Tropentag, October 5 - 7, 2004 in Berlin "Rural Poverty Reduction through Research for Development and Transformation"

Acceptance Analysis of New Technology for Decentralised Water Management - A Case Study of Operating Farm Households in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam

University of Bonn, Institute for Agricultural Policy, Market Research and Economic Sociology, Germany

Abstract

According to the ``Vietnam Environment Monitor 2003 – Water" clean drinking water is provided to approximately 60% of its population. Due to the dynamic development of Vietnam's industrial and agricultural sector in the last decade as well as to its growing population, there is increasing evidence of pollution of surface, ground and coastal waters. Thus especially in the Mekong Delta rural water supply and adequate sanitation become an important topic. Implementation of decentralised wastewater treatment systems to use faeces in agricultural production in a hygienic, economic and ecological appropriate way is seen as an effective loop-approach to this water and health crisis. With an interdisciplinary team the SANSED-Project aims to link water management with agriculture in the Mekong Delta, its first experimental region. Farm households' acceptance behaviour represents a key role for sustainable development. Therefore this research determines and analyses factors that affect farmers' attitude, acceptance and diffusion of ecological sanitation technologies like biogas plants, modern latrines as well as the use of organic substrates for agricultural production in integrated small scale farming systems. Three villages of the Can Tho Province were selected. After a preliminary study in the research area, a standardised questionnaire was elaborated, with an integrated research approach combining various dimensions of farmers' environment as well as the main attributes of the innovations respectively. Within the stratified, disproportional sample 218 farm households were interviewed. Additionally expert interviews with representatives of the local government, universities and other institutions were realised. This research will describe current socio-economic conditions and their significance to the actual use, treatment and behaviour concerning garbage and wastewater. Further the results will clarify attitudes and acceptance towards the evaluated innovations and thus allow recommendations which contribute to a sustainable development of optimised farming systems preventing water pollution and water-born diseases.

Keywords: Acceptance, biogas, ecological sanitation, Vietnam, water management

Contact Address: Florian Wieneke, University of Bonn, Institute for Agricultural Policy, Market Research and Economic Sociology, Nußallee 21, 53115 Bonn, Germany, e-mail: wienekeagp.uni-bonn.de