Efficient use of environmentally detrimental inputs in agricultural production activities in general and
intensive shrimp farming in particular is very important for achieving sustainable development goals, especially
for the vulnerable coastal areas of the Vietnamese Mekong Delta. In order to provide solutions for
improving the environmental efficiency of intensive shrimp farmers who recently transformed their farming
systems, the study conducted face–to–face interviews with 160 farmers in Kien Giang and Soc Trang provinces.
The study employed one–step stochastic frontier analysis to estimate the output–oriented technical
efficiency, then measure the environmental efficiency for each shrimp farmers. Besides, the study also
employed Tobit regression to investigate the factors affecting the environmental efficiency. The study found
that the average output–oriented technical efficiency of shrimp farmers is 92.32%. The average efficiency
scores in Soc Trang and Kien Giang are 90.54% and 96.89%, respectively. The study also found that the
average environmental efficiency of the converted shrimp farmers in the study sites is 91.77%, specifically
89.73% in Soc Trang and 97.02% in Kien Giang. This result indicates that the shrimp farmers in Soc Trang
and Kien Giang provinces can reduce by 10.27% and 2.08%, respectively, of the total environmentally detrimental
inputs (feed, medicine, and fuel) without compromising output level while keeping normal inputs
constant. The Tobit regression indicated that there are five factors having significant effects on the environmental
efficiency. Of which, experience, pond area and density have positive effects while location and
number of ponds have negative effects on the environmental efficiency.