Livelihood Adaptation Research Articles

Impact of shifting from rice to shrimp farming on migration aspirations in Bangladesh

AbstractThe Ganges–Brahmaputra–Meghna delta is one of the most populous deltas in the world, threatened by diverse environmental stressors, including salinity intrusion, causing adverse consequences on livelihood adaptation. Shrimp farming has been recognized as one of the most practiced livelihoods among various livelihood opportunities. Growing global demand and higher economic returns encouraged many farmers to convert their agricultural land to shrimp farms by intruding saline water into the farmlands to produce shrimps. In this study, we investigated whether the growing trend of shrimp farming influences the migration aspirations of the vulnerable coastal communities in Bangladesh. The study employed qualitative interviews with individuals in four villages in southwest coastal Bangladesh. Satellite images were analyzed to detect land-use changes and changes in soil salinity in the last 28 years, confirming a rapid increase in shrimp farms. Results from the qualitative interviews indicate that poor people with limited resources cannot produce paddy on their land because of increased soil salinity caused by shrimp farming. Such a situation leads them to aspire to migrate. Thus, our analysis contributes to the discourse on “aspiration and capability” in environmental migration by adding the impacts of land-use changes on livelihoods.

Gender Dimensions of Vulnerabilities, Adaptations and Alternative Livelihoods of the Closed Season in Elmina – Ghana: A Qualitative Study

A closed season policy has emerged as an ocean governance strategy aimed at protecting and conserving fish stocks across countries and coastal areas. Its implementation has produced traces of vulnerabilities, and forms of livelihood adaptations and alternative livelihood opportunities. However, little is known about how these occur among gender groups. This paper therefore focuses on the gender dimensions of vulnerabilities, adaptations and alternative livelihoods during the closed season in Elmina, Ghana, within the feminist political ecology framework. It employed Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) from purposively selected fishermen and fish processors. The study found significant differences in the vulnerability patterns among the gender groups, albeit some similarities. We further observed more fluid roles among the women than the men because the women were ready to undertake alternative livelihood options that were traditionally male-based during the closed season. Based on these results, we contend that political decisions toward environmental sustainability may create vulnerability and fluid adaptation patterns which may vary among gender groups in the light of their differential patterns of access, control and positionalities within the fishing industry.

Farmer adaptation strategies through local farming systems in Enrekang, Indonesia

Farmers in tropical Indonesia who manage agroecological systems face multiple challenges related to food security. Despite the conditions caused by climate change, these farming households have effectively utilized agroforestry to build food security. However, prolonged dry seasons pose new constraints to their livelihood strategies. This study uses a qualitative methodology and a rural farmer livelihood framework to analyze and evaluate household livelihood strategies, attitudes, and reactions to climate change. The findings show that farmers constantly modify their management techniques using flexible and adaptive decision-making processes to cope with and minimize climate change challenges. Moreover, the role of climate variation as a significant catalyst for change in farming practices is challenging to distinguish from some of the routine problems that farmers face each year. Through knowledge accumulation and adaptive management, farmers in Enrekang utilize several livelihood adaptation strategies to reduce risks in the face of changing climate conditions. In addition, farmers utilize on-farm crops to obtain various ecosystem services that provide services such as food, nutrition, and medicine and improve ecology, nutrient cycling, and climate regulation. Further research is needed to understand how on-farm tree inclusion affects various biophysical properties and the rationale behind species selection.

Livelihood Adaptation of the Khmer People in An Bình Commune, Phú Giáo district, Bình Dương province, Vietnam: From Subsistence Economy to Market Economy

Livelihood Adaptation of the Khmer People in An Bình Commune, Phú Giáo district, Bình Dương province, Vietnam: From Subsistence Economy to Market Economy

Strengthening Climate Change Resilience and Adaptive Livelihood for Women’s and Youth in Poso, Central Sulawesi

Strengthening Climate Change Resilience and Adaptive Livelihood for Women’s and Youth in Poso, Central Sulawesi

Corrigendum: Adaptive pastoralists—insights into local and regional patterns in livelihood adaptation choices among pastoralists in Kenya

Corrigendum: Adaptive pastoralists—insights into local and regional patterns in livelihood adaptation choices among pastoralists in Kenya

