'Crisis of Change: Mekong Delta'


The Mekong Delta is one of the most fertile places on earth and is the worlds second largest exporter of rice. The rice fields support around 80% of the Mekong Delta population.

However things are changing and the people here are adapting to these changes.

Rising sea levels brings salt water further in land contaminating rice fields and destroying crops of rice and other agricultural production. This twinned with the adverse effects of upstream hydroelectric dams (the majority owned by Chinese companies) that limit the amount of fresh water and nutrient rich sediment that reach the fields has become a crisis for the Delta's 21.5 million inhabitants.

This series is part of an ongoing investigation into the effects of climate change and other factors on the population. 

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