Title: Characterising households' vulnerability to climate change in Pyapon District in the delta region of Myanmar

Authors: Aung Tun Oo; Guido Van Huylenbroeck; Stijn Speelman

Addresses: Department of Agricultural Economics, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Belgium ' Department of Agricultural Economics, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Belgium ' Department of Agricultural Economics, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Belgium

Abstract: In the delta areas of Myanmar, saltwater intrusion and flooding increasingly cause reductions in cultivated area and crop productivity, thereby threatening livelihoods that are dependent on agriculture. A household's vulnerability to these phenomena is determined by demographic factors and the social and economic characteristics of farm households. This paper has two main objectives: firstly to evaluate the factors determining farm households' vulnerability and, secondly, to study the correlation statistics between these factors. Based on a sample of 178 respondents, this study found that smallholders were most vulnerable to natural hazards, with an average household vulnerability score of 0.608, compared to households with larger landholdings which have a score of 0.589. Moreover, the Spearman correlation test reveals that 14 out of the 23 selected variables were significantly correlated with the household vulnerability index.

Keywords: climate change; saltwater intrusion; flooding; Myanmar; vulnerability index; natural hazards.

DOI: 10.1504/IJGW.2018.095993

International Journal of Global Warming, 2018 Vol.16 No.4, pp.365 - 380

Received: 14 Aug 2017
Accepted: 11 Apr 2018
Published online: 06 Nov 2018 *

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