Assessment of household vulnerability to flood risk : A case study in Vietnam Thi

The impacts of natural disasters on a subject depend on the complex interaction between damaging physical events and the vulnerability of the subject. Developing countries like Vietnam have been affected by disasters such as storms, floods and seem to suffer more from the negative impacts of the shocks due to their vulnerability. This study aims to assess the vulnerability of households to flood risk in Vietnam by analyzing the relationship between vulnerability and poverty. The study uses data from a household survey conducted in Nghe An province in 2012. Vulnerability as expected poverty approach (VEP) is applied to investigate the vulnerability to floods. This approach bases on the idea that a household is said to be vulnerable to flood risk if any hazard causes loss of welfare below the poverty line. The probability of vulnerability of each household is estimated using the three-step feasible generalized lease squares (FGLS) method. Then the study makes the comparison between vulnerability level of flooded households and non-flooded households. The results suggest that flooded households are negatively affected by flooding in terms of housing, agricultural production, and medical expenses. In addition, the percentage of flooded households living below the poverty line is 40.33 percent, while that of nonflooded households is 35.33 percent. Besides, 54.70 percent of flooded households are facing the risk of poverty while 41.35 percent of non-flooded households are struggling with the same problem. Thus flooded households are poorer and also more vulnerable than nonflooded households.