood Effect Index-LEI, and Livelihood Vulnerability index under Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change –LVI-IPCC). Total of 300 households were interviewed in 10 randomly selected villages distributed equally over two districts. The results indicated that three ways of measuring livelihood vulnerability index are consistent with each other. The analysis revealed that the inland district (CN) was more vulnerable to climate change than the coastal districts (DH) due to natural capital and social capital mainly.