Project Leader	Hayashi Takeshi (Akita University, Faculty of Education and Human Studies)
Collaborators	Iizumi Yoshiko (Nihon University, College of Humanities and Sciences) Minaki Kanako (Kyoto University, Graduate school of Asian and African Area Studies) Yanagisawa Masayuki (Kyoto University, Center for Southeast Asian Studies)
Research Project	Study on the development of an evaluation method for the water cycle to contribute to the sustainability assessment of agriculture in the Mekong Delta
Countries of Study	Vietnam

Outline of Research

This study focuses on the correlations between agriculture and the water environment in Ca Mau Province, Vietnam, located at the southwestern end of the Mekong Delta. This study will (1) integrate the results of field surveys and digital data (digital topography model, satellite images) in the study area to clarify the current status of the relationship between land use (use pattern and distribution of agricultural land), microtopography (land undulations), and water cycle mechanisms (e.g., waterway networks) to contribute to the evaluation of the sustainability of local agriculture. (2) Examine effective digital data analysis methods for the efficient understanding of microtopography and water cycle mechanisms in the vast delta.

Purpose of Research, Its Significance and Expected Results, etc

Salinization of irrigation water has been observed in recent years in the Mekong Delta, one of the largest deltas worldwide. Given that global sea level rise is predicted to be inevitable because of global warming and climate change, the southern part of the Mekong Delta, where the topography is especially low-lying, is expected to suffer serious damage to agriculture and people’s livelihoods in the future. This study will be conducted in Ca Mau Province, Vietnam, which is located at the southwestern end of the Mekong Delta, with the aim of understanding the current status of the relationships between land use, microtopography, and water cycle mechanisms to contribute to the assessment of the sustainability of local agriculture and to examine effective analysis methods for digital data to efficiently understand microtopography and water cycle mechanisms in the vast delta. Generally, fieldwork is essential to understanding the current situation and evaluating the sustainability of agriculture. However, it is difficult to conduct extensive field surveys in a mega-delta such as the Mekong Delta. In this study, we will investigate an effective method for analyzing digital data by integrating field surveys and digital data to understand the characteristics of the relationships among land use, microtopography, and water cycle mechanisms in the target area. The results of this study will contribute to the sustainability assessment of agriculture and people’s livelihoods in the southern Mekong Delta, including the study area, as well as to the assessment of deltas and coastal lowlands around the world that are vulnerable to global warming and climate change, as the digital data that will be used in this study covers a wide area of the world’s land.