3.2 Characteristics of economy, society and environment of households
3.2.4 Climate change adaptation characteristics
Farming experience is calculated by the number of years that the farmers have been working in aquaculture production (Abdul-Razak & Kruse, 2017;
Defiesta & Rapera, 2014). Interview results showed that the average farming experience of aquaculture households was 9.7 years and there were differences among aquaculture systems. Households raising in floating houses had the highest experience years, averaging 13.6 years because they had a longstanding lifestyle on the river. In contrast, households with cement/rubber tanks had the lowest experience years because this model has just been applied in the last decade, 7.5
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years while the model of the earthen pond has an average production experience of 8.1 years.
Climate change awareness (AC2)
CC awareness is based on acceptance of CC and access to climate information. Through the survey, the majority of households had a high awareness of CC to their production. Households in floating houses had the highest awareness of CC to their ponds. 85% of them observed abnormal changes in weather and extreme events in daily life. These households mentioned that the unusual phenomena in recent years significantly increased their production costs, including labor costs, the treatment cost for fish diseases and water quality improvement.
Awareness of households farming fish in earthen ponds was lower than floating house system. On average, about 60% of these households were aware of CC impacts on their productivity and output while only 35% of cement/rubber tank households sensed CC affecting their production. Most of households received information through several traditional and modern channels such as television, radio, newspapers, the internet, etc. Through modern channels of information, aquaculture households had both side effects, negative and positive. For instance, they could take advantage of modern technology to surf the internet for useful knowledge to improve their yield and practices, however, they also faced challenges such as fake news, uncensored information.
Type of fish farming to be aligned with local development plans (AC3) According to the fishery sector planning of Cho Moi, aquaculture will be an important industry contributing to the GDP growth of the district. In particular, the cement/rubber tank system has a lot of advantages in managing the quality of water in the pond, easy to observe and monitor that would be the first priority to develop.
With a small area, it can bring high economic value compared to the remaining models. The earthen pond system can control in-pond water quality, though there are still many climate risks and economic limitations. It would be encouraged to
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develop but had to follow the planning. The floating house model has many impacts on the environment and water flow, causing some landslides in local areas.
Therefore, the district's regulations would restraint this system.
Technological application (AC4)
Technology is one of the core measures to mitigate CC vulnerability.
Traditional aquaculture households at the study sites paid little attention to technology applications in production. The interview showed that only households raising fish the cement/rubber tanks applied some new technology such as raising fish on the upper land with a high density, increasing the number of the crop season per year. As a result, the average yield per crop of this system was 1.94 tons/crop over an area of 28 m2 whilst the earthen pond system was the average yield of 31.61 tons/crop over 3,957 m2. It means that the cement/rubber tank system only equaled 1/141 times of the area but output reached roughly 1/16 compared to households farming on earthen ponds. In addition, this system also uses a waste treatment system to limit waste out of the environment against the other two models.
The survival rate of farming subjects (AC5)
Results of interviews at the study sites show that households with cement/rubber tanks had the highest survival rate of fish because this system controlled in-pond water quality and changes water regularly. In addition, 100% of these households also chose breeds from reputable fingerling facilities, and snakehead species are suitable for the weather and local climate. The floating house and earthen pond model had a lower survival rate because 40% of households claimed that their systems were affected by poor water and seed quality. While the earthen pond is mainly raising pangasius farming in static ponds, the floating houses have varieties of fish such as grouper, giant barb, catfish, carp, etc. so the way of management and practices, and fingerlings were also different that lead to the fish death rate varying.
Adaptation and resilience to climate change (AC6)
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Figure 3.13 Quantities of solutions by model for CC adaptation and resilience to a shortage of water, inundation in flood season and extreme events
Aquaculture systems in the study area are affected by three main phenomena:
water shortages, floods, and extreme weather. Interview results showed that most of households well adapt and resist to the phenomenon. Each system has the ability to self-adjust or respond appropriately. It was found that households raising fish in cement/rubber tanks had the most adaptive solution diversity (over 3 solutions) when the above phenomenon occurred, followed by households raising in floating houses (over 2 solutions), and finally, households farming in earthen ponds (over 1 solutions). Households were regularly applied many solutions (see figure 3.13) include active water pumping, changing farming methods, attaching a roof to limit heat-shocked fish, etc.
SWOT matrix
From the characteristics of economy, society, environment and adaptation to CC, SWOT analysis of each aquaculture system is described as table 3.3.
2.00 2 1.85
1.00 1 0.85
3.00 3 3.00
0.00 0.50 1.00 1.50 2.00 2.50 3.00 3.50
Shortage of water Inundation in flood season Extreme events
Cement/rubber tank Earthen pond Floating house
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Table 3.3 SWOT matrix to analyze strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and challenges of each aquaculture system
Floating house
Strengths Weaknesses
Does not take much space Reduce the labor force
Long-standing farming experience
High oxygen exchange, abundant water source to raise in high density
ability to adjust itself to the water level High awareness and resilience of CC and extreme weather
High investment costs Difficult to control water
Fish easy to get sick and spread fast Natural feed costs increased
Source of fingerlings does not guarantee quality and origin
There are no measures to manage waste and wastewater yet
Technology has not been applied in production
No production linkage
Opportunities Challenges
Diversify a variety of aquaculture species
Large consumer market with many different species of aquatic products.
Large water surface area
Some aquatic species have high and stable economic value.
State policies to support the promotion of production linkages
Polluted water
The water level is low in the dry season, and high in the flood season, extreme weather is unpredictable
Impact of upstream hydroelectric dams Being in the planning of development restriction in the locality
Difficult loan access
Earthen pond
Strengths Weaknesses
Long-standing farming experience In-pond water quality control Create jobs for many local workers Large output
High CC awareness
take much space High investment costs High industrial feed costs
Source of fingerlings does not guarantee quality, origin and origin
There are no measures to manage waste and wastewater yet
Technology has not been applied to production
No production linkage
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Opportunities Challenges
Being in the local development encouragement planning
Many Pangasius processing enterprises operate in the area
State policies to support the promotion of production linkages
Water pollution
The water level is low in the dry season, and high in the flood season, extreme weather is unpredictable
Impact of upstream hydroelectric dams The market is not stable
Cement/rubber tank
Strengths Weaknesses
Does not take much space Reduce the labor force Good water quality control
High adaptation and resilience to CC and extreme events
High profit margin
Stable production linkage
Low experience
High industrial feed costs Low CC awareness
Low employment creation rate Wastewater and waste discharged into the environment due to frequent water changes
Opportunities Challenges
Rely on local development priority planning
State policies to support the promotion of production linkages
Snakehead product and byproducts have a big consuming market
Water pollution
The water level is low in the dry season, and high in the flood season, extreme weather is unpredictable
Impact of upstream hydroelectric dams
The cement/rubber tank system has many striking points that distinguish from other systems. For instance, this system owns not only a larger number of strengths and opportunities but also a lesser number of weaknesses and challenges than others. In contrast, the earthen pond and floating house system will confront potential risks and challenges in the context of CC and human activities.