poorest tercile, as opposed to rather constant use levels among the wealthier groups.
Most importantly, the 2010 data show that the drought-induced yield decline was
much more pronounced in the wealthier terciles, depressing yields to almost on a
level with the poorest tercile. Hence, and as a result, the difference in gross margins
between the poorest and wealthiest terciles is barely statistically significant, and
practically insignificant when using the absolute poverty classification.
We thus conclude that over the observed period from 2006 to 2010, the poor
consistently applied considerably lower amounts of mineral fertilizer to their main
crop than the wealthier farmers, leading to lower yields and gross margins. However, our data indicate that fertilizer use among the poor may be on the rise as
compared to the wealthier strata, where use is constant. A comparison between the
drought and non-drought years shows that the wealthier farmers were not able to
maintain their higher levels of land productivity during the drought year of 2010,
showing that reported drought-induced losses suffered by the wealthiest tercile
were significantly larger than those of the poorest tercile.
5.4.3 Poverty and Long-Term Soil Conservation in
Northern Vietnam
In this section, which draws on Saint-Macary et al. (2010), we test the hypothesis that
poverty induces lower investment in long-term natural resource maintenance, by
investigating farmers’ awareness of soil erosion, their knowledge of measures to reduce
it and their actual application of such measures, differentiated by wealth group. Our
analysis is based on detailed household and plot-level data collected in 2007.
Farmers’ main crop – maize, is mainly grown on erosion-prone sloping upland
plots, and farmers are well aware of the presence of soil erosion on these plots; for
example, on a scale of 0 ( ¼ no erosion) to 10 ( ¼ severe erosion), they assigned an
average erosion severity score of 4.5 to their maize land,
21 with the steeper the
slope, the more severe the erosion problem perceived.
22 There is no statistically
significant difference between wealth groups regarding the severity score assigned.
Group discussions conducted during a stakeholder workshop in September 2011
confirmed that farmers in Yen Chau knew about the consequences of soil erosion
and expected that most soils would be degraded within less than 20 years if existing
land use practices continued.
23
21 N ¼ 294. Household-level values are means of plot-specific ratings weighted according to the
plot size.
22 Slopes were assessed on a scale from 1 ( ¼ level) to 5, using a graph to illustrate. This variable
turned out to be strongly and positively correlated with the severity score given for soil erosion
(Pearson’s correlation coefficient ¼ 0.63, P < 0.01).
23 The workshop, attended by representatives from all the communes in Yen Chau district, was
conducted under the project ‘Fostering rural development and environmental sustainability
through integrated soil and water conservation systems in the uplands of northern Vietnam’, as
funded by the EnBW Rainforest Foundation.
5 Linkages Between Agriculture, Poverty and Natural Resource Use. . .
203
Most importantly, the 2010 data show that the drought-induced yield decline was
much more pronounced in the wealthier terciles, depressing yields to almost on a
level with the poorest tercile. Hence, and as a result, the difference in gross margins
between the poorest and wealthiest terciles is barely statistically significant, and
practically insignificant when using the absolute poverty classification.
We thus conclude that over the observed period from 2006 to 2010, the poor
consistently applied considerably lower amounts of mineral fertilizer to their main
crop than the wealthier farmers, leading to lower yields and gross margins. However, our data indicate that fertilizer use among the poor may be on the rise as
compared to the wealthier strata, where use is constant. A comparison between the
drought and non-drought years shows that the wealthier farmers were not able to
maintain their higher levels of land productivity during the drought year of 2010,
showing that reported drought-induced losses suffered by the wealthiest tercile
were significantly larger than those of the poorest tercile.
5.4.3 Poverty and Long-Term Soil Conservation in
Northern Vietnam
In this section, which draws on Saint-Macary et al. (2010), we test the hypothesis that
poverty induces lower investment in long-term natural resource maintenance, by
investigating farmers’ awareness of soil erosion, their knowledge of measures to reduce
it and their actual application of such measures, differentiated by wealth group. Our
analysis is based on detailed household and plot-level data collected in 2007.
Farmers’ main crop – maize, is mainly grown on erosion-prone sloping upland
plots, and farmers are well aware of the presence of soil erosion on these plots; for
example, on a scale of 0 ( ¼ no erosion) to 10 ( ¼ severe erosion), they assigned an
average erosion severity score of 4.5 to their maize land,
21 with the steeper the
slope, the more severe the erosion problem perceived.
22 There is no statistically
significant difference between wealth groups regarding the severity score assigned.
Group discussions conducted during a stakeholder workshop in September 2011
confirmed that farmers in Yen Chau knew about the consequences of soil erosion
and expected that most soils would be degraded within less than 20 years if existing
land use practices continued.
23
21 N ¼ 294. Household-level values are means of plot-specific ratings weighted according to the
plot size.
22 Slopes were assessed on a scale from 1 ( ¼ level) to 5, using a graph to illustrate. This variable
turned out to be strongly and positively correlated with the severity score given for soil erosion
(Pearson’s correlation coefficient ¼ 0.63, P < 0.01).
23 The workshop, attended by representatives from all the communes in Yen Chau district, was
conducted under the project ‘Fostering rural development and environmental sustainability
through integrated soil and water conservation systems in the uplands of northern Vietnam’, as
funded by the EnBW Rainforest Foundation.
5 Linkages Between Agriculture, Poverty and Natural Resource Use. . .
203