Assessment of adaptive capacity to climate change of low-income households at Nha Be District in Ho Chi Minh City

Abstract

Nha Be district is exposed to many risks due to climate change impacts. Low-income households are the most vulnerable because their adaptive capacity is still limited. However, no studies have developed criteria to assess vulnerability to climate change impacts on low-income households in Nha Be district. It leads to a lack of scientific and practical basis to develop programs to improve low-income households' capacity to adapt to climate change. This article constructs criteria for assessing vulnerability to climate change impacts for low-income households in Nha Be district, including three main criteria of Exposure, Sensitivity, and Adaptive Capacity classified in 20 subcomponents. After reviewing documents and consulting experts to select a set of criteria, we used the analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) method proposed by Saaty (1980) to interview ten experts to evaluate the pair of criteria before the weights are calculated priority vector of the matrix. A structured questionnaire conducted interviews with 50 low-income households in 7 administrative units under Nha Be district. The framework of assessment methods based on the vulnerability index developed by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is used to calculate the vulnerability to climate change for Nha Be district. Research results show that: Phu Xuan commune, Hiep Phuoc commune, has a relatively high level of vulnerability because the terrain is mainly low-lying, the location adjacent to the estuary, and livelihoods are highly dependent on the meteorological and climate events; in which low-income households are vulnerable because they do not have a stable source of income, skills, and experience in adapting to climate change are still low. The study proposes a number of solutions to improve the awareness and capacity to adapt to climate change of low-income households, specifically: (1) creating a diversified livelihood school with stable income; (2) implementing a community-based climate change adaptation model in communes adjacent to rivers and canals; (3) implementing the construction of agriculture to adapt to climate change; (4) uilding resettlement areas for households affected by climate change; and (5) propaganda to raise awareness of low-income households to respond to climate change.