Household Adaptation Research Articles

Typology of household adaptations to infrastructure system service interruptions

When infrastructure system services are interrupted, households implement adaptations to address needs that were previously met by the infrastructure system. In this paper, we introduce the Household Adaptations to Service Interruption (HASI) typology, which offers a new way to systematically enumerate, organize, and describe adaptations. Development of the typology was guided by a desire to better understand the implementation and effects of adaptations—who undertakes them, when, under what circumstances, and with what consequences. These, in turn, depend on tradeoffs between the replacement service provided by an adaptation and the requirements to implement it. The HASI typology, thus, includes two parts: (1) the main groupings, which have a hierarchical structure, and (2) additionaladaptation characteristics that are related to the replacement service and requirements to implement. The features used to group adaptations include modifying supply vs. demand; substituting the infrastructure system service (electricity) vs. specific uses it typically provides (e.g., lighting or cooking); applicable infrastructure systems; uses served; levels of substitution provided for each use; financial cost; health and safety cost; time and effort cost; effort frequency; special resources required; and side effects. The typology advances understanding of adaptations by providing a consistent vocabulary to discuss them; helping to identify new forms of adaptations; facilitating understanding of important adaptation features; and suggesting future research questions.

A look into our future under climate change? Adaptation and migration intentions following extreme flooding in the Netherlands

Worldwide, increased flood risk from climate change prompts adaptive behavior of households in situ or through migration. Both can be sensible adaptation responses involving tradeoffs, and understanding their drivers is important for effective climate policy. However, in-situ adaptation and migration are rarely studied in combination and research on how extreme events trigger adaptive behavior in originally low-risk areas is lacking. We analyze survey data from residents affected by the extreme summer floods of 2021 in the Netherlands to contribute to fill this research gap. Our results indicate that current low levels of flood-related migration are likely to increase under higher flood risk. Undertaken in-situ adaptation may act as a barrier for further in-situ adaptation or migration behavior. Where in-situ adaptation is mostly related to cognitive factors including risk perceptions, response efficacy and self-efficacy, migration seems to be driven by flood-related emotions. Personal flood experience, mediated by worry, is strongly associated with both types of adaptive behavior. We discuss how policymakers can use these insights to guide and anticipate household adaptation behavior.

Climate change and food security at household level in the central dry zone in Myanmar

PurposeThe central dry zone of Myanmar is a climatic risk area in which the inhabitants are experiencing food insecurity, demonstrating the link between water scarcity and climate risk in agricultural production. Households in the region face the challenge of developing adaptation strategies to cope with the impact of climate change on food security. This study aims to seek an effective climate change solution and analyse its impact on Myanmar's food security and household adaptation.Design/methodology/approachThe authors draw on insights from mixed-method research using a qualitative method followed by quantitative methods. In the qualitative phase, the authors used purposive sampling with two focus group discussions and three stakeholder interviews. In the quantitative phase, data were collected from 102 face-to-face interviews with members of households selected from Pauk Township, Pakokku District, Magway Region, Myanmar. The household food insecurity access scale (HFIAS) was used in the analysis.FindingsThe HFIAS indicated that 13% of households have adapted to climate change. The study illustrates that climate change adaptation strategies in production activities are related to food insecurity. The results further demonstrated the effect of climate change on crops, which impacts debt, access to food, selling assets and urban migration. The findings also suggest that climate change adaptation to improve food security has played an important role in providing outside support, which leads to household food insecurity.Originality/valueTo the authors' best knowledge, the study is one of the first to use mixed-method research to investigate climate change, food security and household adaptation in the central dry zone of Myanmar.

Climate change and food systems: Linking adaptive capacity and nutritional needs of low-income households in Ghana

