World Food Policy • Vol. 3, No. 2 / Vol. 4, No. 1 • Fall 2016 / Spring 2017
New Freshwater Aquaculture Systems
in the Red River Delta of Vietnam:
Evolution of a Key Role in Food
Systems and Rural Development
Nguyen Van Huong 1,2 , Tran Huu Cuong 2 ,
Tran Thi Nang Thu 3 , and Philippe Lebailly 2
Abstract
Freshwater aquaculture production systems are closely related to
Integrated Agriculture Aquaculture systems. The systems are tradi-
tionally integrated with crop production, horticulture, and livestock
husbandry. Improved aquaculture systems are currently able to not
only improve the nutrients of local farmers’ diets and economic
conditions, but are also able to create employment opportunities
and lead to better resource-utilization and rural development. This
paper aims to present the changes in food systems affected by the
rapidly developing freshwater aquaculture in northern Vietnam. It
will shed light on how the aquaculture system plays various roles in
supporting agrarian livelihoods, their relationships to well-being,
and food security using a clear example of small-scale aquaculture
in a province of the Red River Delta. The challenges and opportu-
nities presented to small-scale producers and culture systems are
assessed, and the likely future of small-scale freshwater production
systems is discussed and forecast.
Combining historical, adaptive, and systematic approaches, the
study revealed the features and characteristics of inland aquaculture
systems at the household level over a decade of the evolutionary
process (1997–2015). By investigating 151 aquaculture households
in two representative districts of the region, the three existing sys-
tems are identified: VAC system (23%) (whereby V=vuon-gardens
(horticulture), A=Ao-ponds (aquaculture) and C=Chuong-animal
1
2
3
Faculty of Accounting and Business Management, Vietnam National University of Agriculture,
Hanoi, Vietnam
Gembloux Agro BioTech, University of Liège, Belgium
Faculty of Fisheries, Vietnam National University of Agriculture, Hanoi, Vietnam
33
doi: 10.18278/wfp.3.2.4.1.3