| dc.description.abstract | The Vietnamese Mekong Delta is among the world’s most climate-vulnerable agricultural regions, facing
intensifying threats from draught, erratic rainfall, and soil degradation. These pressures disproportionately
affect rural women, who play a central role in sustaining agricultural production while navigating structural
constraints such as limited institutional access, gendered care responsibilities, and time poverty. This research
explores how women across three generations in farming households in An Giang province respond and adapt
to these challenges by combining Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) with modern agricultural
knowledge and techniques. Grounded in Feminist Political Ecology and the Sustainable Livelihoods
Framework, the study draws on 33 semi-structured interviews and one focus group, offering a gendered and
generational perspective on climate adaptation. Findings show that adaptation is embedded in everyday
practices and relationships, with women acting as knowledge brokers – serving as bridges between inherited
traditional techniques and institutional training. Although TEK role is increasingly vulnerable due to
environmental and structural pressions, knowledge-sharing remains active and dynamic. Intergenerational
exchange is shown to be bidirectional, with younger generations introducing digital tools and external
knowledge, while older generations contribute experiential, place-based insights. While out-migration often
contributes to the erosion of traditional knowledge systems, return migration can bring innovation and renewed
engagement. Structural barriers, however, continue to limit many women’s participation in formal adaptation
initiatives. By framing adaptation as a relational and intergenerational process, this study challenges
technocratic, top-down approaches to climate policy. It calls for gender- and age-sensitive adaptation planning
that values local knowledge, promotes intergenerational dialogue, and addresses structural inequalities. | |
