GCRF_NF292: Social and environmental impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic in Vietnamese provinces bordering China and Laos following border closure
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Glasgow
Department Name: School of Interdisciplinary Studies
Abstract
Northern provinces in Vietnam that border China and Laos have been severely affected economically by the current Covid-19 pandemic. These provinces have high populations of ethnic minority groups such as the Tay, Nung, Hmong and Thai who rely in part on cross border migration to sustain their families' livelihoods. However, the Covid-19 crisis has led to the closure of international borders and migrant workers have been forced to return home. With this, major sources of income were foregone and because loss of employment in a foreign country is not recognized by Vietnamese social protection mechanisms in the context of this crisis, entire communities have had to develop their own coping mechanisms. For example, some communities have increasingly started to rely on their surrounding natural environment, including freshwater resources and forest products (both timber and non-timber products). It is not clear how effective these and other coping measures are, nor what the long term consequences on natural resources will be. As there are many uncertainties regarding the evolution of the pandemic and the potential reopening of borders, we aim to investigate how the current crisis has shaped the relationship between vulnerable communities and their natural environment by combining different scientific approaches. Our research will achieve impact locally, by providing scientific evidence to local and national policy-makers as to the situation of vulnerable communities and of their environment, as well as developing future scenarios of this situation under various assumptions of the evolution of the pandemic and potential cross border movement. We are partnering with local authorities and aim to provide scientifically-grounded advice on amending existing policies so that ethnic minority-dominated regions can receive the appropriate support to ensure we are "leaving no-one behind", the stated aim of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
| Description | Context: this project was initially affected by circumstances outside the control of the project team or partner organisations involved and was seriously delayed. It received additional funding through EP/X527749/1 which ends at the end of March 2023. There will be a consultation with local stakeholders on policy recommendations emanating from the project which will take place in the last week of March 2023. Scientific findings include: Both national and provincial governments implemented policies to support people affected by Covid restrictions. However, except the support for the Covid-19 cases or contacts in quarantine, in practice it was difficult for people to access support, as they had to provide evidence that they had lost their jobs, which for various reasons, was not always possible; these people, were therefore not able to access official support programmes, putting them in very difficult economic situations. The pandemic and associated restrictions on travel led to reduced demand and therefore falling prices for a variety of agricultural products. For example, common products such as winter vegetables, dried beef, fruit, corn, rice, and cassava could not be sold to tourists or consumers in Hanoi or other big cities in coastal Vietnam. At the same time, the price of some inputs for agricultural production (in particular fertilisers) increased as a result of restrictions on cross-border trade. As a consequence, households sought to diversify their sources of income; but simultaneously also opted to intensify agricultural production when they could in part for self-consumption. In addition to households cultivating a broad range of agricultural products (see below), internal migration within Vietnam also took place, with younger family members in particular travelling to work. Some adopted other non-farm activities such as working in construction or as casual labourers. Seeking to reduce living costs was also a common strategy practiced by households in provinces bordering China and Laos. Households used different ways to reduce their expenses such as related to the education of their children, covering costs of extra classes, meals of their children in the school, or using firewood instead of gas. The long-term consequences of this will be discussed in our final workshop end of March. Responses to the socio-economic and environmental impacts of Covid-19 were shaped by local contexts and characteristics such as geographical location, ethnic groups and gender. While the Hmong people in in one of the province rely mostly in agricultural production, the Tay and Nung people in another province work as transporters to the Vietnamese traders in the border. Collecting bamboo shoot as the alternative income source or changing the crop to cope with severe droughts was common among the Kho Mu communities. Women normally chose to stay at home and practice agricultural production so that they could take care of children and elders, while men tended to seek a job with higher income in other places. As noted above, a specific common response by those who were unable to travel across the borders to work was to return to agricultural production or forestry as a means of generating income/self-consumption of products. Because of the additional labour force available, and savings from cross-border work that some were able to re-invest, the cultivation of previously unused land in some areas took place as well as crop intensification, increase in animal production, and better caring of allocated forestry areas. In order to understand potential impacts on the environment, a deep learning based workflow using high spatial resolution (1.5 m) satellite imagery has been developed and applied to pre-and post-border closure acquisitions between 2019 and 2021 to determine land use transitions across the three study provinces. The observed transitions will be presented and discussed with stakeholders from the provinces at the dissemination workshop at the end of March 2023 to verify and further contextualise the changes. Policy recommendations have been drafted and will be discussed further with key stakeholders end of March before being finalised and presented officially to relevant Government agencies. |
