Changes In Livelihood Strategies Research Articles

COVID-19 pandemic and dynamics of livelihood assets in the Kwahu South District of Ghana: determinants and policy implications

ABSTRACT The debate on the changes in livelihood assets as a function of health shocks remains inconclusive, thus spurring attention from scientists and development practitioners across the globe. This paper analyses COVID-19-induced changes in the livelihood assets of rural households in Ghana. While the content analysis was employed in qualitative data analysis, the quantitative data set was analysed using the binary logistic regression model. The analyses led to the following conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic led to a more significant decline in financial assets than social assets. Although several socio-economic factors determine changes in the livelihood assets of households, the assets base of migrants was disproportionately affected by the pandemic. Also, women were disproportionately affected since market access restrictions significantly affected their income and savings and, consequently, their ability to buy farm necessitites. These results suggest the need to emphasise the resilience of financial assets in times of pandemics, especially for migrants. This study provides new insights to inform the sustainable livelihoods framework, emphasising pandemics and changing livelihood strategies. Studies to uncover the coping strategies of migrants in the context of health shocks are required to complement this position.

Land Use, Built-Up, and Vegetation Index in North Halmahera Regency through Spatio-Temporal Analysis

Monitoring land use, buildings, and vegetation index of ecotourism areas in North Halmahera can support planning space utilization in urban areas for tourist areas as the concept of land use management and urban planning. This study offers ideas for analyzing the distribution of buildings, vegetation index, and land use in the mangrove ecotourism area of North Halmahera Regency using the spatio-temporal analysis method. The spatio-temporal analysis method comprises several stages: data selection, preprocessing, data integration, spatial analysis, temporal analysis, spatio-temporal analysis, data visualization, interpretation and understanding, and data visualization. The results of this study show that changes in the livelihood strategy of local people, from farmers and fishermen to traders, also affect land use patterns, from agricultural activities to economic activities, which triggers an increase in the number of buildings for production activities to product distribution. The implications of these findings on ecotourism development programs and policies and infrastructure development in the North Halmahera Regency are to consider community livelihoods and space or land use behavior in ecotourism areas based on vegetation, soil, and building index values. Thus, the intensification of building distribution and changes in vegetation index values from 2013-2023 reflect changes in people's livelihood strategies from agrarian activities to trade and from fishermen's activities to tourism transportation service providers.

Changing Caste Relations in Mudkhu Bhanjyang: An Anthropological Overview

This article attempts to analyze the changing caste relations in recent years in Mudkhu of Tarkeshwor Municipality of Kathmandu. Nepal has been declared a Federal Democratic Republic State; the political transformations have been made. Through a transformative process in Nepal, many existing social norms and patterns have been changed and some others have been reformed. With changing conditions of social structure and cultural practices, the Nepali caste system is also being changed. The rigidity of the caste system is changing. Due to various reasons and efforts flexibility is being taken place against caste-based discrimination in society. In recent decades, the structure and the functioning of the caste system and its economic and social aspects have greatly changed. There is an increase in class consciousness and a decrease in caste consciousness. It is, perhaps, because of the educational system, modernization, changing livelihood strategies etc.

Living through crises due to successive commodity booms and busts: Investigating the changing peasants farming style in rural Indonesia

This study aims to explain how a peasant community makes decisions in response to recurring crises in order to maintain their farms, and the extent to which vulnerability contexts and (external) institutions influence peasants’ decision-making regarding their livelihoods. In doing so, we present a case study of the Village of Ranga, in the South Sulawesi Province, Indonesia, where data collected through semi-structured interviews, observation, and Focus Group Discussion (FGD). Data regarding farmers' livelihood strategies in responding to the crises, in the form of commodity booms and busts, is analyzed by employing a sustainable rural livelihoods framework, while a Chayanovian “balance” approach is used to understand peasants’ decision making and the extent to which they retain operations as ‘peasant farms’. We found that the most critical vulnerability that directly contributes to changes in the peasants' livelihood trajectories is successive shocks in the form of physical disturbances to plants and land. In making decisions regarding changes in livelihood strategies when facing crises, farmers seem to be pushed to abandon various balances they previously upheld, except to some extent the labor-consumption balance. This change potentially deepens the vulnerability of the Ranga Village peasants by adding more exposure to volatile markets and environmental pressure (such climate-induced hazards, pests, disease, and water crisis). This research can help us to understand the nature of the peasant responses in times of crises, and therefore help to inform the scanning of potential strategic measures for rural agricultural development in order to increase agricultural resilience.

