Samenvatting

The Vietnam Mekong Delta (VMD) is an essential region providing food security. According to The World Bank (2024), the Mekong Delta is the Vietnamese centre of rice production, with 50% of the country’s rice production and 90% of exports. Besides its agricultural activity, VMD is also an important aquacultural production region. Vietnam is one of the biggest shrimp producers worldwide and aquaculture creates jobs for many people living in the Mekong Delta. Therefore, the region provides both food and economic stability. However, VMD is also one of the world’s most vulnerable regions. Climate change and upstream economic development have contributed to freshwater shortages, drought and salt intrusion, which heavily affect both agriculture and aquaculture in the Mekong Delta (Netherlands Enterprise Agency, 2024). Salinisation is an existing threat in multiple deltas and it impacts not only agricultural production but also human health through water contamination (Rahman et al., 2019). In the last 10 years, there have been recorded two of the most severe droughts and salinisation cases have been recorded over the last 100 years. Specifically, these events occurred in 2015/2016 and 2019/2020, affecting 58000 hectares of rice and 8715 hectares of aquaculture (MADR, 2020).

Due to environmental challenges, land use is constantly changing in the coastal regions, particularly from freshwater agriculture to saltwater aquaculture (Rahman et al., 2019). Land use in the Mekong Delta has changed a lot in the last few years due to natural and human activities. Le et al. (2018) found that land use changes in the Mekong Delta are influenced by other factors, including hydrological regime and water infrastructure, suggesting that more research into how local farmers make land use decisions is needed. Other studies reveal a gap between government plans and actual land use changes at the local level in the Mekong Delta, negatively influencing sustainable development in the face of climate change (Le et al., 2023). To close this gap, it is important to understand the motivation behind land use decisions made by farmers. To contribute to this understanding, this study integrates remote sensing and interviews with local farmers and authorities, providing both spatial and social perspectives on real land use change.

Although earlier research using various satellites and techniques has been conducted on land use in the Mekong Delta region and its provinces, these studies are limited to specific areas or periods (Vu et al., 2021). This only implies the need for an updated study that combines a remote sensing approach with interviewing to demonstrate both the latest land use trends and motivations behind them.

To better understand the land use change trends in the face of environmental pressures, this study uses satellite images to analyse land use change in Tra Vinh Province from 2015 to 2025. Tra Vinh province was chosen as a focus area due to its coastal proximity, salinisation issues and existing agricultural and aquacultural practices. In addition to land use change analysis, the study explores how these changes relate to local planning efforts and how they are experienced and navigated by local people. Interviews with both local authorities and farmers provide insight into planning processes, decision-making and adaptations. The following questions guide the research:

1. What are the main land use categories in Tra Vinh from 2015 to 2025?

2. What is the land use change in Tra Vinh 2015-2025?

3. How do local farmers perceive and experience these land use changes?

4. How do the local authorities view the land use planning process?