ABSTRACT

A tremendous change was being brought about by the Government of Vietnam that was improving the economy of Vietnam and the well-being of many of its citizens. It was the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA) that developed the resulting Hunger Eradication and Poverty Reduction Program which was later incorporated in the Comprehensive Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy under the Ministry of Planning and Investment. Poverty in Vietnam includes urban poverty but has tended to be a phenomenon that has been particularly persistent among the diverse rural population, including Khinh farmers as well as other ethnic groups. Sustainable livelihoods approaches focus on people’s strategies to cope with poverty, deprivation and vulnerability. Aquatic resources use may be a seemingly minor component of poor people’s livelihoods strategies, particularly in a country such as Vietnam in which most rural people identify themselves as farmers, and predominantly as rice farmers.