Springer Science and Business Media LLC Acta Medica Okayama 0300-7839 51 4 2023 Does International Environmental Certification Change Local Production and Trade Practices? A Case Study of Shrimp Farming in Southern Vietnam 781 794 EN Hiroki Watanabe Graduate School of Environmental and Life Science, Okayama University Fumikazu Ubukata Institute of Academic and Research, Okayama University Studies on international environmental certification (IEC) have primarily focused on how certification can sustainably gupgradeh local production and trading practices. However, not many studies view this market-based governance process from the perspective of local practices and location-specific factors. This study therefore examines how the upstream of the local supply chain influenced global interventions through the case of certification for shrimp farming in the mangroves of southern Vietnam. To clarify various aspects of these interactions, semi-structured interviews were conducted with the provincial government, NGOs, a trading company, shrimp farmers, and middlemen. The results revealed that IEC did not affect local production practices and only partially influenced trade practices. The implementation of IEC was thus at the mercy of the robustness of local society, which was attributed to unique agroecology, production systems, and upstream customary economic practices. No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported.

Springer Acta Medica Okayama 2095-0055 12 2 2021 Long-Term Improvement in Precautions for Flood Risk Mitigation: A Case Study in the Low-Lying Area of Central Vietnam 250 266 EN Cong Dinh Nguyen Graduate School of Environmental and Life Science, Okayama University Fumikazu Ubukata Graduate School of Environmental and Life Science, Okayama University Quang Tan Nguyen International School, Hue University Hoang Ha Vo Faculty of Economics and Development Studies, University of Economics, Hue University Local actors appear as inseparable components of the integrated flood risk mitigation strategy in Vietnam. Recognizing this fact, this study examined the long-term improvement in precautions taken by commune authorities and households between two major floods in 1999 and 2017 by applying both quantitative and qualitative methods. Two flood-prone villages were selected for a survey; one in a rural area and the other in a suburban area of Thua Thien Hue Province, central Vietnam. The findings indicate that most villagers doubted the structural works' efficacy and were dissatisfied with the current efforts of local authorities. Households' self-preparation thus became the decisive factor in mitigating risk. While most households have paid greater attention to flood precautions in 2017, others seem to be lagging. Poverty-related barriers were the root causes restraining households in both rural and suburban villages. The suburban riverine residents were further identified as vulnerable by their limitations in upgrading structural measures, which was ascribed to the inconsistency in the ancient town's preservation policy. This multidimensional comparison, in terms of vulnerability, emphasized the importance of space-function links in the suburb and the contradictions of different policy initiatives, such as landscape rehabilitation, disaster prevention, and livelihood maintenance. No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported.