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Review | Applied Innovation for Community Development | Volume 1 - Issue 1 - 2026 | 37-49 |
© 2026 by the author(s), and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) License Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) License

Evidence-Based Approaches to Improving Rural Livelihood Programs in Vietnam: A Systematic Review

Author(s): Nguyen Minh Quang , Tran Thi Thu Ha
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Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, Vietnam

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Applied Innovation for Community Development

Volume 1 - Issue 1 - 2026

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Rural livelihoods in Vietnam have undergone substantial transformation since the Đổi Mới reforms, shaped by livelihood diversification, microfinance expansion, agricultural extension, migration, and targeted poverty-reduction programs for ethnic minority and mountainous communities. Despite extensive empirical literature, a systematic synthesis connecting these intervention domains to livelihood outcomes remains limited. Objective: This systematic review synthesizes peer-reviewed evidence on the effectiveness of livelihood diversification strategies, financial inclusion, agricultural extension, climate adaptation measures, and targeted poverty-reduction programs in improving rural livelihoods in Vietnam. Methods: Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) framework, a structured search of web-based academic sources was conducted. Sixty-three records were identified, of which 22 peer-reviewed journal articles with assigned digital object identifiers met the eligibility criteria and were included in the qualitative synthesis. Results and Discussion: Included studies were concentrated in six thematic categories, with climate vulnerability and adaptation studies the most numerous (n = 6), followed by off-farm employment and migration/remittance studies (n = 4). The majority of studies reported predominantly positive associations between livelihood diversification, microcredit access, and off-farm participation and household welfare outcomes, although climate-related and ethnic-minority-targeted studies more frequently reported mixed or context-dependent effects. Conclusion: Evidence-based rural livelihood programming in Vietnam should integrate financial inclusion, agricultural extension, and off-farm diversification with context-sensitive, climate-adaptive design, particularly for ethnic minority and mountainous populations where programme effects remain heterogeneous.

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SUBMITTED: 23 June 2026
ACCEPTED: 03 September 2026
PUBLISHED: 17 September 2026
SUBMITTED to ACCEPTED: 73 days

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Quang, N. M. ., & Ha, T. T. T. . (2026). Evidence-Based Approaches to Improving Rural Livelihood Programs in Vietnam: A Systematic Review. Applied Innovation for Community Development, 1(1), 37–49. Retrieved from https://tecnoscientifica.com/journal/aicd/article/view/1271
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