The assessment of resilience capacity of Participatory Guarantee Systems cabbage-growing households: Empirical evidence from the Red River Delta of Vietnam

This paper examines the resilience capacity and determines the relationship between resilience and economic performance in Participatory Guarantee Systems (PGS) cabbage-growing households in Vietnam’s Red River Delta by using the resilience capacity index (RCI) and Resilience Structure Matrix (RSM), with data collected from the winter-spring crop season (2023–2024). The findings indicate that Social Safety Net (SSN), Assets (AST), and Access to Basic Services (ABS) are the three most crucial pillars for household resilience. Key SSN variables include local farmer groups and organizations, while AST is significantly influenced by the number of vegetable crops, animals, trees, and water-saving equipment. ABS is represented by access to markets and schools. The study also shows a positive correlation between the Resilience Capacity Index (RCI) and economic performance, with highly resilient households experiencing high profitability. Profits for highly resilient households reached VND 174.8 million per hectare, whereas low resilient households saw a sharp decline, with a loss of VND 212 million per hectare. We derived core indicators of the three RIMA pillars: supporting local farmer groups, promoting diversified vegetable crops, and enhancing accessibility of the agricultural market to obtain a high resilience capacity and increase premium economic benefits. The paper recommended that enhancing RIMA pillars be addressed to maximize economic benefits and resilient capacity for PGS cabbage-growing households.