Farmers' Disaster Vulnerability Assessment-Flood Area Of The Mekong Delta

The assessment of flood vulnerability of household in the Cambodian floodplain and the Vietnam Mekong River Delta reveals weaknesses and strengths of the community towards the cyclical hazard.The study starts with an assessment of the factors that affect the chances of being affected.Households with high educational levels,native households,and families that have lived in the study areas for a long duration can reduce the probability of being affected by flooding.Children,on the other hand,seem to create more pressure on their family,which make households more likely to be impacted.This study is one of the few that employs partial least squares structural equation modeling in disaster assessment.By using a combination of structural equation modeling and inverse distance weighting method,it is shown that households in the Cambodian floodplain are much more vulnerable to flooding than their neighborhoods in the MRD either by the spatial distribution or by occupations.People in Kampong Chhnang and Siem Reap,which are in the middle and top part of the Tonle Sap,have the highest flood vulnerability index in most cases.In the MRD,the vulnerability mostly stays at moderate range,indicating a less severe situation than in Cambodia.Demographics and social capital have direct influences on flood exposure.In this study,socioeconomic status can reduce flood effect levels through the mediation of coping capacity.In addition,heterogeneity was also observed between Vietnamese and Cambodian families,highlighting the influence of context on understanding social vulnerability.Protection Motivation Theory framework was used to understand the flood mitigation behavior.Results show that household mitigation behavior is encouraged through threat appraisals,flood experience,and social networks.Besides,we also confirm the roles of social capital and livelihood diversification in reducing physical flood damages.However,the influence of social capital was limited because of the low rates of participation and receiving social assistance.The policy review shows that Cambodia's management framework is short of solid policy foundations and budgets to facilitate its functions;Vietnam relies on structural measures to control and exploit floods for agricultural intensification,while its legal documents are overlapped and cumbersome.Both countries lack transparency and participation in the planning process,leading to inappropriate decisions and the redistribution of risk to the poor and the landless.Cambodia and Vietnam are facing several transboundary flood issues wherein hydropower development is the largest apprehension,followed by climate change,water control structures,land use practices,sand excavation,and deforestation.They alter Mekong River's water balance and hydrological characteristics,causing unpredictable floods,disrupting the usual livelihoods,and lessening the effectiveness of current flood preventative measures.