Changing Livelihood Strategies of Indigenous People : A Case Study of Raji Community at Ghatgaun in Surkhet District, Nepal

Changing Livelihood Strategies of Indigenous People : A Case Study of Raji Community at Ghatgaun in Surkhet District, Nepal

Changing Livelihood Strategies in a Conservation Area: Fishers, Farmers, and Sand Mining in Merauke, Indonesia

The Wasur National Park (WNP) includes the Ramsar Site, an important area for global conservation efforts in wetlands. This coastal area also supports the socio-economic activities of local and non-local communities who are highly dependent on natural resources. Conservation efforts in the area are sometimes at odds with the sustainability of local livelihoods and poverty alleviation initiatives for the community. The aim of this study is to describe the sources of community livelihoods in the Wasur Naukenjerai National Park area, specifically around agricultural, fisheries, and sand mining dynamics. Using a qualitative research design, this study uses a field survey to collect primary data sourced from key informants with in-depth interviews from 15 community respondents in three sample villages on the coast, and seven key informants from relevant government agencies. The results show that the main livelihood source for people in the protected area are as fishermen and farmers. Sand mining has emerged as an alternative source of livelihood but has caused degradation of beaches and land in the Wasur National Park area. In addition, there are activities of buying and selling agricultural land in protected areas. The protection of the rights of the community in the area and government support programs have been unable to guarantee the welfare of the community. For this reason, it is necessary to strengthen and further support local institutions livelihoods to ensure the sustainability of Wasur National Park area management.

Forest—People nexus in changing livelihood contexts: Evidence from community forests in Nepal

Community forestry in Nepal has set an example of people's participation in forest management. The direct dependency of local people on forest resources for livelihood activities has been one of the key adhesive factors for collective efforts in forest management. Changing livelihood strategies from agriculture-based livelihoods to migration (and remittances thereof) and the service sector, introduces a new dispensation which is yet to be sufficiently understood. This paper explores the changing livelihood strategies of forest users and analyses their effects on participation in forest management. The structured household survey (n = 106), key informant interviews (n = 6), and focal group discussions (n = 3) in three community forest user groups in the mid-hills of Nepal were employed to analyze the changing livelihood strategies in the last 15 years, and to underscore their implications for forest management. We followed the recall process, and in order to ease the recall process, the reference events were discussed with the respondent. The result showed an increasing switch to non-forest dependent livelihood strategies, characterized by the emergence of non-agriculture (remittance, business, service) sectors. While there is no change in the number of CF meetings attended, and the average time spent per meeting by user households, a decreasing dependence on forests, as well as the willingness to participate in forest management was recorded. These were associated with the change in livelihood strategies from agriculture to non-agriculture-based practices. This context justifies the need for a re-think on how to stabilize the rural sector to limit rural exodus and the management of community forest resources in the mid-hills of Nepal.

Increased climate variability and sedentarization in Tanzania: Health and nutrition implications on pastoral communities of Mvomero and Handeni districts, Tanzania

African pastoralists are undergoing significant changes in livelihood strategies, from predominantly mobile pastoralism to agro-pastoralism in which both livestock raising and cultivation of crops are practiced, to agro-pastoralism combined with wage labor and petty trade. These changes often result in fixed settlements or a process known as sedentarization. Previous research indicates that sedentarization and increased climate variability are prominent forces shaping livelihood opportunities and constraints in East Africa, but the effects of these co-occurring processes have yet to be investigated. This paper develops theory, using qualitative data collected in Morogoro and Tanga Regions of Tanzania, explaining the relationships between climate variability, pastoral sedentarization, livelihood outcomes, and resulting nutritional status. We observed that the co-occurring processes of increased climate variability and sedentarization among pastoralists in these regions have dramatic impacts on communities’ economic prosperity, health status, and nutritional outcomes. Due to risks associated with climate and sedentarization, land tenure policies that allow continued practice of highly mobile livelihood strategies, namely, legal recognition of collective land rights, should be adopted.