Climate change is projected to adversely impact the health and wellbeing of households particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa where social vulnerability is pervasive. While countries such as Ghana have intensified efforts to ensure effective and proactive adaptation to emerging climate impacts, it has also become apparent, in some instances, that levels of adaptive capacity within households and communities remain a critical determinant of the success of adaptation efforts. This is particularly the case in the poor and perennially vulnerable northern regions of Ghana where high incidence of stunting in children has highlighted the complex interlinkages that exists among climate change, food systems, household income levels, nutrition, and adaptive capacity. This is against the background that this is also the time that government and other development partners have intensified intervention actions to influence household adaptation to climate change and nutrition and health outcomes, particularly among children. Using the Karaga district of northern Ghana as a reference point, and employing the sustainable livelihoods framework, this study explores the link between household adaptive capacity to climate change and the nutritional needs of low-income households. The study finds a significant inverse relationship between household adaptive capacity and stunting in children under five years of age as an indicator of household nutritional needs. Additionally, the study also finds that agricultural practices like adopting new varieties, dry season farming, mulching, and intercropping could have positive influence on household nutrition if households have sufficient capacity to adopt such practices. The study, therefore, provides, critical insights into adaptive capacity measurement and its utility in the context of human systems. More importantly, the study also shows how carefully considered adaptation efforts can shape national policies on climate adaptation, adaptive capacity, nutrition, and health.

Cognitive impairment in the acute period of cardioembolic stroke

Background. Acute disorders of cerebral circulation are one of the most urgent problems of modern clinical neurology. Its significance is due to both the high frequency of occurrence and a large number of unsatisfactory outcomes, as well as the significant impact on the quality of life. Cognitive disorders are one of the main syndromes that manifest in post-stroke period and are associated with the rehabilitation potential, as well as opportunities for social and household adaptation. Our objective was to study the profile of cognitive impairment in a continuous sample of patients with cardioembolic stroke in the acute period of stroke, as well as to determine the correlations between their occurrence and the factors determining the course of the disease. Design and methods. The study involved 46 patients of both sexes in the acute stage of ischemic stroke (average age was 69 ± 11 years). The selection of patients was carried out in accordance with the diagnostic criteria of the International Association of Vascular Behavioral and Cognitive Disorders VASCOG. The results of the Hachinski scale were also considered. All patients underwent interview for history, complaints, as well as the assessment of the neurological status. Risk factors for stroke were evaluated. We also assessed the results of computer and magnetic resonance imaging, standard “stroke” scales and performed a neuropsychological examination aimed at a comprehensive study of cognitive functions. All studies were conducted at the end of 10-14 days from the development of focal neurological symptoms. Results. Cognitive disorders in patients with cardioembolic ischemic stroke turned out to be quite heterogeneous. Their severity in the majority of our patients was considered as mild cognitive impairment. Changes at dementia level were much less common and were characteristic of patients with extensive lesions or in the case of disorders in the field of cognitively significant “strategic” foci. Neurodynamic disorders predominated in the profile of disorders of higher cortical functions. Memory impairment was expressed slightly and was of a secondary nature. With the aggravation of cognitive disorders, mnestic disorders progressed. In addition, regulatory disorders began to be detected. The most significant correlations were found between the results of neurocognitive tests on the one hand and the assessment on the Bartel scales, the assessment of changes in white matter, as well as the volume of the necrosis focus, the presence of heart failure and dyscirculatory encephalopathy in the anamnesis. Conclusions. Cognitive impairment is a significant component of the clinical picture of cardioembolic stroke. Their severity is largely determined by the volume and topical localization of the ischemic focus, as well as the presence and severity of previous chronic cerebrovascular pathology. This determines the need to develop methods to assess the state of cognitive functions before the development of stroke.

Contextualizing Household Adaptation to Flooding in Urbanized Floodplain Areas: Pre-disaster Adaptation, Coping Capacity and Post-Disaster Intervention

As physical flood vulnerability continues to increase in urbanized floodplain areas; understanding and improving household adaptation is an important step towards disaster risk reduction. The study provides an assessment of household adaptation using the resilience model to identify pre-disaster preparedness, household coping capacity, and intervention received during and in post-severe flooding scenarios within communities located in the urbanized floodplain areas of Kosofe. Lagos, Nigeria. Kosofe is the most vulnerable residential area out of the 20 local government areas in Africa’s most populated city, based on flood vulnerability map of the entire city. The study is based on a positivists’ philosophical paradigm, using the deductive approach to gain understanding of resilience model and then tested through a cross-sectional survey involving 324 household heads/representatives in the study area, to contextualize the model in terms of its application in assessing household adaptation. Findings indicate that there is little practice of flood preparedness measures despite high levels of flood risk awareness learnt from previous flood experiences within the area. Similarly, households within the study area rarely use building-based adaptation strategies in coping during severe flooding. Also, government support are very minimal as the most common interventions received by household during and after severe flooding are prayers, savings/thrift contribution, and support from friends and families. The implication of this finding is that by encouraging investments in pre-disaster preparations, deploying adaptive building-based flood disaster risk reduction strategies in new and existing houses, and improving government involvement and support in marginalized urbanized floodplain areas; vulnerable households are better positioned to deal with, cope with and recover from future flood risks.

