Household Adaptation Research Articles

CLIMATE VARIABILITY AND RESPONSE STRATEGIES AMONG COMMUNITIES IN THE NORTHERN PARTS OF KENYA. 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.
 Methodology: The paper used a desk study review methodology where relevant empirical literature was reviewed to identify main themes and to extract knowledge gaps.
 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.
 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.
 Keywords: Climate change impacts, adaptation, livelihood adaptation strategies, climate variability, household

The agri-food system (re)configuration: the case study of an agroecological network in the Ecuadorian Andes

Social Ecological System (SES) research highlights the importance of understanding the potential of collective actions, among other factors, when it comes to influencing the transformative (re)configuration of agri-food systems in response to global change. Such a response may result in different desired outcomes for those actors who promote collective action, one such outcome being food sovereignty. In this study, we used an SES framework to describe the configuration of local agri-food systems in Andean Ecuador in order to understand which components of the SES interact, and how they support outcomes linked to five food sovereignty goals. Through a survey administered to mestizo and indigenous peasants, we analyze the key role played by the Agroecological Network of Loja (RAL) in transforming the local agri-food system through the implementation of a Participatory Guarantee System (PGS). This study demonstrates that participation in the RAL and PGS increases farmers’ adoption of agroecological practices, as well as their independence from non-traditional food. Additionally, RAL lobbying with the municipality significantly increases households’ on-farm income through access to local markets. Being part of indigenous communities also influences the configuration of the food system, increasing the participation in community work and access to credit and markets, thus positively affecting animal numbers, dairy production and income diversification. The complexity of the interactions described suggests that more research is needed to understand which key factors may foster or prevent the achieving of food sovereignty goals and promote household adaptation amid high uncertainty due to global change.

Can Environmental Risk Management Improve the Adaptability of Farmer Households’ Livelihood Strategies? ——Evidence From Hubei Province, China

With the rising temperature, uneven precipitation and frequent occurrence of extreme weather caused by global climate change, agricultural production is facing more severe challenges. Based on the sustainable livelihoods framework, this paper measures the index of farmer households’ livelihood strategy adaptability and analyzes the benefits of farmer households’ environmental risk management on livelihood strategy adaptability by using microscopic research data of 970 farmer households’ livelihoods in Hubei Province, China, in 2020. This paper found that the farmer households’ environmental risk management variables have a significant impact on the adaptability of farmer households’ livelihood strategies, with the stronger the farmer households’ environmental risk management capacity, the more adaptable its livelihood strategy. The impact of farmer households’ environmental risk management variables on livelihood strategies varies for farmer households with different income levels. Therefore, this paper proposes that we should improve farmers’ perception of climate change, promote the diffusion of adaptive technologies, improve agricultural insurance policies, give full play to the collective role of village collectives, companies and cooperatives, and promote the transformation and upgrading of livelihood approaches to further improve the adaptability of livelihood strategies.

Factors determining intensity of camel adoption in semi-arid north-eastern Uganda

Integration of camel (Camelus dromedarius) production in the traditional livestock systems is increasingly gaining significance as a strategy for household adaptation to prolonged and recurrent droughts in African arid and semi-arid lands. There is increasing interest in promoting camels as a strategy to mitigate the effects of prolonged droughts in communities where camels have not been reared before. However, the intensity of camel adoption and the factors that drive camel adoption process in semi-arid Uganda are not clear. The objective of this study was to determine the level of intensity and socio-economic factors influencing the intensity of camel adoption in Karamoja sub-region in Uganda. Econometric results show that age the of a household head was significantly associated with the intensity of camel adoption; whereas household size, credit access and crop area cultivated significantly decreased with the intensity of camel adoption in the region. Increasing camel adoption was possible with increasing access to capital; as well as carefully balancing the competition for labour with crop cultivation.

