Hurricane Hazard in Western Samoa

Abstract

DURING the past two decades geographers and others have studied how commoditization and marginalization determine the effects of hazards on peripheral societies. It has been argued that most natural hazards, though unpredictable, are a known part of the environment for which precapitalist societies had coping mechanisms. The real cause of contemporary disasters resulting from these hazards is changing social and economic relationships associated with incorporation into the global economy. The moral economy (Scott 1976), which consists of nonmarket, reciprocal social relationships that guarantee subsistence for all members of precapitalist societies, has been replaced by market relationships that intensify vulnerability of marginal households and groups during periods of natural stress (O'Keefe, Westgate, and Wisner 1976; Watts 1983). Moreover, the shift from subsistence to cash-crop production can intensify vulnerability by emphasizing a small number of profitable crops rather than the diverse array of crops associated with subsistence production (Campbell 1984). Finally, outside disaster-relief efforts tend to increase dependency and vulnerability to natural hazards by weakening local self-sufficiency and exchange (Thaman, Meleisea, and Makasiale 1979; Bayliss-Smith and others 1988). This article examines these issues in two rural villages during the aftermath of a hurricane in Western Samoa. Rural Western Samoans have become involved in the global market through production of export crops, through emigration, and through wage labor. The evidence from this case study suggests that the relationship between participation in the global economy and household and community vulnerability to hazards is complex. Social relationships and institutions at the village level are important intermediary variables in the relationship, and these variables can be fairly resistant to transformation. BACKGROUND AND METHODS On 2-4 February 1990, Hurricane Ofa passed over Western Samoa and caused extensive damage on the islands. One of the most severe tropical storms to hit Western Samoa since the recording of such events began in 1831 (Ulafala 1990), the hurricane damaged or destroyed many crops and structures on both of the high islands that constitute the country. As most rural households in Western Samoa grow the bulk of their staple food and as the urban populace obtains much of its foodstuff from the local market, the storm severely disrupted the local food supply. Local staples were especially scarce from May until late July, three to six months after the hurricane. Relief aid came in various forms from around the world. The data presented here are based on household interviews, landuse surveys, and general observations recorded from early April 1990 to late August 1990, two to seven months after the storm, in Fusi and Vaipua, two villages on the island of Savaii. A sample of fifteen households was selected in each village. The mayor or a knowledgeable member of his family was asked to place each village household in a high, average, or low socio-economic category, without further definition of those categories. Sample households were drawn from each category in proportion to the number placed in each category. In May, each sample household was surveyed as to staple foods eaten at the two main daily meals during the most recent four-day period that included a weekend. A second survey of the sample households in late June was used to gather information on food gifts given and received during the most recent five-day period that included a weekend. A census of all households in both villages, conducted from May through July, included questions about hurricane damage and repairs. SUBSISTENCE AND CASH-CROP STRATEGIES The high crop diversity typical of traditional shifting cultivation is averred to be a sound strategy for mitigating the effects of natural hazards on Pacific islands (Thaman, Meleisea, and Makasiale 1979; Campbell 1984). …