Vocational opportunities for agricultural migrants in northern India: Insights from grassroots

The livelihood of Indian farmers is primarily shaped by agriculture and its allied components. The degree of intricacy and contributions of each agricultural activity, although, vary with different social-ecological systems. Migration is considered an approach to livelihood adaptation; however, the migrants face challenges in new social-ecological settings due to their limited access to resources. This research aimed to develop a predictive model for sustainable agricultural employment options in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh (UP). In this study, states were selected purposively, while respondent farmers were chosen using a stratified multistage sampling design. A total of 480 resident and migrant farmers were selected to collect data. The machine learning algorithm, based on classification and regression tree (CART) analysis, was applied that could help to identify factors and prospects for migrant farmers in the agricultural sector. Results indicated that milk yield, operational land holding, and rabi crop yield were significant predictors. Further, milk yield, rabi crop yield, and kharif crop yield were observed to be the essential factors contributing to profitable ventures. The recommendations provided by Krishi Vigyan Kendra’s professionals led to the identification of key income-generating activities, such as livestock management, vegetable production, and organic farming. These prospects are tailored to the location-specific context where migrant farmers reside. Overall, this research shed light on viable employment opportunities, ultimately contributing to the well-being of migrant workers in northern India, in addition to the policy interventions focused on capacity building and providing an enabling environment to the migrants.

Livelihood adaptation to changes in River Ekulu depth, channel width and riverbank vegetation cover type by household breadwinners in selected communities in Enugu, Nigeria

Nigeria and most other developing countries need to explore using socio-ecological approaches to address some ecosystem challenges. Changes in river depth, channel width and riverbank vegetation cover type of River Ekulu in Enugu, Nigeria, their causes and effects on biodiversity and livelihood adaptation by household breadwinners, who depended on the river for livelihood activities, were investigated. Snowball sampling technique was adopted. Causes of changes in the river depth, channel width and riverbank vegetation cover type and their effects on biodiversity and livelihood adaptation were obtained from literature with Google Forms administered to purposively selected experts. Factor component analysis was used to select the significant ones. Aerial images of the river were captured with a drone. Questionnaire was used to elicit information from the target household breadwinners to corroborate the images or otherwise, the causes and the effects of the changes on biodiversity and livelihood adaptation. Data were analyzed to test seven null hypotheses bordering on the objectives of the study. Results showed that the observed changes led to adverse effect on biodiversity and the attendant imperative livelihood adaptation. Factors causing the changes in the river depth, width and riverbank vegetation cover type were climate change (factor weight, fw, 0.44–0.54) and increase in population density (fw 0.46–0.63). Recommendations include conscientisation of government and riverine neighbourhood dwellers on the observed ecological changes, their causes and effects, and ways-forward on policies and practices.

Local Governments’ Capacity to Adapt to Climate Change in Ghana: Evidence From Bongo District

Global environmental policies require strong local actions to make an impact. However, the capacity for local action and impact are often taken for granted. This paper examines the institutional capacity of the Bongo district assembly to support the livelihood adaptation capacity of rural smallholder farmers. Twenty key informant interviews were done, and five focus group discussions were also conducted in five communities. The paper finds that the local government is too weak to facilitate climate change adaptation at the local level due to four institutional barriers: politics of climate change, barriers relating to centralized planning, limited funding stream, and absence of skilled manpower.

Rural households' livelihood adaptation strategies in the face of changing climate: A case study from Pakistan

