The IRD team from the STAR-FARM Project visited Đông Thái and Tây Yên in An Giang (formerly Kiên Giang) on 25-26 November, and Long Hòa in Vĩnh Long (formerly Trà Vinh) on 27-29 November. This field mission was part of Activity 2.1.2: Identify and address the specific constraints of women and youth in adopting innovations.
During this trip, we conducted in-depth interviews primarily with farmers from diverse backgrounds, including differences in gender, age, ethnicity, and farm size, together with middlemen, input agents, cooperative representatives, and commune officials. The interviews focused on the ongoing transition to the rice-shrimp model, with a particular focus on gender equality, youth participation, and social inclusion of vulnerable groups.
Visiting the rice-shrimp farms of interviewees in Dong Thai and Tay Yen
Among these sites, Long Hòa is a new site for 2.1.2 where the organic rice-shrimp model is being implemented, and it is an island commune accessible only by ferries. The organic rice from the rice-shrimp farms is both consumed domestically and exported to other markets in Europe and the United States.
Meeting with commune officials in Long Hoa
Visiting the organic rice-shrimp farms in Long Hoa
Interviewing a representative from Chau Hung cooperative in Long Hoa
Questions of equity, participation, and vulnerability are central to understanding agricultural transformation in the Mekong Delta. Who benefits from new farming practices? Who is able to participate in decision-making? Who remains at the margins? These questions shape how women balance farm and household responsibilities, how youth navigate decisions about staying or leaving agriculture, and how ethnic minority communities engage with new opportunities amid longstanding constraints.
The findings from this field trip also provide valuable inputs for our upcoming workshop on “Gender Equality and Social Inclusion in Agricultural Transformation in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta”, which is an initial step to the development of social justice indicators and/or support mechanisms that are both relevant to the STAR-FARM project sites and adaptable to the broader agricultural context of the Mekong Delta.
