About Research

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— Can you tell us about your research?

My current project examines how smallholder rice farmers across Southeast Asia persist despite political and economic pressures favoring large-scale, capital-intensive agriculture. Drawing on survey data from nearly 700 farmers in the Mekong, Red River, and Chao Phraya deltas (2019, 2024), my collaborators and I are analyzing the evolving agrarian transition in the region.

Conventional theories of agrarian transition—shaped by post–World War II economic frameworks and Green Revolution models—assume smallholders will give way to larger, more efficient farms and eventually exit agriculture altogether. Yet evidence from Southeast Asia shows a more uneven trajectory. Smallholders remain deeply embedded in local socio-cultural traditions and adapt in creative ways to industrialization, market integration, and demographic change.

Recent research complicates these assumptions. In a study of rice smallholders in Thailand, for example, my colleagues and I documented how farmers have sustained production over the past two decades (Promkhambut et al. 2023). Our findings challenge dispossession-focused interpretations of agrarian change, showing how smallholders—deeply rooted in socio-cultural traditions—negotiate industrialization, markets, and demographic transitions through adaptive, locally specific practices.

At CSEAS, my current focus is on smallholder rice production in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta (VMD), one of the world’s most productive river deltas. Spanning nearly 40,000 square kilometers and home to 18 million people, the VMD produces almost half of Vietnam’s rice and 70 percent of its exports. Since the mid-1990s, rice output has nearly doubled, driven by expanded irrigation, higher yields, and multiple annual harvests. The delta is central to Vietnam’s food security and its position in global rice markets.

Vietnam’s strong central government has played a decisive role in shaping farming systems through policies promoting land consolidation, irrigation development, and initiatives such as Small Farmers, Large Fields and One Must Do, Five Reductions (which encourages more efficient use of water, seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides). While these programs aim to modernize agriculture, they often fail to capture how farmers themselves interpret and adapt to policy change. This study examines how smallholders in the Mekong Delta respond to government initiatives, focusing on land, water, and chemical use. It situates these responses within the broader social, environmental, and historical context, highlighting the gaps between top-down reform and local realities. Ultimately, the findings argue for more inclusive, ecologically grounded policies that account for the complexity of smallholder livelihoods and their role in shaping the future of Southeast Asian agriculture.

Research Inspiration

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— Is there a specific moment or event that made you decide to enter this field?

I earned my PhD in Development Studies from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1983. Although the degree was interdisciplinary, I consider myself a geographer. From the outset, I sought to bring together qualitative and quantitative interviewing skills with my interest in spatial information technologies.

My first position was in the Geography Department at Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. There, I had the opportunity to combine aerial photographs with field interviews to begin understanding farming practices in nearby villages. Several years later, I joined the East-West Center in Honolulu, Hawai‘i. At EWC, I was encouraged not to be a country specialist but to work across multiple countries. As a result, I became an interdisciplinary scholar—working across borders, a jack of all trades and a master of none. But I wouldn’t have had it any other way.

It was from this “fence-sitting” position that I was able to collaborate with a wide range of scholars—from anthropologists, geographers, and economists to foresters, agronomists, and specialists in remote sensing and spatial information technologies. In the richness of that multidisciplinary mix, I found inspiration for ideas that led to diverse projects exploring the sociological and ecological implications of how people use land today—and what those patterns mean for our future.

Societal Impact

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— Can you tell us about the impact of your research?

I have conducted research in the region for forty years—work that I hope has been of some use. I am particularly proud of a recent grant from the Luce Foundation entitled Vulnerable Deltas in Southeast Asia: Climate Change, Water Pollution, and Socio-Economic Transformation. The project addresses the multidimensional vulnerabilities facing three major deltas in Southeast Asia: the Chao Phraya Delta (from Bangkok to Suphan Buri, Thailand); the Mekong Delta (from An Giang Province, Vietnam to Phnom Penh, Cambodia); and the Mahakam Delta in East Kalimantan, Indonesia.

In collaboration with the Wilson Center’s China Environment Forum (CEF), Chulalongkorn, Srinakharinwirot, Khon Kaen, Gadjah Mada, and An Giang Universities, as well as the Asian Vision Institute and other local partners, my colleagues at EWC and I are building regional research networks to explore the climate, environmental, social, and infrastructure threats confronting these deltas.

Workshops were held in Bangkok, Thailand (December 2022); Samarinda, Indonesia (December 2023 and Honolulu (January 2025). These meetings were inspirational—bringing together scholars at every stage of their careers, from senior researchers to university students, representing institutions from around the world. One young PhD student reflected that she felt both honored and grateful to participate, describing how the experience helped her see connections between her own work in Sulawesi and the broader workshop themes of climate change, vulnerability, and resilience, while also learning from the perspectives of fellow participants. It is through this kind of multidisciplinary, multi-country, and multi-generational collaboration that my career has remained alive and fulfilling since the mid-1980s.

Life Beyond Research

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— How do you spend your time beyond research and academic work?

In my early 70s, I still love long bicycle rides. On Sunday mornings I like to head out from my home in Kailua on a 50 to 80 km bike ride. Sunday mornings are quite without too much traffic, and I know the backroads around the island fairly well. I think I am blessed to live in Hawai‘i where the scenery is gorgeous where ever you are. I also like ocean swims and long walks. A couple of years ago, I joined a Iyengar Yoga studio where I takes lessons a couple times a week. It helps improve and maintain my balance as I age.

Advice for the Next Generation

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— What advice or tips would you give to younger scholars or young people interested in pursuing a career in your field or in becoming a researcher?

I know this is a tough moment for young social scientists in the U.S. and elsewhere. Faculty jobs are hard to come by, and research funding often feels like it’s drying up before you even have a chance to get started. My best advice is: keep going. In 1995, my own institution cut half of its positions, and at the time it felt devastating. But over the years, I was still able to build a career that was rewarding and meaningful.

So don’t give up. Stay open to opportunities, even if they don’t look like the path you first imagined. Try not to shut down when things seem bleak. Being flexible—having more than one set of skills or interests—can make a real difference. The world we work in now is multidisciplinary, and the ability to move across fields is a strength.

And don’t forget to take care of yourself along the way. A healthy balance between work and personal life is what sustains a career over the long run.

Looking Ahead

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— What is the next step in your research journey?

Much of my work is grounded in case studies from the field, and my goal now is to distill that research into a broader regional understanding of land-use and land-cover change in Southeast Asia.

Reference

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Promkhambut, A., Yokying, P., Woods, K., Fisher, M., Yong, M. L., Manorom, K., Baird, I., & Fox, J. (2023). Rethinking agrarian transition in Southeast Asia through rice farming in Thailand. World Development, 169, 106309.

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Jefferson Fox is a Senior Fellow at the East-West Center in Honolulu. His research focuses on land-use and land-cover change in Asia and how these transformations affect regional livelihoods and the global environment. He has led and collaborated on studies examining agrarian transitions and rice cultivation, the expansion of rubber plantations, peri-urbanization in Vietnam, community forestry and carbon sequestration, and the ethics of spatial information technologies. Dr. Fox has worked on watershed management projects in Nepal and taught geography at Gadjah Mada University in Indonesia. He holds a Ph.D. in Development Studies from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and serves as an affiliate graduate faculty member in Geography and in the Natural Resources and Environmental Management program at the University of Hawai‘i.