Intensive and extensive rice farm adaptations in salinity-prone areas of the Mekong Delta

ABSTRACT Sea-level rise and resulting salinity inundation are making many coastal areas increasingly unfavorable for rice production. This paper examines intensive and extensive adaptations to rice production in salinity-prone areas of the Mekong River Delta (MKD) of Vietnam using a two-year panel dataset of 788 rice-growing households. In terms of intensive adaptations, we estimate a fixed-effect regression model and find that salinity tolerant rice varieties (STVs) increase rice yields on fields that are not protected by salinity barriers, but overall economic benefits from STVs are limited by lower market prices compared to other varieties. In terms of extensive adaptations, farmers stop growing rice on 15% of survey fields. Probit and IV-probit model results reveal that falling rice profitability plays a significant role in these observed exits from rice production, while salinity barrier infrastructure, large rice field holdings, and community commitment to rice farming are associated with continued rice production. Development initiatives that support household adaptation to sea-level rise need to blend currently polarized policy options of investment in large rice sector infrastructure projects that lock farmers into intensive rice cultivation and of support farmer efforts to find alternative land uses in response to evolving market and environmental conditions.

Digital smart home technologies for the disabled people and people with disabilities

The author analyzes and presents the latest technologies in the field of assistance to persons with disabilities. The developments of the Istok-Audio group of companies, engaged in the development and production of modern technical means of rehabilitation for people with disabilities, were considered. Namely, the article presents devices for household adaptation of deaf and hard of hearing people— a Smart home system that can not only improve the quality of life of people with disabilities, but also make it complete and safe.

Current Information Provision Rarely Helps Coastal Households Adapt to Climate Change

Households play an important role in reducing coastal vulnerability through individual and collective action. Information provision is a key strategy adopted by governments to support household adaptation. However, there is limited evidence of the effectiveness of the different types of information and their influence on coastal household response. Drawing on case study research in two Australian coastal communities, we explore the types of information shaping household responses to three hazard scenarios: a heatwave, a severe storm, and sea-level rise. We find that passive information informs action in fewer than half of all households. Furthermore, even current attempts at more action-oriented information only informs coping strategies. If coastal adaptation is to achieve the transformational changes vital to manage the impacts of climate change, information provision must transition from passive and generic delivery via traditional modes, to actively communicating adaptation as the ‘glue’ between hazard management and household resilience through context-relevant and household-driven communication modes. Further research into the types of information that promote more-than-coping responses, such as information to facilitate collective action, is also recommended.

Hurricane adaptation behaviors in Texas and Florida: exploring the roles of negative personal experience and subjective attribution to climate change

Understanding the motivation to adopt personal household adaptation behaviors in the face of climate change-related hazards is essential for developing and implementing behaviorally realistic interventions that promote well-being and health. Escalating extreme weather events increase the number of those directly exposed and adversely impacted by climate change. But do people attribute these negative events to climate change? Such subjective attribution may be a cognitive process whereby the experience of negative climate-change-related events may increase risk perceptions and motivate people to act. Here we surveyed a representative sample of 1846 residents of Florida and Texas, many of whom had been repeatedly exposed to hurricanes on the Gulf Coast, facing the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season. We assessed prior hurricane negative personal experiences, climate-change-related subjective attribution (for hurricanes), risk appraisal (perceived probability and severity of a hurricane threat), hurricane adaptation appraisal (perceived efficacy of adaptation measures and self-efficacy to address the threat of hurricanes), and self-reported hurricane personal household adaptation. Our findings suggest that prior hurricane negative personal experiences and subjective attribution are associated with greater hurricane risk appraisal. Hurricane subjective attribution moderated the relationship between hurricane negative personal experiences and risk appraisal; in turn, negative hurricane personal experiences, hurricane risk appraisal, and adaptation appraisal were positively associated with self-reported hurricane personal adaptation behaviors. Subjective attribution may be associated with elevated perceived risk for specific climate hazards. Communications that help people understand the link between their negative personal experiences (e.g. hurricanes) and climate change may help guide risk perceptions and motivate protective actions, particularly in areas with repeated exposure to threats.