Land use systems and livelihoods in demographically heterogeneous frontier stages in the amazon

We investigate how Amazonian smallholders' land use systems coevolve with household-level demographic factors associated with changing livelihood strategies over the different stages of frontier development. Few micro-level studies have investigated this association, particularly due to the paucity of longitudinal data on cohorts of farm colonist households and plots. Cohort analysis is the only way to depict how the structural conditions affecting individual and household livelihood decisions differ from earlier to later stages of frontier development. Our methodological approach involves a unique dataset, based on a micro-level panel of farm households depicting 25 years of settlement in the municipality of Machadinho, in the Brazilian Amazon. We use descriptive statistics with paired t-tests, land use classification analysis, latent transition analysis, and longitudinal multinomial regressions to understand which cohorts of households thrived or failed and, most importantly, why and when. Splitting the data into panels of settlement cohorts helped us understand the effect of demographic life cycle markers on land use choices over the different stages of frontier development and the ability of farm households to adapt their livelihoods at the frontier over time. We found that, as the colonization frontier integrated into markets, the most successful original settlers were those who diversified their portfolio of capitals and livelihood strategies as a response to new local and regional market conditions. We also found a progressive change from land use systems based on subsistence agriculture to diversified land use systems that combine on- and off-farm activities. Livelihood diversification is key to preventing households from becoming trapped in a long-term deprivation trajectory, particularly when the frontier becomes more urban and market-oriented. This explains why land use has become progressively independent of household demographic dynamics in advanced stages. We contend that, as frontiers integrate into markets, diversification should not only be incentivized, but should also be used as a technical strategy to enhance access to subsidized rural credit, as it seems to increase farmers’ likelihood to thrive and improve their resilience against shocks.

Community perception, adaptation and resilience to extreme weather in the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico

Perceptions of climate change, the impacts of and responses to climatic variability and extreme weather are explored in three communities in the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico, in relation to livelihood resilience. These communities provide examples of the most common livelihood strategies across the region: small-scale fisheries (San Felipe) and semi-subsistence small-holder farming (Tzucacab and Calakmul). Although the perception that annual rainfall is reducing is not supported by instrumental records, changes in the timing of vital summer rainfall and an intensification of the mid-summer drought (canicula) are confirmed. The impact of both droughts and hurricanes on livelihoods and crop yields was reported across all communities, although the severity varied. Changes in traditional milpa cultivation were seen to be driven by less reliable rainfall but also by changes in Mexico’s agricultural and wider economic policies. Diversification was a common adaptation response across all communities and respondents, resulting in profound changes in livelihood strategies. Government attempts to reduce vulnerability were found to lack continuity, be hard to access and too orientated toward commercial scale producers. Population growth, higher temperatures and reduced summer rainfall will increase the pressures on communities reliant on small-scale farming and fishing, and a more nuanced understanding of both impacts and adaptations is required for improved livelihood resilience. Greater recognition of such local-scale adaptation strategies should underpin the developing Mexican National Adaptation Policy and provide a template for approaches internationally as adaptation becomes an increasingly important part of the global strategy to cope with climate change.

农户生计策略转型及对环境的影响研究综述

PDF HTML阅读 XML下载 导出引用 引用提醒 农户生计策略转型及对环境的影响研究综述 DOI: 10.5846/stxb201809121960 作者: 作者单位: 中国科学院地理科学与资源研究所,中国科学院地理科学与资源研究所,中国科学院地理科学与资源研究所 作者简介: 通讯作者: 中图分类号: 基金项目: 国家重点研发计划（2017YFC0506402） Review of eco-environmental effect of farmers' livelihood strategy transformation Author: Affiliation: Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, CAS,Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, CAS, Fund Project: 摘要 | 图/表 | 访问统计 | 参考文献 | 相似文献 | 引证文献 | 资源附件 | 文章评论 摘要:随着我国经济形势的不断变化，越来越多的农户从传统的"单一生计"转向"生计多样化"和"优势生计"的发展方向。农户作为农村地区最基本的社会经济单元和行为决策主体，处于人口、经济与资源环境矛盾的核心，其生计策略与生计活动的动态变化势必对所处的自然-社会-经济复合生态系统带来一定的影响。在回顾农户生计研究的历史与现状的基础上，分别从农户生计策略的内涵与类型、农户生计策略转型及其驱动因素、生计策略转型对环境的影响3个方面，系统梳理了国内外学者对农户生计策略转型及对环境的影响的研究进展，尝试性地构建了农户生计策略转型及对环境的影响的基本研究框架，提出未来研究应当体现生计问题本身的动态性和复杂性，并注重可持续生计策略的界定与实现。 Abstract:With constant changes in the economic situation of our country, increasing number of peasant households are progressing from "Single livelihood strategy" to "Diversity livelihood strategy" and "Superior livelihood strategy". As the most basic economic unit of society and decision-making, the peasant household is central to the conflicts between economy, resource, and environment. The dynamic changes in livelihood strategies and activities of peasant households will definitely influence the complex ecosystem of nature, society, and economy. Based on a brief review of research on peasant livelihoods and from the aspect of connotation and type, nature of transformation and driving factors, and influence on the environment brought about by such transformation, this study conducts an in-depth review of research and development by domestic and foreign scholars on the subject. It also tentatively constructs a basic research framework for the influence of peasant livelihood transformation on the environment, suggests that research should focus on the dynamic nature and complexity of livelihoods, and lays emphasis on the definition and understanding of sustainable livelihood strategies. 参考文献 相似文献 引证文献

