Case Study

Promoting AGRITAGE through Ecotourism for Community Resilience in Northern Vietnam　

Posted: 17 March 2025

Updated: 17 March 2025

Asia - Vietnam

Issue

Ethnic minorities residing in the northern mountainous region of Vietnam are among the country’s most vulnerable groups due to the impacts of climate change. According to locals, abnormal weather conditions are intensifying in the form of rising temperatures, drier and hotter summers, extreme cold in winter, heavy rains, flash floods and landslides. Drought has also increased in both intensity and duration. Meanwhile, the communities are mainly relying on their indigenous and local knowledge and skills to cope with climate change impacts and lack awareness of adaptation solutions that are effective and sustainable.

Solution

Climate change adaptation at the local level can be best applied by building solutions rooted to the local practices, cultures and value systems as they are a part of the day-to-day lifestyle of local communities such as ethnic minorities. Resilience enhancement measures will be necessary to strengthen locally based coping strategies. In this context, the concept of “AGRITAGE” capitalizes the circular livelihood behind the agro-ecological heritage that is resilient to climate impacts, utilises ecosystem services, and is also sustainable. This solution works by combining enhanced agro-ecological farming systems and circular lifestyles, private sector participation through ecotourism as a model for sustainable local financing, and education and innovation. A virtuous loop is created in which the locals are incentivized to sustain their practices and traditions while the local tourists from cities gain first-hand experience and a better understanding of close human-nature interdependence.

Short Summary:

Ethnic minorities groups, such as Hmong, Dao, Thai, in Son La Province of northwestern Vietnam have developed farming systems, cultural practices, and an indigenous knowledge base to lead sustainable and resilient livelihoods that are eco-friendly, circular and well-suited to their high-elevation environments.

Description (Details)

Son La province is a mountainous area located in the northwestern part of Vietnam. It is home to different ethnic minorities, such as the Hmong, Dao, and Thai, who have inherited indigenous and local knowledge systems of farming and ecosystem management to lead sustainable lifestyles. Such ethnic lifestyles are being exposed to the wave of modern development, which is opening up a number of economic opportunities and pushing for dynamic socio-cultural change. Meanwhile, the impacts of climate change are compounding the vulnerability of the local community and making it difficult to sustain only with the traditional means of agriculture-based livelihoods. Faced with dual challenges of modernization and climate change impacts, Thai Nguyen University of Agriculture and Forestry (TNUAF), Vietnam has been promoting the concept of “AGRITAGE” with the idea of private sector participation to incentivise farmers and local authorities to continue their traditional lifestyle based on agro-ecological heritage, with better planning, collective action, local innovation and learning. TNUAF is partnering with IGES and the Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research (APN) to co-develop a “locally led adaptation” solution as a contribution to the Asia-Pacific Climate Change Adaptation Information Platform (AP-PLAT) based on the same concept.

Enhancing agro-ecological farming systems and circular lifestyles provides the necessary foundation to generate local products and services. This includes growing high value organic food products, such as local cultivars and livestock breeds, and the cultivation of a multi-layered “Food Forest”, which is based on the concept of growing a combination of edible herbs, shrubs, and trees in layers to mimic the condition of a natural forest. The main difference between a natural forest and a “Food Forest” is the focus on edible plants in the latter. Existing natural forests in the surrounding areas also continue to provide ecosystem services including the provision of edible and non-edible forest products.

Private sector participation, through eco-tourism which includes home stays, cultural activities, and eco-tours, is critical for financial sustainability as it connects the local economy with the external world, especially Hanoi city, which is only about two hours away by car. Tourists from Hanoi bring in extra revenue as they consume local farm products, pay for services, and also purchase organic products, such as vegetables, herbs, and livestock, when they return home.

Unlike typical tourism, which is for fun and relaxation, eco-tourism has a strong educational element aimed towards imparting indigenous and local knowledge to local tourists, who are mostly from Hanoi and other cities, and are usually not exposed to indigenous lifestyles. The urban residents, such as students and youth who are generally unaware of agro-ecological heritages, have an opportunity to learn about local agro-ecology and its connection to the day-to-day life of the people, such as the medicinal value of plants and roles of insects, birds, fish, animals and forests to sustain the ecology, while they experience the close interdependence of humans with nature. Village tours and activities led by members of the local community are designed to impart indigenous and local knowledge and culture to visitors.

All these positive impacts on local communities further fuels the drive for local innovation and pursuit of resilient development based on their own knowledge and cultural practices.