Rural and agricultural communities' adaptation to climate change has gained significant attention owing to many countries' vulnerability to climate change risks. A similar trend has been witnessed in South Asia, a highly climate-vulnerable region, where research has grown dramatically considering the agriculture sector's vulnerability to climate-induced disasters. However, little attention has been paid to the adaptation of the livelihoods of rural households. This research, therefore, takes the case of Pakistan to explore livelihood adaptation strategies of rural households to climate change and investigate the factors that expedite or halt the adoption of livelihood diversification strategies. A multistage sampling design is used in this research, where 480 rural households from the Punjab province of Pakistan were selected and interviewed using stratified and random sampling approaches. A multivariate probit (MVP) regression model is employed to analyze the factors affecting households' adoption of livelihood adaptation strategies. The results show that besides adaptation of agronomic operations (agricultural adaptation strategies), rural households in the study area employed a wide range of strategies to adapt their livelihoods to climate change. These strategies include poultry and livestock farming, value addition of farm produce, trading of animals and farm commodities, small businesses (shops, etc.), daily wage labor, horticultural crop farming, and non-farming jobs. The estimates of the MVP model revealed that respondents' education, household size, income, access to a credit facility, access to farm advisory services, and access to climate forecasts have significantly influenced the choice of livelihood adaptation strategies. Based on these findings, this research recommends that the authorities should make efforts to improve farmers' understanding of the adaptation of climate change risks and educate them to adopt multiple livelihood options to improve the resilience of their livelihoods to climate-induced risks. This research has important policy implications for other countries with similar socio-economic features.

Dominant Forms of Livelihood Adaptation and Key Constraints in Mantuil Village, Banjarmasin City

Dominant Forms of Livelihood Adaptation and Key Constraints in Mantuil Village, Banjarmasin City

Perceived Barriers to the Adoption of Climate Smart Adaptive Livelihood Technology by the Farmers in Flood Prone Areas of Assam

Flood is an annual major natural disaster of Assam. It causes a huge loss to human, animal, crop, infrastructures and natural resources. Since agriculture is the prime source of livelihood and majority of inhabitants resides in rural areas, the impact of flood has a vital role in the living conditions of Assam’s population. In the present study different kinds of barriers were identified which found to create resistance in the resilience building by the farmers in the studied area. Here the Garrett’s ranking technique was used to rank the barriers associated with the resilience building by the farmers in the study area. The problem of limited skills upon climate smart adaptive livelihood technology (CSALT) got the highest mean score of 65.55 and ranked 1st among all the identified problems. However, the last rank was given to the problem of limited resources with farmers to invest in CSALT having mean score 44.44. It was seen that after the extension problem the other key problems in descending order of value were economic problem such as unavailability of quality seeds and planting materials at right time, unavailability of labour in vital period of farming, in addition to which higher wage and lack of post harvest technologies and marketing facilities were also observed along with communication and information problems and socio-personal problem. Moreover reluctance to take up new project due to deprived risk taking ability, lack of awareness and skill on advanced farming technologies, lack of interest in cultivation due to poor return in short term with poor educational status of the farmers were some of the observed barriers.

Study on the Employment Enhancement Path of Migrants Relocated for Poverty Alleviation

Relocation for poverty alleviation is an important initiative for precise poverty alleviation in China, with the main objective of resolving the contradiction between people and the environment, and endeavouring to realize the dual goals of poverty alleviation and ecological restoration. In recent years, Shanxi Province has planned, designed, and implemented a number of village relocation projects for poverty alleviation, relocating populations from areas where the natural ecology is unsuitable for human habitation, or where coal mining has led to land subsidence, to towns or suburban areas with better environments. Whether the relocated population out of poverty can obtain stable livelihood adaptation is of great practical significance for consolidating the effect of poverty alleviation and comprehensively building a modernized socialist country, so how to coordinate multiple resources to guarantee the employment of relocated immigrants has become a focus issue that needs to be urgently solved. In this paper, we analyze the employment profile of relocated immigrants in the centralized resettlement area of Changzhi City, Shanxi Province, and the dilemmas that exist, and explore the paths to enhance the employment level of relocated immigrants, stimulate the endogenous motivation for employment, and realize sustainable livelihoods from the perspective of upgrading the comprehensive quality of the relocated immigrants, promoting the development of related industries, and improving the employment service system.

