Adaptive strategies enhance smallholders’ livelihood resilience in Bihar, India

Abstract

This study empirically assesses if and to what extent adaptive strategies contribute to smallholders’ livelihood resilience in Bihar, India. The sustainable rural livelihoods framework has been implemented to understand how household livelihood systems may interact with the outside context. This poses significant empirical and methodological challenges, since studies of the interconnections between livelihood resources, livelihood strategies and livelihood outcomes from a quantitative point of view are still limited. The results extend the theoretical understanding of the relationships identified by the Sustainable Rural Livelihoods framework, and also provide empirical evidence about how livelihood resources, livelihood strategies and livelihood outcomes (food security in particular) are strictly interconnected. The study highlights that while the adaptive strategies implementation is influenced by the livelihood resources of rural households, it significantly influences the food security status of the smallholders in Bihar. On the basis of the above, the current study emphasizes the importance of targeted interventions to improve specific forms of households’ livelihood resources which are prominent determinants of adoption of strategies that leads to the maintenance of resilience by environmentally dependent households in the developing world.