Consideration of Socioeconomic Constraints to Finance Households’ Adaptation to Climate Change in the Least Developed Countries: The Case of Benin

In the Least Developed Countries (LDC), there is an urgent need to finance households' adaptation to climate change, and several socioeconomic constraints may compromise their resilience to climate risks. Based on data from Benin, a Logit model was used to demonstrate that, apart from climate shocks, households are also affected by declining prices of agricultural products and rising prices of foodstuffs and inputs. The influence of these shocks is independent of the areas of residence. In addition to these variables of interest, the article also highlights the significative influence of other variables. In order to avoid these main constraints from changing the business climate to become disincentivised for household adaptation, their management should be integrated into climate change adaptation planning. Adaptation should be considered within broader development processes, including non-structural policy and institutional frameworks, rather than as an isolated policy that is supported by climate variables alone. This will allow for a better use of the insufficient public funding dedicated to adaptation to climate change.

A coupled agent-based model for France for simulating adaptation and migration decisions under future coastal flood risk

In this study, we couple an integrated flood damage and agent-based model (ABM) with a gravity model of internal migration and a flood risk module (DYNAMO-M) to project household adaptation and migration decisions under increasing coastal flood risk in France. We ground the agent decision rules in a framework of subjective expected utility theory. This method addresses agent’s bounded rationality related to risk perception and risk aversion and simulates the impact of push, pull, and mooring factors on migration and adaptation decisions. The agents are parameterized using subnational statistics, and the model is calibrated using a household survey on adaptation uptake. Subsequently, the model simulates household adaptation and migration based on increasing coastal flood damage from 2015 until 2080. A medium population growth scenario is used to simulate future population development, and sea level rise (SLR) is assessed for different climate scenarios. The results indicate that SLR can drive migration exceeding 8000 and 10,000 coastal inhabitants for 2080 under the Representative Concentration Pathways 4.5 and 8.5, respectively. Although household adaptation to flood risk strongly impacts projected annual flood damage, its impact on migration decisions is small and falls within the 90% confidence interval of model runs. Projections of coastal migration under SLR are most sensitive to migration costs and coastal flood protection standards, highlighting the need for better characterization of both in modeling exercises. The modeling framework demonstrated in this study can be upscaled to the global scale and function as a platform for a more integrated assessment of SLR-induced migration.

Large-scale hydropower impacts and adaptation strategies on rural communities in the Amazonian floodplain of the Madeira River

Understanding social and environmental impacts and household adaptation strategies in the face of expansions in energy infrastructure projects is essential to inform mitigation and interventions programs that promote well-being. Here we conducted surveys in seven communities distributed across varying degrees of proximity to a hydropower dam complex in the Brazilian Amazon along about 250 km of the floodplain of the Madeira River. Based on interviews with 154 fishers from these communities, we examine how fishers perceived changes in fisheries yields, changes in the composition of fish species, and whether and how adaptation strategies had evolved 8–9 years after the dams' construction. Most respondents (91%) indicated declines in yields after the dams for both upstream and downstream zones. Multivariate analyses revealed statistically significant differences in the composition of species yields in pre-and post-dam periods for all communities and in both upstream and downstream zones (p < 0.001). The composition of yields diversified after the dams, with an apparent decline in yields of species of greatest market value (e.g., catfishes Brachyplatystoma spp., Pseudoplatystoma spp., and jatuarana Brycon spp.), and increases in yields of a set of other smaller bodied and faster growing species (e.g., ‘branquinhas’ Psectrogaster spp., Potamohinna spp., and sardines Triportheus spp.). Both downstream and upstream fishers indicated that fishing profits decreased since the dams' construction (76.8% and 67.9%, respectively). To cope with these changes, the majority of both upstream and downstream fishers (>70%) stated they have had to devote more time to fishing after the dams were built. The time fishers spend traveling to fishing locations also increased for upstream communities (77.1%), but not for downstream communities. Thirty-four percent of the interviewees changed the gear they use to fish after the dams construction, with twice as many mentioning uses of non-selective gear, such as gillnets, and declining use of traditional fishing gears such as castnets and a trap (“covi”). Fish consumption overall decreased: fish was consumed ‘everyday’ before the dams, but 1–2 times per week or rarely after the dams were built. Although the species that declined were those of high economic value, 53% of fishers stated fish prices have increased overall after the dams. These results shed light on the potential challenges faced by fishers and which adaptation strategies they have evolved to maintain livelihoods since the construction of the dams.