| Exploitation Route | We will have a final set of policy recommendations co-developed with relevant key regional stakeholders. These will be presented and discussed with government and non-governmental actors and follow-up will take place subsequently through the engagement of project partners based in Vietnam. |
| Sectors | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Communities and Social Services/Policy,Environment,Security and Diplomacy |
| Description | Social and environmental impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic in Vietnamese provinces bordering China and Laos (UKRI ODA Allocation 2022) |
| Amount | £51,908 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | EP/X527749/1 |
| Organisation | United Kingdom Research and Innovation |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 10/2022 |
| End | 03/2023 |
| Description | ARCadia COVID-19: A Community Conversation |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | ARCadia COVID-19: A Community Conversation: As part of the University of Glasgow Advanced Research Center (ARC) Public Festival (ARCadia), the four Colleges collaborated on hosting an event reflecting on the University's many and varied contributions to COVID19 and the pandemic: COVID-19: A Community Conversation - on Wed 28 September in the ARC, Glasgow. Postcards highlighting research activity undertaken by University staff and students were displayed as part of the 'Postcards from the Pandemic' exhibition. This promoted interest among attendees for our research project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Counter Mapping and the Socioecological Challenges of Ethnic Minority Communities in Northern Vietnam |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Presentation at the Delta Futures: (In)Visibilities in Audiovisual Culture Conference, Durham University (Panel 1: Audiovisual Narratives of Delta Presents and Futures). The approach used attracted interest from participants as many of them were not necessarily familiar with it. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://deltafutures.co.uk/ |
| Description | Interviews and discussions with officials at the district level, Viet Nam |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | The exchanges were with government officials in Dien Bien district (Dien Bien province), Si Ma Cai district (Lao Cai province) and Cao Loc district (Lang Son province) representing the respective District People's Committee; District Departments of (1) Agriculture and Rural Development, (2) Division of Environmental Protection, Natural Resources and Environment, and (3)Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs; and the Division of Forest protection. The exchanges consisted in interviews to collect data and information for the project, but also in terms of informing on project progress and feedback. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Interviews and exchange with officials at the commune level, Viet Nam |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | The meetings were carried out at the commune level in Nua Ngam and Pom Lot communes (Dien Bien province); Can Cau and Lung Than communes (Lao Cai province), Hong Phong and Bao Lam communes (Lang Son province). The interaction was with officials who have a close link to the project as they work at the very local level. The exchanges allowed to collect data and information for the project but also to inform on project progress and receive feedback. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Interviews and exchange with officials at the provincial level in Dien Bien, Lao Cai and Lang Son provincial offices, Viet Nam |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | The activity was an exchange between the project and key provincial level government stakeholders (representatives from Departments of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD); Division of Environmental Protection; Natural Resources and Environment (DONRE); Statistic Office; and Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs (DOLISA)). It consisted of interviews (to collect data and information on the project) but also on information exchange on project progress. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Multi-Stakeholder workshop at Vietnam National University of Agriculture |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Preliminary results of our research were presented at a workshop entitled "Improving the social and economic resilience of migrant workers in Northern Vietnam during the Covid - 19 Pandemic" with over 60 participants representing migrant workers and their representatives, NGOs, employers of migrant workers, community leaders, People's Committee at the district and commune level, and politicians. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://vnua.edu.vn/tin-tuc-su-kien/nghien-cuu-khoa-hoc/hoi-thao-cai-thien-kha-nang-phuc-hoi-ve-mat-... |
| Description | Online meetings at the commune level in Lang Son, Lao Cai and Dien Bien provinces |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Online meetings using Zalo, the second largest social network in Vietnam, were held with local officials with participants from the following communes: (1) Nua Ngam and Pom Lot communes in Dien Bien district, Dien Bien province; (2) Lu Than and Can Cau communes in Si Ma Cai district, Lao Cai province; (3) Hong Phong commune and Bao Lam commune in Cao Loc district, Lang Son province. Team members from VNU-CRES and VNUA briefed the participants of the project goal and objectives. A mechanism as how to involve local officials in the project right from the beginning was discussed and a memorandum between VNU - CRES and the local government will be signed in March. This event triggered increased interest in project activities. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020,2021 |
| Description | Presentation of project's preliminary results at VNU-CRES Annual Scientific Meeting |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Presentation at the VNU-CRES Annual Scientific Meeting with Deputy Rector of VNU. The presented preliminary results were highly appreciated by all participants of the meeting and triggered discussions around the theme addressed. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Project website |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | Project website to promote visibility of the project and share updates on project progress |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://covidborderclosures.wordpress.com/ |