The book adresses three major issues connected to the theme of vulnerability to poverty of rural households in emerging market economies. The first topic is dealing with the problem of data collection for vulnerability assessments. The second topic is connected to the question of diversification in response to shocks and risks. Here analysis was performed for households in Vietnam and in additonal comparsion between Thailand and Vietnam. The third topic addresses a particular type of shock, namely the 2008 food price crisis and the analysis of the adjustment measures taken by rural and urban households in different regions of Vietnam.