Gendered livelihood impacts and responses to an invasive, transboundary weed in a rural Ethiopian community

Gender as unequal power relations intersects with global environmental change threatening agriculture-based livelihoods, including land degradation, increasing climate variability, and invasive alien plants. Commonly overlooked, invasive alien plants may have gendered impacts on everyday life that disproportionately affect the less powerful. Drawing on experiences of smallholder farmers in Ethiopia’s Oromia region with an invasive, transboundary weed, Parthenium hysterophorus L., this paper illustrates how environmental change interacts with pre-existing vulnerabilities to shape individual and household-level impacts and responses. We applied a feminist perspective in livelihoods and environmental change research and praxis to explore the intersection of gendered livelihoods and parthenium management in spaces of everyday life. While invasive plants, including parthenium, may be easily perceptible in the field, understanding impacts on livelihoods requires consideration of women’s and men’s roles and responsibilities within the broader household compound as well as intra-household decision-making. Parthenium can be harmful to environmental, animal, and human health, but unduly impacts women’s labor, spaces, and assets, including cows whose milk may be tainted by grazing in parthenium-infested fields. We demonstrate the importance of considering women’s social networks and so-called reproductive space and labor to understand gendered and place-based inequities of climate change. This study reveals intimate connections between environmental stressors and gendered livelihoods. Our findings demonstrate how inequalities can be reinforced by new forms of vulnerability, with response options socially differentiated. We argue that a feminist livelihood lens helps bridge the global scale of environmental change with local scales of gendered livelihood adaptation embedded within broader socio-environmental change.

Adaptive pastoralists—Insights into local and regional patterns in livelihood adaptation choices among pastoralists in Kenya

Pastoralist adaptation strategies have to address multiple, overlapping, and often inter-related processes of socio-ecological change. The present study addresses the need for inter-regional comparative studies that account for different geographic, climate, and socio-economic contexts in order to understand how pastoralists adapt to changes in livelihood conditions. The paper uses data from a unique survey study of pastoralist households in four neighbouring counties in dryland Kenya. Taking our point of departure from an empirically based classification of the livelihood strategies available to pastoralists in the Horn of Africa, the survey offers novel insights into adaptation and fodder management strategies of pastoralist individuals and households. The results show that the use of migration as a strategy is more dependent on the ability to migrate than climate conditions. This is the case in localities where a substantial part of the land is subdivided, the population density is high, and where opportunities for migration are subsequently restricted. Diversification of livelihoods as a strategy is largely defined by opportunity. Intensification through active fodder management is mainly common in areas where there has been a proliferation of managed enclosures. Climate change will test the adaptive capacity of pastoralists in the studied region, and diversification and intensification strategies of both herd composition and livelihoods can be seen as strategies for increased climate resilience.

Coastal fishers’ livelihood adaptations to extreme weather events: an analysis of household strategies in Quang Ngai Province, Vietnam

Extreme weather events (EWEs) pose significant threats to fishery-based livelihoods in Quang Ngai (QN) Province, Vietnam. This study describes the types of livelihood adaptations (LAs) that coastal fishers in QN have practiced in response to EWEs and find the varieties in these adaptation strategy choices. In this study, we investigated livelihood adaptation strategies in coastal areas through a household survey and analysis of the collected data using MS Excel. Two sample strategies were used, stratified and random sampling, to select 229 coastal fishers from 11 communes; and data are collected through designed questionnaires. The current study employed statistical disaggregation and comparative methods to analyze coastal fishers’ adaptation strategy choices in QN Province. A range of adaptation strategies were identified consisting of five reactive LAs and eight anticipatory LAs practiced differently by coastal fishers. Among the eight anticipatory LAs, discontinuing production for a certain time is a novel adaptation in QN Province. In addition, a divergence in conducting LAs by production forms was found. On-sand farming and offshore fishers invest in advanced technologies and facilities as adaptive measures. By contrast, fishers who farm in estuaries, lagoons, and nearshore fishing fishers are more likely to change and diversify their jobs. The study’s key findings about livelihood adaptation measures and their differences are significant for improving coastal fisher’s livelihoods in Vietnam. Any efforts at local and national levels in developing mitigation strategies for the impact of EWEs may consider the coastal fisher’s adaptation choices.

