When Rapid Changes in Environmental, Social and Economic Conditions Converge

The report analyzes how the transition to a market economy (Doi Moi) in Dak Lak Province, Vietnam, has exposed rural communities to multiple stressors. It focuses on the rapid expansion and subsequent price collapse of coffee, significant in-migration, and increasing environmental hazards like droughts and floods. Through case studies in Cu M’gar, Lak, and Dak R’lap districts, the study finds that while economic reforms increased opportunities, they also created new vulnerabilities, particularly for indigenous ethnic minorities who lack the capital and market experience of the Kinh majority. The report argues that diversification of livelihoods and adaptive management are essential to building resilience against unpredictable economic and environmental futures.

• The transition from a state-led planned economy to a market-oriented one, known as Doi Moi, has increased livelihood opportunities but simultaneously exposed communities to risks from international commodity price fluctuations and the market economy.
• Coffee production in Dak Lak expanded rapidly in the 1990s, with the province accounting for 50% of Vietnam's national output and total coffee area, but this led to an overdependence on a single crop and high vulnerability to price shocks.
• The collapse of coffee prices around 2000, where values dropped from VND 40,000 to VND 4,000 per kg, trapped poor farmers in a vicious circle of declining investments and lower yields.
• Environmental degradation in Dak Lak is severe, with forest cover declining by over 600,000 hectares between 1983 and 2001, contributing to water scarcity and increased frequency of floods and droughts.
• Indigenous ethnic groups, such as the Ede and M’nong, are more vulnerable than the Kinh majority due to a lack of capital, market experience, and the loss of traditional forest-based livelihoods.
• In Lak District, the government's push to intensify wet rice production (moving from one to two harvests per year) has increased the debt of poor M’nong farmers and increased crop vulnerability to floods.
• The 'borrowing unripe rice' (ban lua non) system in Lak District creates a cycle of impoverishment where poor farmers sell their crops before they are ripe to pay back high-interest loans from traders.
• In the uplands of Dak R’lap, indigenous M’nong communities maintain higher welfare levels through traditional dry crop rotation and forest use, whereas migrant Tay groups are poorer due to unsustainable 'pioneering agriculture'.
• Gender dynamics in M’nong communities are being undermined by development programs that favor the Kinh patriarchal system, marginalizing women's traditional influence in matrilineal societies.
• Diversification of crops and income sources is the most effective strategy for reducing vulnerability, as seen in the mixed upland areas where people cope better with stressors than in coffee-monoculture areas.

APA

Lindskog, E., Dow, K., Axberg, G. N., Miller, F., & Hancock, A. (2005). When Rapid Changes in Environmental, Social and Economic Conditions Converge. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Risk-livelihoods/SEI_Lindskog_Dak_Lak_2005.pdf

Chicago

Lindskog, Eva, Kirstin Dow, Göran Nilsson Axberg, Fiona Miller, and Alan Hancock. When Rapid Changes in Environmental, Social and Economic Conditions Converge. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2005. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Risk-livelihoods/SEI_Lindskog_Dak_Lak_2005.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Lindskog |first1=Eva |last2=Dow |first2=Kirstin |last3=Axberg |first3=Göran Nilsson |last4=Miller |first4=Fiona |last5=Hancock |first5=Alan |title=When Rapid Changes in Environmental, Social and Economic Conditions Converge |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=May 2005 |url=https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Risk-livelihoods/SEI_Lindskog_Dak_Lak_2005.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{lindskog2005when, author = {Lindskog, Eva and Dow, Kirstin and Axberg, Göran Nilsson and Miller, Fiona and Hancock, Alan}, title = {{When Rapid Changes in Environmental, Social and Economic Conditions Converge}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2005}, month = may, url = {https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Risk-livelihoods/SEI_Lindskog_Dak_Lak_2005.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }