Dr Tuan Luong and Professor Edward Cartwright have received funding of £50,000 from the British Academy Humanities and Social Sciences Tackling Global Challenges Programme. The two year project, that began on the 1st March 2021, will look at mapping and analysing the trading networks of rural farmers in Vietnam. The project is joint with Dr Long Tran-Than (Warwick), Dr Nguyen Quang (Duytan University) and Dr Trung Thanh-Ngo (Vietnam National University of Agriculture).
The project will provide a novel analysis of the food supply network in Vietnam with a particular emphasis on rural farming and local market trading. Vietnam is particularly vulnerable to climate change and rising sea levels. It is also characterized by high levels of inequality and rural poverty. This project will collect and combine three strands of data: (1) mapping the food supply network of rural farmers, (2) survey of household behaviour, beliefs and attitudes, and (3) field data on weather and crop quality. This data will give unprecedented insight on the resilience and efficiency of the food supply network. It will also allow novel analysis on the consequences of climate shock for food supply, rural poverty and social cohesion within local communities.
The project shall also model behavioural interventions that can be implemented at a local level in order to increase resilience to shock and alleviate poverty.