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From victims to change agents: farmer-driven climate action and implications for policy reforms in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta
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DOI：10.1080/17565529.2026.2667498.png)
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Abstract
En 中文
Asian mega-deltas face a ‘triple crisis’ of climate hazards, adverse impacts of top-down adaptation policies, and agrarian market liberalization, threatening millions of resource-based farmers. While farmers’ vulnerabilities have been extensively documented, this paper examines an emerging small-scale farmers group in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, which will be termed ‘innovative farmers’, who are shown to successfully navigate these pressures and thrive in hostile conditions. Using an analytical framework integrating sustainable livelihoods, agency, and innovation, with a focus on power dynamics, we draw on semi-structured interviews (n = 27) and field observations to elucidate and conceptualize mechanisms and drivers underlining the success of innovative farmers. Data were collected in Ca Mau Province, a hub of engineered adaptation policies. Nvivo version 14.0-based thematic coding with inter-rater validation was applied. Findings reveal that most innovative farmers shared the vulnerable backgrounds of their peers but managed to mobilize human, physical, social and political capitals to transform their livelihoods through self-directed innovations. They adopted nature-based farming systems and actively engaged in local governance, creating a ‘virtuous circle’ of economic self-reliance, environmental sustainability, and political inclusiveness. Their success stories depicted in this paper offer an alternative reform model that is both economically viable and environmentally sustainable.
Keywords:
Climate adaptation
sustainable livelihoods
innovative farming systems
Mekong Delta
rural politics
nature-based solutions
farmer agency
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