Integrating an intrahousehold perspective into climate change adaptation research

Many survey-based studies on climate change adaptation behaviours have methodological inadequacies because of the mismatched scale of analysis between individual-level predictors and household-level adaptation behaviours; thus, addressing intrahousehold dynamics in climate change adaptation research is essential. Synthesising the findings of related literature, we identified seven key intrahousehold factors that are likely to influence household adaptation processes: (1) gendered division of labour, (2) disagreements, (3) conflicts and conflict resolution strategies, (4) decision-making stages, (5) types of decision-making, (6) interpersonal influence, and (7) household life cycle. We also specified three intrahousehold factors that are likely to influence household adaptation outcomes: (1) gendered adaptation behaviours, (2) relational adaptation behaviours, and (3) household life cycle and adaptation behaviours. Acknowledging the potential bias of approaching just one representative per household, we then detailed conceptual frameworks and pragmatic advice for applying a household-based approach in climate change adaptation studies. Future research will benefit from clear articulation of the level of analyses and more coherent and viable methodological solutions that involve consideration of intrahousehold dynamics.

One and done? Exploring linkages between households' intended adaptations to climate-induced floods.

As climate change increases the probability and severity of natural hazards, the need for coordinated adaptation at all levels of society intensifies. Governmental-level adaptation measures are essential, but insufficient in the face of growing risks, necessitating complementary action from households. Apprehending the drivers of household adaptation is critical if governments are to stimulate protective behavior effectively. While past work has focused on the behavioral drivers of household adaptation, little attention has been paid to understanding the relationships between adaptation measures themselves-both previously undergone and additionally (planned) intended adaptation(s). Using survey data (N = 4,688) from four countries-the United States, China, Indonesia, and the Netherlands-we utilize protection motivation theory to account for the behavioral drivers of household adaptation to the most devastating climate-driven hazard: flooding. We analyze how past and additionally intended adaptations involving structural modification to one's home affect household behavior. We find that both prior adaptations and additionally intended adaptation have a positive effect on intending a specific adaptation. Further, we note that once links between adaptations are accounted for, the effect that worry has on motivating specific actions, substantially lessens. This suggests that while threat appraisal is important in initially determining if households intend to adapt, it is households' adaptive capacity that determines how. Our analysis reveals that household structural modifications may be nonmarginal. This could indicate that past action and intention to pursue one action trigger intentions for other adaptations, a finding with implications for estimating the speed and scope of household adaptation diffusion.

The presence of moral hazard regarding flood insurance and German private businesses

There is a movement towards the concepts of integrated flood risk management and governance. In these concepts, each stakeholder prone to flooding is tasked with actively limiting flood impacts. Currently, relatively more research has focused upon the adaptation of private households and not on private businesses operating in flood-prone areas. This paper offers an extension of this literature on business-level flood adaptation by exploring the potential presence of moral hazard. The analyses are based on survey data collected in the aftermath of six floods across Germany between 2002 and 2013 to provide a first indication of the presence of moral hazard in private businesses. Moral hazard is where increased insurance coverage results in policyholders preparing less, increasing the risk they face, a counterproductive outcome. We present an initial study of moral hazard occurring through three channels: the performance of emergency measures during a flood, changes in precautionary behavior employed before a given flood occurred, and changes in the intention to employ additional precautionary measures after a flood. We find, much like for private households, no strong indication that moral hazard is present regarding past adaptation. However, there is a potential avenue after 2005 for insurance coverage to lower businesses’ intentions to employ more adaptation measures after a flood. This has significant policy relevance such as opportunities for strengthening the link between insurance and risk reduction measures and boosting insurance coverage against flooding in general.

