"Resource Governance, Agriculture, and Sustainable Livelihoods in the Lower Mekong Basin"
Edited by Lê Việt Phú, Nguyễn Văn Giáp, Lê Thị Quỳnh Trâm, Chu Thái Hoành and Malcolm McPherson.
Natural resources and ecosystem services have been seriously undervalued in development planning in the Lower Mekong Basin (LMB), which spans Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam. Intensive agriculture has initially led to higher yields, a lower poverty rate, and economic growth. However, it is destroying the very resources it needs, such as water. The excessive use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides has contaminated soils and threatened critical inland fisheries. Significant coastal erosion, soil salinity, and deteriorating marine ecosystems and climate change add to an urgent need to take into account the value of ecosystem resources to improve policy-making.
This volume presents up-to-date case studies and surveys trends and challenges for natural resource-based livelihoods by researchers and institutes collaborating across the LMB under the Lower Mekong Public Policy Initiative (LMPPI).
The Lower Mekong Public Policy Initiative is a four-year project, funded by the United States Agency for International Development - USAID. LMPPI is housed at the Fulbright Economics Teaching Program - FETP, a center for public policy teaching, research and policy dialogue in Vietnam, and is jointly managed by FETP (now the Fulbright School of Public Policy and Management at Fulbright University Vietnam) and the Vietnam Program of Harvard Kennedy School’s Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation in the United States. LMPPI seeks to generate knowledge, promote learning, and stimulate dialogue on public policies to support environmentally sustainable economic development, increase agricultural productivity, and improve household livelihoods in the five countries of the Lower Mekong Basin: Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.
LMPPI has built an extensive network with research institutions, government agencies, and various stakeholders in the region for cross-disciplinary research on key topics in sustainable development related to climate change, resource competition, and regional economic integration. LMPPI has contributed to capacity building of our research partners throughout the implementation of the research project. Besides, LMPPI personnel also contributed to the teaching and study of policy challenges associated with sustainable development and natural resources management at the Fulbright School. As a result of these efforts, eight research projects were completed during the span of the initiative, plus two dozen master’s theses by MPP students at the School. LMPPI research activities are geographically and thematically diverse.
LMPPI researchers and partners have successfully conducted research on sensitive areas such as hydro-power in Lao PDR, agricultural policies in Cambodia, and cross-border livelihoods in Thailand, Lao PDR and Vietnam (Map 1). In the Mekong River Delta of Vietnam, the most vulnerable part of the region, we have closely worked with universities, research institutes, and local governments to examine the numerous challenges in agricultural and environmental policies and opportunities for a sustainable future. Empirical findings, situational analyses, and public policy recommendations from these studies are presented in this volume in three parts:
the environment,
agriculture, and
livelihoods.
Resource Governance, Agriculture and Sustainable Livelihoods in the Lower Mekong Basin / edited by: Lê Việt Phú, Nguyễn Văn Giáp, Lê Thị Quỳnh Trâm, Chu Thái Hoành and Malcolm McPherson. ISBN 978-967-2165-73-6.
Paper-back version can be purchased here.
Dr. Nguyễn Văn Giáp is an editor of this book, he is serving as a Vice Director of Health and Agricultural Policy Research Institute - HAPRI.