Move up or move over: mapping opportunities for climate adaptation in Pakistan’s Indus plains

The 2022 Indus floods in Pakistan underscore the urgency of adapting to more frequent and severe natural disasters in a warming world. Post-disaster reconstruction offers a chance to built-in adaptation measures, but identifying feasible and cost-effective adaptation options is challenging, especially in data-scarce regions. Here we employ a high-resolution rapid assessment of flood stages combined with demographic data to identify adaptation opportunities and costs for the Indus floodplains. Under a plausible set of assumptions, we find that rebuilding houses in a flood-proof, elevated manner (‘moving up’) or (temporary) relocation (‘moving over’) could have protected 13%, respectively 16% of people affected during the 2022 floods, while the remaining 70% of people were exposed to shallow water levels that could have been addressed with low-cost adaptation. Implementing these measures during ongoing reconstruction could be an effective adaptation to future floods but will come with substantial costs. Rebuilding in a flood-proofed manner (‘moving up’) alone would already increase costs by 26%–63% ($1.5bn–$3.6bn) compared to estimated reconstruction costs without adaptation ($5.8bn). Additional costs would be incurred by relocation and adaptation of other infrastructure. The absence of local flood stage and socio-economic data creates uncertainty and points to future research avenues. Yet, our prototype approach demonstrates the value of rapid assessments for guiding post-disaster adaptation of livelihoods to future floods.

The smallholder coffee farmer's livelihood adaptation strategies in Bengkulu, Indonesia

PurposeThis study aims to reconstruct how smallholder farmers implement livelihood adaptation strategies to survive and escape poverty, thereby mitigating or eliminating potential livelihood risks by utilizing their available assets.Design/methodology/approachThis research employed a qualitative approach. For the collection of primary data, the researcher conducted observations and in-depth interviews and engaged with the lives of smallholder farmers during the data collection period.FindingsAmong the various livelihood adaptation strategies, only migration and profit-sharing strategies enable smallholder farmers to escape poverty. However, migration is an unsustainable adaptation strategy. When farmers move to new locations, they often resort to slash-and-burn methods for clearing land, which can lead to forest degradation and deforestation. Profit sharing is a sustainable livelihood adaptation strategy that falls into a different category. This approach can lift farmers out of poverty, increase their income and have no negative environmental impact. Other adaptation strategies include adjustments to traditional agriculture, both on and off-farm diversification, involving the family in income generation, reducing farming costs, practicing frugality in post-harvest processes, converting land from coffee cultivation to other crops and borrowing money and selling owned assets. Smallholder farmers implement these strategies to survive the existing economic conditions.Originality/valueThe profit-sharing strategy was a novel livelihood adaptation approach that previous studies had yet to uncover at the research site. In this strategy, farmers assume the roles of both managers and laborers simultaneously during farming, while toke (the capital owners) play the role of farming funders. The generated profit is then shared between farmers and toke based on the agreement established at the outset of their collaboration.

A Bibliometric Analysis of Scientific Literature on Livelihood Adaptation in ASEAN Countries During the COVID-19 Pandemic

A Bibliometric Analysis of Scientific Literature on Livelihood Adaptation in ASEAN Countries During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Estimating Livelihood Vulnerability and Its Impact on Adaptation Strategies in the Context of Disaster Avoidance Resettlement in Southern Shaanxi, China

In order to alleviate ecological environmental degradation and to enhance sustainable rural household livelihoods, the Shaanxi government of China launched a disaster mitigation program: the disaster avoidance resettlement. Measuring household livelihood vulnerability and further assessing its influence, hold the key to strengthening livelihood adaptation in the context of disaster resettlement. Taking Ankang—in southern Shaanxi Province, China—as an example, this article explores the impact mechanism of household livelihood vulnerability on adaptation strategies through a multinominal logistic regression model in which 657 rural questionnaires were employed. In order to provide more integrated empirical evidence, we draw lessons from the livelihood of the previously proposed vulnerability framework, which has three dimensions: the degree of sensitivity, exposure, and adaptive capacity. The adaptive strategies were divided into pure farming, non-agricultural, and diversified adaptation types according to the types of income sources. The results indicated that livelihood vulnerability varies with different resettlement characteristics. In terms of adaptive strategy types, the vulnerability of pure farming households was the largest. This article found that the relocated households who had a lower sensitivity preferred the non-farming livelihood adaptation strategy. Local households with a high adaptive ability preferred to implement diversified adaptation strategies. The weaker the social support network of the relocated households, the more likely they were to choose off-farm adaptation strategies. Our research results are robust and have broader implications in terms of promoting rural household diversifications of adaptation strategies and reducing livelihood vulnerability.