Adaptation Planning: An Integrated Approach to Understanding Vulnerability in the Lake Victoria Basin

Decision makers need actionable information on the factors that inhibit household adaptation to climate variability and other changes, especially those changes reinforcing environmentally unsustainable livelihood strategies. In this paper, we show how a combination of quantitative and qualitative data can help assess current livelihood vulnerability and the social and institutional obstacles facing specific population groups that lock in risk and undermine opportunities. Detailed analysis of current household economies in two case study communities (one in Uganda and one in Kenya) in the Lake Victoria Basin, East Africa, was combined with a qualitative, intersectional exploration of constraints on income adaptation and diversification. Quantitative household economy analysis showed low levels of household disposable income overall and additionally, poor returns on investment from enterprises typically controlled by women. Qualitative research highlighted changes in gender roles driven by women's entrepreneurial responses to reduced household income from traditional agricultural and natural resource-based activities. However, due to unequal access to finance and culturally mediated norms and expectations, many women's enterprises were small scale and insecure. The broader political economy context is one of limited national investment in education and infrastructure, further constraining local opportunities for human and economic development. The approach described here was directed by the need to understand and quantify economic vulnerability, along with the cultural and institutional constraints on adaptation, as a basis for making better adaptation policies and interventions to build resilience over the longer term.

Adaptation to Social–Ecological Change in Northwestern Pakistan: Household Strategies and Decision-making Processes

Values are important factors shaping people's perceptions of social-ecological changes and the associated impacts, acceptable risk, and successful adaptation to various changes; however, little empirical work has examined how values interact to influence adaptation decision-making. We drew on 25 semi-structured interviews with community leaders, farmers, fisherfolk, and individuals in the tourism industry in northwestern Pakistan to identify types of adaptations employed by households and explore what values were present in these households' adaptation decisions. Our results show that households frequently employed environmental management and livelihood diversification to adapt to a wide range of social-ecological change. We found that multiple values influenced household adaptation and that employing an adaptation strategy often involved a tradeoff of values. We also found that household adaptations were embedded in multi-scalar social, cultural, economic, and political processes that could constrain or conflict with such adaptations. Overall, our research illustrates the complex influence of values on household adaptation decisions and highlights the need to further understand how adaptations are aligned, or misaligned, with stakeholders' diverse values in order to inform more equitable adaptation to social-ecological change.

How households adapt to heat wave for livable habitat? A case of medium-sized city in Bangladesh

Heatwave is now becoming an alarming climate-induced shock in Bangladesh. Several investigations mainly focus on the impacts of heatwave and mitigation strategies on megacity and urban heat islands. However, understanding adaptation strategies for livable habitat to the heatwave in a medium-sized city like Rajshahi, located north-western region of Bangladesh, are not well articulated. Therefore, how city dwellers can be adapted to the heatwave in a medium-sized city is crucial to academia, GO's, and NGO's policymakers. The main objective of this paper is to investigate the household adaptation strategies for livable habitat to the heatwave in Rajshahi city corporation (RCC) areas where the overall livelihood of the city dwellers has been severely affected due to heatwave. The findings are based on empirical data collected through field observation, household surveys, and key informant interviews (KII) with a semi-structured questionnaire in RCC. A pre-tested questionnaire was developed to collect primary data from 300 respondents in Rajshahi. Sample sizes were chosen by using the purposive sampling technique. The study found three types of adaptation strategies: 1) structural: designed cooling facilities, uses of air conditioner and cooler; 2) non-structural: drinking plenty of water, staying indoors, taking a bath, sitting beside water bodies; and (3) community innovations based: sitting under big tree and riverside, keeping water reservoir in the room, opening multiple windows, roof and courtyard gardening, wall painting by white color. The community innovation-based adaptation strategies have shown high effectiveness among all types of adaptation strategies for making livable habitats for the heatwave at the household level. Therefore, it can be a significant component of adopting a policy to address the adverse impacts of the heatwave in the medium-sized city of Bangladesh besides structural and non-structural adaptation strategies.