The role of livelihoods in collective engagement in sustainable integrated coastal management: Oslob Whale Sharks

Livelihoods are a crucial factor in sustainable integrated coastal management and can bring big payoffs for people and coral reef resources but their role in encouraging collective engagement in management is not well understood. Dive tourism is often cited for its capacity to provide livelihoods to reduce reliance on coral reef resources, however, there is little evidence of its ability to achieve this goal. We use key stakeholder interviews with artisanal fishers, their community, local government and politicians and the sustainable livelihoods framework to study Oslob Whale Sharks, the most financially successful and controversial community based dive tourism site in the world. Oslob Whale Sharks has generated income from ticket sales of approximately US$18.4 m over five years. We found that Oslob Whale Sharks has created alternate livelihoods for 177 fishers, and diversified livelihoods throughout the community, reducing fishing effort and changing livelihood strategies away from reliance on coral reef resources. Livelihoods from Oslob Whale Sharks increase food security for fishers and their families and improve the wellbeing of their community. Livelihoods have galvanised fishers and their community to change behaviour and collectively engage in management. Our findings indicate connection between livelihoods and the provision of finance to protect whale sharks and manage five marine reserves, indicating that fishers and local government are protecting the whale sharks and coral reef resources their livelihoods depend on.

EFFECTS OF MAIZE POLICY REFORM IN NORTHEAST CHINA

National macro-policy is an important factor affecting the adjustment of farmers' livelihood strategies. It is necessary to analyze the impacts of agricultural change on farmers’ income and livelihood strategy adjustment when new policy is issued. The Northeast Chinais a strategic region that guarantees China's national grain security and is also an important pilot area for implementing national agricultural policies. As a breakthrough point in the present agricultural supply-side structural reform implemented by Chinese government, the reform of maize purchasing and storage system in Northeast China has played a significant role in adjusting the maize price and also exerted a significant influence on the income and family livelihood strategies of some farmers. Given the shifts in maize policy, the purpose of this research is to model farmers’ income change and their livelihood strategy adjustment in Northeast China. In consistence with the macro statistical data, the survey results of 125 questionnaires indicate that the reform of maize purchasing and storage system implemented in 2016 led to the drop of maize price in Northeast China by more than 30% in 2017, and the net income of maize growers in most areas of Northeast China declined by more than 60% compared with the previous year. Faced by the sudden drop in the maize price, 24.2% of maize growers in the surveyed farmers planned to adjust their livelihood strategies in a short term. The changes in livelihood strategies are mainly affected by the indicators of “comparison between income and expenditure” and “satisfaction with income from farming”. Finally, this paper puts forward some suggestions from the aspects of supporting subsidies, guidance for adjustment of family livelihood strategies and training of farmers' vocational skills.