АДАПТАЦИЯ НЕМЦЕВ В КАЗАХСТАНЕ В XIX-XX ВВ.

The article highlights the stages of resettlement and adaptation of Germans in Kazakhstan in the pre-revolutionary era, in the early years of Soviet rule, during the period of deportation during the Great Patriotic War, and in the post-war years. Along with the stages of resettlement and the number of migrants, the types of adaptation are described in detail: economic, social, and cultural. The process of creating settlements is demonstrated as a necessary condition for collective adaptation to the natural and climatic conditions of Kazakhstan. The household adaptation is described in detail, which included the construction of dwellings adapted to the natural and climatic conditions of Kazakhstan, as well as the borrowing of elements of the national clothing and cuisine of the Kazakhs. The process of adapting farming to local climatic conditions with the use of three-field and shifting systems and the gradual dominance of cattle breeding, which for centuries has been the guarantor of the survival of the local Kazakh population, is shown. The social and cultural relations between the settlers and the autochthonous population are highlighted. In conclusion, it is proposed that, despite various historical events, the settlers were able to adapt and actively engage in creative work for the development of Kazakhstan.

Household Adaptations to Infrastructure System Service Interruptions

When critical infrastructure system services are disrupted, households typically respond by reducing, delaying, or relocating their demand (e.g., delaying laundry), or augmenting supply (e.g., using a generator). While this phenomenon is well known, there has been little systematic empirical investigation of it. Focusing on electric power and water service interruptions and using revealed and stated preference survey data from Los Angeles County, California, we develop 24 mixed logit models, one each to predict the probability an individual undertakes a specified adaptation as a function of outage duration and characteristics of the individual. The analysis aims to determine: (1) how common different household adaptations are; (2) how adaptation implementation varies with infrastructure type, outage duration, and uses of the service; (3) what household characteristics are associated with implementation of different adaptations; and (4) how adaptations tend to occur together. The percentage of individuals who report doing an adaptation varies greatly across adaptations and outage durations, from 2% to 88%. In general, adaptations that require moving out of the home are the least common of those investigated. For electric power outages, adaptations that could be done at home are less likely as the outage duration increases, while those that require going somewhere are more likely as the duration increases. For water outages, all adaptations (except delaying consumption) are more likely as an outage lasts longer. Using electric power or water for medical devices and/or work and business has a large effect on the likelihood of implementing many adaptations. Preevent conservation habits are also associated with an increased likelihood of implementing adaptations. The influence of household characteristics varies greatly across adaptations. There is evidence that some adaptations tend to occur together (e.g., using water from lakes and the government) and others tend not to (e.g., delaying electricity use and going to a hotel).

Mathematical Modeling of the Consumer Loan Market in Russia under Sanctions

The article develops and investigates a new model for the formation of interest rates on consumer loans based on an analysis of commercial interests and the logic of behavior of commercial banks. The model assumes that the borrowers’ incomes are described by a geometric Brownian motion. Commercial banks assess the default risk of borrowers. According to the Feynman–Kac formula, the assessment is reduced to solving a boundary value problem for partial differential equations. An analytical solution to this problem is constructed. The model is used to analyze the problem of maintaining consumer credit under the current conditions as a mechanism for social adaptation of households.