The processes of adaptation of Koreans in Kazakhstan at the end of the XIX-XXth centuries

The relevance of the research is determined by the development and formation of the Korean diaspora in Kazakhstan in the 19-20th centuries which has become a stable component of the demographic, socio-economic, political, and cultural life of the republic, showing an example of a successful adaptation of an ethnic group in a foreign cultural environment. While studying the presented problem, we relied on works and documents, having studied which we were able to trace the processes of resettlement and adaptation of Koreans on the territory of Kazakhstan. The article highlights the stages of resettlement and adaptation of Koreans in Kazakhstan in the pre-revolutionary era, in the early years of Soviet power, during the deportation period in 1937-1938, 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 development of agriculture by Koreans in Kazakhstan, in particular rice farming, as well as fishing, is shown. Household adaptation is described in detail, which provided for the construction of dwellings adapted to the natural and climatic conditions of Kazakhstan, and the creation of Korean settlements. Attention is also paid to cultural and educational adaptation: the emergence of schools and other educational institutions, theaters, and the development of literature and periodicals. The socio-cultural relations of migrants with the indigenous population are highlighted. In conclusion, the conclusion is presented that, despite various historical events, Koreans were able to adapt to local conditions and actively engage in creative work for the development of Kazakhstan. When studying the history of the formation and development of the Koreans of Kazakhstan at the end of the 19-20th centuries, and the peculiarities of its cultural and social development, it is necessary to consider the basic layer of mentality that developed in the historical conditions of the former places of residence, as well as the ideological traits acquired in the tsarist and Soviet times. The Korean diaspora of Kazakhstan in the process of its development and formation at the end of the 19-20th centuries turned into a stable component of the demographic, socio-economic, political, and cultural life of the republic, showing an example of the successful adaptation of an ethnic group in a foreign cultural environment. The materials are of practical value since the application of this experience by the government will undoubtedly become the basis for practical application in the field of creating an atmosphere of interethnic harmony.

About Africa and about yourself in it (Russian wives of Africans in the literary space)

The article is devoted to the history of the creation and analysis of literary works created by Russian compatriots living in Africa today. Educated women who left the USSR/Russia is not alien to literary interests. Their works are autobiographical. But these are not only autobiographies of the individual, These women write a biography of" Russian " Africa against the background of large-scale socio-political and socio-cultural processes and events of the twentieth century, creating a unique stylistic atmosphere of the described era and continent. Women's existence and life description in the conditions is an independent and at the same time dependent segment in the general culture of the Russian diaspora. The most important part of the migration process is social and household adaptation. And how successful this process is depends on a number of factors, one of which was the need to master new cultural skills and attitudes, combining them with everyday practices exported from the Homeland. Their prose works also reflect a nostalgic sense of waiting for the Motherland. At the same time, their works are an artistic heritage on topical issues of the life and culture of compatriots in Africa, the moral and spiritual foundations of their time, which they generously share with new generations of Russians The artistic prose and journalism of Russian women permanently residing in Africa are interesting and significant as a full-fledged source for historical, cultural, sociological, and anthropological research.

Social influence shapes adaptive water governance: empirical evidence from northwestern Pakistan

Social-ecological change has placed unprecedented stress on water resources throughout the world. This has driven water users to employ a diverse range of adaptation strategies and necessitates new governance structures, such as adaptive water governance (AWG), which have the capacity to manage resources in the midst of uncertainty and complexity. As such, AWG has the potential to support household adaptation strategies; however, little empirical work has been done to identify the factors that facilitate the emergence of AWG. To address this gap, we conducted a household survey of 448 households in northwestern Pakistan, a post-conflict, water-scarce area where adaptive governance is needed to support rural livelihoods in the midst of numerous socioeconomic and environmental transformations. Indeed, we found that households in our study area perceived a range of changes to the water system, including but not limited to declines of fish populations, decreased quality and amount of river water, and an increase of local tourism. Respondents reported a range of adaptation strategies including increasing agricultural inputs, planting new crop varieties, and changing their domestic water supply system. In some cases, households employed these adaptation strategies despite economic barriers, and although many were willing to go against friends’ and community leaders’ opinions to adapt, and they were less likely to counter the opinions of family members. This reveals that households negotiate multiple factors in their decisions to adapt to social-ecological change; as such, there is a great need for flexible and collaborative governance systems such as AWG to support this complexity in household adaptation decision making. Further, we argue that the varying roles of social influence should be considered to align governance structures with household decision-making processes. Thus, we suggest that AWG will be more likely to emerge when decision makers involved in water management draw on existing informal institutions and cross-sectoral collaboration to reflect the complex ways water users adapt to social-ecological change.

