Farmers’ experiences and perspectives on acacia plantation in Thua Thien Hue Province, Central Vietnam | |
| Author | Vu Thanh Bien |
| Call Number | AIT Thesis no.NR-19-05 |
| Subject(s) | Acacia--Vietnam--Thua Thien Hue Tree farms--Vietnam--Thua Thien Hue Forest and forestry--Vietnam--Thua Thien Hue |
| Note | A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Natural Resources Management, School of Environment, Resources and Development |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Series Statement | Thesis ; no. NR-19-05 |
| Abstract | Impacts of tree plantations on rural development and environment is still a contentious issue. The present study was undertaken to investigate farmers’ experiences and perspectives on Acacia plantations in Thua Thien Hue Province, Central Vietnam. Particularly, the study (1) describe current Acacia plantation management practices, and assess the farmers’ future outlooks on plantation farming; (2) investigate the changes of livelihoods assets after establishing acacia plantations, with specific attention to the effect of FSC program; (3) investigating factors influencing participation in FSC Program. This study was designed as a cross-sectional investigation, in which 180 farmers from diverse socio-economic backgrounds were identified by the purposive sampling. Farmers in the survey included 90 with FSC and 90 without FSC certificate. The study setting was in three districts namely Phu Loc, Huong Tra and A Luoi. Household survey and Key informant interview were applied for the study. Frequencies were compared by using Chi-squared test or Fisher's exact test. Mean was compared by t-test, Wilcoxon signed rank test and Analysis of variance. The average change over time of livelihood assets were compared by different-in-different estimator. Multivariate analyses were conducted with Probit and Logit regression. During planting of Acacia, farmers were worried most about storms and plant diseases, particularly Ceratocystis manginecans which resulted in the Acacia death. Farmers also stated that these issues would be significant challenges in the future. Comparing about farmers’ perspectives on Acacia plantations between FSC group and non-FSC group, farmers in FSC group were more likely to increase their Acacia areas under Acacia cultivation, more likely to increase the rotation cycle of Acacia plantations, and more likely to plant native species. Overall value for livelihoods assets before planting Acacia was 0.41 compared to 0.65 after the establishment of Acacia plantations. The positive changes of livelihood assets indicate that farmers’ livelihoods were improved after the establishment of Acacia plantations. FSC program has a positive and significant relationship with social asset and physical asset. Household heads education, total Acacia areas have positive and significant relationship while number of dependent people and household heads ethnicity have negative and significant relationship with farmers’ decision to participate in FSC program. The livelihood of farmers has improved after the establishment of Acacia plantations. However, numbers of wildlife and land conflicts worsened after planting Acacia. Therefore, the government should be raising awareness for the community to protect wildlife animals and should be granting forest land use right certificate to all owners to reduce land disputes. |
| Year | 2019 |
| Corresponding Series Added Entry | Asian Institute of Technology. Thesis ; no. NR-19-05 |
| Type | Thesis |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD) |
| Department | Department of Development and Sustainability (DDS) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Natural Resources Management (NRM) |
| Chairperson(s) | Shrestha, Rajendra Prasad; |
| Examination Committee(s) | Tsusaka, Takuji W.;Thi, Phuoc Lai Nguyen;Cochard, Roland; |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Ministry of Education and Training (MOET);Vietnam International Education Cooperation Department (VIED) ;Asian Institute of Technology Fellowship; |
| Degree | Thesis (M.Sc.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2019 |