The influence of socioeconomic factors on individual and household adaptation strategies to climate change risks in Port Harcourt, Nigeria

ABSTRACT Increasing temperatures and sea levels, changing precipitation patterns and more extreme weather pose severe threats for vulnerable communities, ecosystems, and livelihoods in cities of developing countries. Realizing these threats has heightened scholarly inquiry on future risk trends of climate change and adaptation strategies in the countries of Global South and North. However, most studies are based on data of North America, Europe, and Asia. There is minimal documentation of adaptation strategies to mitigate the risk of extreme weather in cities of Sub-Saharan Africa. Hence, this study addresses this need by examining the factors influencing individual and household adaptation strategies to climate risk in Port Harcourt Metropolis, Nigeria. Data was collected from 384 randomly selected household heads in different residential densities of the city. Household socioeconomic and demographic attributes, awareness of climate change and factors influencing their adaptation strategies to climate risk were assessed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The study showed that adaptation strategies adopted were reactive rather than anticipatory and varied in magnitude according to the different residential densities. Recommendations emanating from the study include integrating and implementing climate change adaptation policies and embarking on a rigorous awareness campaign to ease households’ vulnerability and augment their climate change absorptive, adaptive, and transformative abilities in the city.

Local perception of climate change and adaptation in the highlands of Cameroon

ABSTRACT Climate change in Africa is a significant concern for rural livelihoods. In this research, we compared the perception and adaptation of rural households in the Cameroonian highlands to recent climatic trends and identified factors shaping them. Results pointed out that perception of climate change and adaptation depended mainly on local knowledge. The analyses stressed the importance of spatial exposure and agricultural involvement, which are key elements in perception studies. To this end, we encourage adaptation policies to develop participatory solutions that allow rural households to contribute their local knowledge and take ownership of adaptation projects.

Decision Analysis of the Adaptation of Households to Extreme Floods Using an Extended Protection Motivation Framework—A Case Study from Ethiopia

Private extreme flood adaptation measures are cost effective and environmentally friendly. The objective of this study is to explore the major adaptation strategies, the determinants of the decisions of households to flood adaptation, specific prophylactic measures, and the constraints of these adaptation measures. A multi-stage sampling technique was employed to select the 337 samples for the study. As the data analysis showed, farm households adopted moving to high elevation places, selling cattle, seasonal migration, flood tolerant rice, planting trees, and the construction of a dike as adaptation measures to flood. The binary logistic regression results from both the socioeconomic and protection motivation theory (PMT) showed that marital status, sex, family size, off-farm income, previous flood experience, access to credit, and the average number of extension visits had a statistically significant positive influence on the flood adaptation decision of households. On the other hand, age, educational attainment, farm size, and access to extension played a negative but statistically insignificant role in flood adaptation decision. The scientific novelty of the paper is that its results revealed that not only the socioeconomic and demographic characteristics of households play a role in the decision-making reactions related to the flood, but also the psychological preparedness of the decision makers. The analysis also drew attention that, due to the mitigation of global influences, in the coming years, households can assume a much more decisive role in the process of local food supply. Therefore, in order to ensure safe supply, climate change-related measures and adaptation strategies must be defined very precisely. Dealing with this phenomenon must be part of social and business innovation as it can cause not only food supply problems but also various migration effects, which, in the short term, would result in the most serious damage to the social system.

The role of government interventions in household climate adaptation on the Tibetan Plateau

As climate change and its impacts intensify, the role of governments in the climate adaptation process has received widespread attention. Effective adaptation to climate change depends not only on whether households or communities adopt appropriate adaptation strategies but also on whether governments intervene effectively. To improve the understanding of the role of government interventions in households' climate adaptation processes, we propose a climate adaptation framework that takes government interventions into consideration at the household level. Based on a household survey in the Pumqu River Basin on the Tibetan Plateau, we discuss the impacts of government interventions on households' climate change adaptation. The results show that government interventions have: 1) buffered the risks and shocks of climate change to households' livelihoods; 2) shaped households' cognitions of climate change; 3) mediated the impact of households' livelihoods and climate change cognitions on their adaptation strategies; and 4) directly influenced households’ livelihoods and their choices of climate adaptation strategies. Our findings emphasize the interfaces between government interventions and household adaptation, which not only helps governments clarify some principles when planning climate interventions but also has important implications for them to better guide households to adapt to climate change.

