Shrimp Aquaculture and Changing Local Institutions: Implications for Local Livelihoods

Abstract

"The shift to shrimp aquaculture, in particular the recent boost for industrial shrimp farming, following Vietnam's adoption of a market based economy in 1986, have significantly altered the roles and functions of local institutions. This paper concerns the effects of institutional changes to facilitate the expansion of shrimp aquaculture since early 1990s have had on local livelihoods in Duyen Hai district of Tra Vinh province, Vietnam's Mekong Delta. It documents the changes in the use and access to land and water, and other services as industrial shrimp farming, supported by policy to encourage 'the farm economy' (a euphemism for large farms) is embraced and the implications that this has for sustainable livelihoods in a coastal community in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam. The policy-level support for industrial shrimp farming and institutional changes thereof have happened after shrimp aquaculture has caused a high level of indebtedness among many farming households in the Mekong Delta over the past decade. The paper concludes that recent institutional changes designed to promote industrial shrimp farming, namely the privatization of land and favorable services, has significantly transformed local resource rights regimes, and limited household's access to such resources. The loss of common property resources, coupled with the lack of support from local social institutions, has increased the vulnerability of poorer farming households and intensified the process of social stratification."