Hunters and hunting across indigenous and colonist communities at the forest-agriculture interface: an ethnozoological study from the Peruvian Amazon

BackgroundWildlife has been traditionally used by forest communities as a source of protein, and the Peruvian Amazon is no exception. The articulation of colonist and indigenous communities to urban centers and markets results in changes in livelihood strategies and impacts on wildlife populations. To address the threat of overhunting and forest conversion, we provide a generalized characterization of colonist and indigenous communities and their hunting activities near Pucallpa, Ucayali, Peru.MethodsA semi-structured household survey was conducted to characterize hunters and describe their prey collections. The data were analyzed by conducting a Kruskal-Wallis test, a multiple regression analysis, and by estimating the harvest rate (H).ResultsLess wealthy households were more actively engaged in hunting for food security and as a livelihood strategy. Additionally, older hunters were associated with higher hunting rates. Although the percentage of hunters was relatively low, estimated hunting rates suggest overharvesting of wildlife. Lowland pacas (Cuniculus paca) were the most frequently hunted prey, followed by red brocket deer (Mazama americana) and primates. While hunting intensity was not significantly different between indigenous and colonist communities, hunting rate disparities suggest there are different types of hunters (specialized vs. opportunistic) and that prey composition differs between communities.ConclusionClose monitoring of wildlife populations and hunting activities is ideal for more accurately determining the impact of hunting on wildlife population and in turn on forest health. In lack of this type of information, this study provides insight of hunting as a shifting livelihood strategy in a rapidly changing environment at the forest/agriculture frontier.

Forced Migration and Changing Livelihoods in the Brazilian Amazon.

Forced migration due to development projects or environmental change impacts livelihoods, as affected households are faced with new-and often less favorable-environmental, social, and economic conditions. This article examines changing livelihood strategies among a population of rural agricultural households displaced by the Belo Monte Dam in the Brazilian Amazon. Using longitudinal data, I find that many households used compensation payments to concentrate income generation efforts on the most lucrative strategies-cacao and cattle production and business or rental income. Poorer households and those that received the least compensation were more likely to continue relying on agricultural wage labor-a less desirable income source associated with not owning land or with persons needing to supplement income with additional work as a day laborer. Results also indicate that the amount of compensation received by most households was sufficient to enable them to make productive investments beyond attaining replacement land and housing. Many households invested in assets such as agricultural infrastructure, cattle, rental houses, or tractors-all of which directly contribute to future income. Displacement compensation, similar to remittances or conditional cash transfers, can therefore act as an important infusion of capital to promote socioeconomic development and poverty reduction.

Characteristics and driving factors of rural livelihood transition in the east coastal region of China: A case study of suburban Shanghai

Based on data from 412 households, this study used the sustainable livelihoods approach to analyse changes in livelihood strategies and the relationship between those changes and rural household attitudes in an eastern coastal region of China. Focussing on household off-farm employment decisions and land transfer decisions, we classified the households into six types based on their livelihood strategies, namely, off-farm employment-oriented, balanced, off-farm, idle, professional, and conventional. The survey results indicate that two capital factors, age and education, and two mediating factors, wage and crop prices, are important influences of off-farm employment decisions, whereas factors such as policies and subsidies, machinery, activities organized by local agricultural cooperatives, and land rent substantially influence land transfer decisions. By analysing the characteristics, trends and driving factors of livelihood transitions, i.e., changes in rural household livelihood strategies, from 1993 to 2013, we explored the mechanisms of livelihood transitions. The results indicate that the proportion of conventional households decreased and the proportion of off-farm employment-oriented households and off-farm households increased. Agricultural production transformed from a system of scattered households (conventional and off-farm employment-oriented households) into broad-scale management households (professional and balanced households). These changes were the main characteristics of livelihood transitions under rapid industrialization combined with rapid urbanization in the Qingpu district. Rural livelihood transitions exhibited a stepped pattern, going through an initial stage, a self-organizing stage, and a government-led stage.

Vulnerability in north-central Vietnam: do natural hazards matter for everybody?

This article examines changes in livelihood strategies in response to flooding. It does soon the basis of a household survey which was undertaken in three provinces in north-central Vietnam. All households in the survey were regularly affected by flooding, but only poor households experienced long-term negative effects. The research showed that a high impact of natural disasters is correlated with decreases in income over time. As the disaster relief offered by the authorities is marginal compared to economic losses, some households react by increasing off-farm incomes (including remittances from overseas-migrated household members). We observed that the poor households do not switch to off-farm income strategies in response to income losses; this is perhaps because they have inadequate skills. However, on average households in our survey are becoming richer over time, despite the impact of flooding in the provinces. The article ends by looking at the vulnerability–resilience debate concluding that the poorer households could enter a vulnerability loop, unless new strategies to cope with natural hazards are suggested.