Livelihood vulnerability and adaptability to the Covid-19 pandemic of households in Hiep Binh Phuoc ward, Thu Duc City

This study used the survey data of 120 households in Hiep Binh Phuoc ward, Thu Duc City which is part of Ho Chi Minh City, to analyze the changes of living, livelihoods and income of the people during the social distancing period covering the 4th Covid-19 outbreak from June to September 2021. The research results show that, during the period, people were not allowed to go out, which provided positive effects to the household members in reducing expenditures on outdoor transportation and snacks expenditure , while also gaining more time for listening to music, watching movies, taking care of their own family members. However, most of the household's livelihoods were adversely affected by the suspension, the reduction of working hours and the switching to working from home or working online. More than 72% of survey households were cramped at home, subjected to stress and could not go to the hospital for regular health check-ups. The labor rate of surveyed households had reduced income: traders, workers, and self-employed accounting to 76%; 20% of the surveyed had unchanged income, mostly government officials, teachers and retirees; and only 4% of the laborers had an increase in income. After more than 120 days, households resume to usual mode when most people can already go out to start a new normal life with the Covid-19 pandemic. The results of the ordered logistic regression show that there are 5 variables affecting the adaptability of households to Covid-19 as follows: physical assets, financial assets, human assets, and housing status. The sign of the regression coefficients of all asset variables is positive, indicating that household's livelihood assets play an important role in overcoming difficulties while increasing the adaptability to Covid-19 in particular and other possible future shocks in general. The policy-making agencies should promote the self-reliance of households, encourage households to reorganize their livelihood activities. In addition, the local government needs to coordinate with the agencies to organize vocational training courses and skills for households, especially information technology applications for online working and the trend of industrial revolution 4.0.

Typology of Household Adaptations to Infrastructure System Service Interruptions

Typology of Household Adaptations to Infrastructure System Service Interruptions

CURRENT PROBLEMS OF INTEGRATION IN THE EDUCATION OF CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS IN UKRAINE

The scientific analysis of the integration of children with special educational needs in education was carried out in the research. The purpose of the study is to examine the problematic issues of educational integration aimed at children with special educational needs. The methods of scientific research are theoretical analysis and systematization of information on foreign and domestic experience on the problem of studying the integration of individuals in preschool and general secondary education. The task of the study is theoretical analysis and systematization of information on foreign and domestic experience on the issue of studying the integration of children with special educational needs in general educational conditions; determination of forms of organization of integrated learning; substantiation of the state of modern inclusive education and opportunities for integration; disclosure of advantages and prospects of integration for children with special educational needs of general education. Problematic issues concerning the formation of integration in the educational space in foreign and domestic scientific sources have been studied; forms (models) of the organization of integrated training are described; the types of preschool institutions that are considered as basic components of preschool education have bben indicated (kindergarten - preschool institution, infant school– preschool institution, kindergarten of a combined type).The authors highlighted level of support in secondary schools, in accordance with the individual needs and capabilities of children with special educational needs, the issue of quality education is transferred to public authorities, local governments and educational institutions. The advantages of integration of children with disabilities in the system of general educational space is considered: it provides social and household adaptation, ensures the right to equal access to education, takes into account value interests, needs, individual, psychophysiological and intellectual capabilities, intensifies the formation of cognitive activity to educational activity, creates conditions for experiencing social interaction surrounded by peers wisth typical psychophysical development. provides development of moral and cultural values. Integrated education has promising mechanisms for improving the system of education and upbringing of children with special educational needs, which can complement the techniques of inclusive education.