Indigenous water governance in a China-Vietnam borderland: ethnographic insights from Nung and Tay communities

By foregrounding recent ethnographic evidence, this study advances existing scholarship by demonstrating how indigenous irrigation systems among the Nung and Tay operate as adaptive, socially embedded governance arrangements rather than static technical traditions. The findings highlight the capacity of indigenous water governance to respond to climatic and policy pressures and underscore its relevance for culturally grounded and sustainable agricultural development in upland border regions.