Study on the Livelihood Vulnerability of the Poor Relocated Households in Karst Area: A Case Study of Liupanshui Area

Relocation for poverty alleviation has become a vital means for the elimination of rural poverty in China. Research on livelihood vulnerability and its influencing factors of relocated farm households before and after poverty alleviation in Karst areas would contribute to the sustainable development of rural households in mountainous areas, which remains unclear. In this paper, the livelihood vulnerability evaluation index system and evaluation model in Karst areas were constructed based on questionnaire data of relocated households in Liupanshui collected in 2020. Then, the degree of livelihood vulnerability of households before and after relocation was measured, and the analysis of the difference between livelihood vulnerability index and dimension of households with different resettlement methods, relocation time, and livelihood diversification index was carried out in detail. Afterward, stepwise linear regression analysis was chosen to screen the main factors affecting the livelihood vulnerability of rural households subject to different resettlement methods and different relocation time. Results show that the livelihood vulnerability of rural households decreased significantly after relocation, and the risk of rural households returning to poverty was reduced. At the same time, it reveals that the family income level and livelihood diversification index have significant positive effects on the livelihood vulnerability index of rural households before and after relocation. In addition, among the three village resettlement methods, urban resettlement is the most effective way to alleviate the livelihood vulnerability of rural households. With increasing time since relocation, the adaptability of rural households to the new environment is enhanced, and their ability to withstand the impact of risks is also significantly improved.

Covid-19 Pandemic and Disparity in Household Adaptations to School Lockdown: Redressing the Myth of Educational Equality

This study investigated two variables: household inequality and adaptation to school closure during the COVID-19 school lockdown in one city in a middle-income country in Sub-Sahara Africa. The findings suggest high social and economic cost due to the digital gap particularly for less endowed households, strengthening the view that contemporary increased technologybased curricula do favour those on the positive side of the digital gap, which prevented already vulnerable children from indigent households to access remote online learning during the school lockdown. This exacerbated the already widening gap between children from high socioeconomic background and those not so endowed. The COVID-19 pandemic rehashed the myth of educational equality. Contemporary focus on technology-based curricula calls for the need to redress the embedded inequality in access and use of technology. Insights from this study suggest that persistent disparity in technology access and use as underscored by the pandemic, may have to be given the needed attention in order not to thwart otherwise good benefits of increased educational access in many countries in the developing economies.

Resilience Community Livelihood : Case Study on Tunda’s Island Community

Studies on community household livelihood have been carried out mainly to explain the level of vulnerability to community livelihoods. The livelihoods of the island community are greatly influenced by natural factors and surrounding environment. The livelihoods of the island community are mostly small scale fishermen who are culnerable to climate and non climate factors. This research study explain how island communities survive with the risk of the vulnerability of their livelihood due climate change. This case study analysis was used to find out a spesific picture of community household in Tunda Island in responding to pressure and taking various adaptation measure to survive. This study has several finding to explain how community households sruve, among others by diversifying additional source of income within the household due to the main source of income that no longer produces income due to various environmental problems, one of which is climate change. The resilience of the island community is bulit through a community system that is built base on mutual awarness by using the various resources available on Tunda Island. Community resilience does not only household adaptation pattern infacing various ecological problems but also includes community adaptation patterns in maintaining the sustainability of community food system, environmental balace and household livelihood system.

FACTORS INFLUENCING USE OF CONTRACEPTIVES AMONG SEXUALLY ACTIVE ADOLESCENTS IN INFORMAL SETTLEMENTS IN NAIROBI. A CRITICAL LITERATURE REVIEW

Purpose: Although knowledge on climate variability is vital in addressing livelihood vulnerability to climate shocks, studies that link climate variability to rural livelihood responses and changes are few. The general objective of the study was to understand perception of climate variability and livelihood response strategies among the communities in the northern part of Kenya.&#x0D; Methodology: The paper used a desk study review methodology where relevant empirical literature was reviewed to identify main themes and to extract knowledge gaps.&#x0D; Findings: There is need for concerted efforts to build not only on adopted household adaptation strategies but also help them reduce current vulnerability as well as build future resilience.&#x0D; Unique Contribution to Theory and Practice: There is need to engage communities to understand their levels of vulnerability and design their own sustainable adaptation action plans. This can be done through adoption of the Community Managed Disaster Risk Reduction (CMDRR) model which among other measures involve capacity building of community members and development partners to participate in and help local people adapt to their livelihood strategies accordingly.&#x0D; Keywords: Climate change impacts, adaptation, livelihood adaptation strategies, climate variability, household