In my master’s thesis, I explore how men and women rice–shrimp farmers in Ca Mau, Vietnam perceive and respond to food security challenges caused by salinity intrusion, a threat that is intensifying due to climate change. Using a constructivist grounded theory approach, my research goes beyond technical adaptation strategies to understand how farmers interpret risk, scarcity, and resilience in their everyday lives.

The rice–shrimp farming system is a locally developed innovation that alternates freshwater rice cultivation with saline shrimp farming in the same fields. While this system has long supported livelihoods and food security, increasing saltwater intrusion is destabilizing the delicate balance between land and water. Through gender-disaggregated interviews, I found that men and women frame food security differently: men tend to focus on production and income stability, while women emphasize household provisioning, dietary diversity, and care responsibilities.

My findings show that food security is a social and relational process, shaped by gendered roles, access to resources, and institutional contexts. Women’s often-invisible labor plays a critical role in sustaining households under ecological stress, while men’s market-oriented decisions influence broader economic resilience. Together, these perspectives form a dynamic model of adaptive provisioning, in which resilience is continuously negotiated.

With my thesis, I contribute to sustainability by reframing food security and climate adaptation as deeply social and gendered processes, rather than technical. My research demonstrates that sustainable adaptation in coastal agrifood systems depends not only on environmental management, but also on equity, agency, and care work within households and communities.

Ecologically, the rice–shrimp system represents a low-emission, integrated farming model that harmonizes freshwater and brackish environments. By documenting how salinity intrusion threatens this balance, my work underscores the urgency of climate-adaptive land and water management. Socially, my findings reveal that women are key agents of resilience, particularly through food provisioning, budgeting, and informal support networks, yet they remain underrepresented in formal decision-making spaces.

My thesis provides actionable insights for policymakers, NGOs, and development practitioners by showing how gender-responsive approaches can enhance both ecological resilience and household well-being. By applying the six-dimensional HLPE framework and grounding analysis in lived experience, this scholarly investigation supports more inclusive and effective sustainability policies aligned with SDG 2 (Zero Hunger), SDG 5 (Gender Equality), and SDG 13 (Climate Action).

Ultimately, my work contributes to a vision of sustainability as a relational and ongoing process—one that values empathy, shared responsibility, and local knowledge as essential foundations for a just and resilient agrifood future under climate change.