Consideraciones para la Comprensión de la Reproducción Social del Campesino Cubano: acercamiento desde la producción científica rural

Resumen: La reproducción del campesinado, unidad económica familiar- clase social, se ha convertido en una preocupación mundial. La emergencia alimentaria y la necesidad de formas de producción sostenibles han catapultado a la agricultura familiar como alternativa de solución, por esta razón la actividad científica invierte en el estudio de la diversidad de las formas familiares y en los cambios en las estrategias de vida y reproducción social. El artículo que se presenta constituye una valoración acerca de los factores que intervienen en la reproducción del campesinado en Cuba, fruto de la reconstrucción teórica lograda desde la sociología del conocimiento. Esta perspectiva teórico-metodológica, establece la relación dialéctica entre el conocimiento científico que se ha producido y su contexto social de referencia; describe el contexto de implementación de las políticas económicas y las transformaciones sociales que refleja la ciencia acerca del medio rural. El resultado fundamental radica en la determinación de las formas de manifestación del capital económico, cultural y social, resultado de la interpretación de datos a partir del análisis de contenido y que fundamentan, desde una perspectiva histórico-social, la comprensión del campesinado y su reproducción como objeto de estudio de la ciencia en Cuba.

Improving rural livelihoods as a “moving target”: trajectories of change in smallholder farming systems of Western Kenya

Understanding the diversity of current states, life cycles and past trajectories of households and agroecosystems is essential to contextualise the co-design of more sustainable agroecosystems. The objective of this paper was to document and analyse current states, trajectories of changes and their major drivers of households in a highly populated maize-based agroecosystem of Western Kenya. In 2013, we revisited 20 rural households that were surveyed, analysed and categorised 10 years ago (2003) in order to describe major changes in livelihood strategies, land use and soil fertility status. The household-level analysis was complemented with the analysis of secondary data on changes in drivers at the national level for the study period. The diachronic study showed a close association between drivers such as market and transport development, and the structure of rural households in terms of demographic shifts, land and labour exchanges, increased costs of agricultural inputs and better connectivity to markets. Between 2003 and 2013, the surveyed households experienced an increase in non-agricultural income by 30 %; intensity of land cultivation by 60 %; use of hybrid maize seeds by 35 %; and of synthetic fertilisers by almost 50 %. Local households increase their number of cross-bred livestock in detriment of local breeds and used less manure to fertilise their soils. In contrast, there were few changes in terms of food self-sufficiency (around 9 months per year) and in soil conditions (soil fertility was already poor in 2003). In terms of livelihood strategies, better-endowed households tended to diversify and acquire land that enabled them to adapt and benefit from the major changes observed in external drivers. In contrast, more vulnerable households sold labour and land to cope with such changes, remaining in a poverty trap. Households combine and explore diverse strategies to act, cope and adapt to fast-changing local and regional drivers. Policy or development programmes need to account for such diversity and dynamics to support the co-development of more adaptive and sustainable smallholder agroecosystems.

How is shrimp aquaculture transforming coastal livelihoods and lagoons in Estero Real, Nicaragua? The need to integrate social-ecological research and ecosystem-based approaches.

Ecosystem-based approaches to aquaculture integrate environmental concerns into planning. Social-ecological systems research can improve this approach by explicitly relating ecological and social dynamics of change at multiple scales. Doing so requires not only addressing direct effects of aquaculture but also considering indirect factors such as changes in livelihood strategies, governance dynamics, and power relations. We selected the community of Puerto Morazán, Nicaragua as a case study to demonstrate how the introduction of small-scale aquaculture radically transformed another key livelihood activity, lagoon shrimp fishing, and the effects that these changes have had on lagoons and the people that depend on them. We find that shrimp aquaculture played a key role in the collapse, in the 1990s, of an existing lagoon common-property management. Shrimp aquaculture-related capital enabled the adoption of a new fishing technique that not only degraded lagoons but also led to their gradual privatization. The existence of social ties between small-scale shrimp farmers and other community members mitigated the impacts of privatization, illustrating the importance of social capital. Since 2008, community members are seeking to communally manage the lagoons once again, in response to degraded environmental conditions and a consolidation of the shrimp industry at the expense of smaller actors. This research shows that shrimp aquaculture intersects with a complex set of drivers, affecting not only how ecosystems are managed but also how they are perceived and valued. Understanding these social-ecological dynamics is essential to implement realistic policies and management of mangrove ecosystems and address the needs of resource-dependent people.