Managing risk, changing aspirations and household dynamics: Implications for wellbeing and adaptation in semi-arid Africa and India

Rao, Nitya; Singh, Chandni; Solomon, Divya; Camfield, Laura; Sidiki, Rahina; Angula, Margaret; Poonacha, Prathigna; Sidibé, Amadou; Lawson, Elaine

doi:10.1016/j.worlddev.2019.104667

Cited by 75 publications

(64 citation statements)

References 86 publications

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“…It also helps redress the tendency within policy discourse to focus exclusively on big n data as a way to justify and assess adaptation interventions. Such approaches marginalise issues central to vulnerability and adaptation such as intra-household well-being, gender relations, and changing aspirations (Rao et al 2020) by reducing complexity.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There are growing calls for unpacking CCVA studies to understand the role of intra-household dynamics in mediating risk management choices and their outcomes (Djoudi et al 2016;Rao et al 2020). Empirical evidence from gender and feminist political ecology is filling this gap by focusing on intra-household bargaining and gendered vulnerability (Rao et al 2020;Rao et al 2017;Singh 2019), but these remain peripheral to mainstream CCVA research (Ravera et al 2016;Thompson-Hall et al 2016).…”

Section: Gaps In the Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Finally, the implications of changing aspirations are seldom examined in adaptation research and practice. With growing recognition that adaptation is often about behavioural shifts (García de Jalón et al 2015;Davidson 2016;van Valkengoed and Steg 2019), there is a need to understand how shifting aspirations mediate adaptation behaviour (Rao et al 2020). Household surveys have been largely used to determine aspirations and motivation but usually do not capture intra-household dynamics and the context for individual aspirations within the household.…”

Section: Gaps In the Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Intra-household gender relations are critical to shaping individual vulnerability and response strategies to manage risk (Rao et al 2020;Singh 2019;Ravera et al 2016;Rao et al 2017). Based on relative capacities, work burdens, and agency, individuals within a household negotiate different risks differentially, either towards maintaining or enhancing overall household well-being or to consolidate their relative position (Singh and Basu 2019;Rao 2014;Ngigi et al 2017;Rao et al 2020).…”

Section: Intra-household Dynamics and Power Relationshipsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Aspirations are examined in poverty and social mobility studies (Ray 2006) but seldom discussed in CCVA research (Rao et al 2020). Understood as 'conceptions of how human beings engage their own futures' (Appadurai 2004: 33), aspirations are integral to livelihood decisions such as whether to migrate or not (Suckall et al 2016;Scheibelhofer 2017), changing labour practices and social norms (Punch and Sugden 2013), and when dealing with socio-ecological transitions in rural areas (Rigg 2006).…”

Section: Motivations and Aspirationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Exploring methodological approaches to assess climate change vulnerability and adaptation: reflections from using life history approaches

et al. 2019

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People in developing countries face multiple risks, and their response decisions sit at the complex and often opaque interface of climatic stressors, constrained resource access, and changing livelihoods, social structures, and personal aspirations. Many risk management studies use a well-established toolkit of methodologies-household surveys, focus group discussions, and semistructured interviews. We argue that such methodological conservatism tends to neglect the dynamic and differentiated nature of livelihood decisions. Since different methodologies privilege different portrayals of risk and response, we highlight how plural methodological approaches can capture a broader range of perspectives and problematisations. In this paper, we draw on life history (LH) interviews across four countries (Kenya, Namibia, Ghana, and India) to offer one way of expanding current methodological approaches on vulnerability and adaptation. We argue that LHs offer four key 'value additions'. First, LHs give insights into the multiple and interacting nature of drivers of response behaviour. Second, they highlight intra-household dynamics to demonstrate how people with differential power shape risk management decisions. Third, LHs support explorations of past decisions, present situations, and future aspirations, thus producing temporally nuanced enquiries. Fourth, they provide a powerful analytical lens to capture the interplay of motivations, aspirations, and values on livelihood choices and adaptation outcomes. By adding value in these four ways, LHs challenge assumptions about how and why people respond to multiple risks and offer a nuanced understanding of adaptation processes.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Gaps In the Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Gaps In the Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Intra-household Dynamics and Power Relationshipsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Motivations and Aspirationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Exploring methodological approaches to assess climate change vulnerability and adaptation: reflections from using life history approaches

et al. 2019

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The role of agricultural insurance in boosting agricultural output: An aggregate analysis from Chinese provinces

et al. 2022

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Agricultural insurance is a significant driver of agricultural development worldwide. In this paper, a fixed‐effects panel approach and instrumental variable regressions are used to examine the impact of agricultural insurance on agricultural output in China. The study is based on panel data from 31 Chinese provinces over the period 2004 to 2018. Findings indicate that agricultural insurance led to a significant increase in aggregate agricultural output across provinces. The results remain robust when potential endogeneity in insurance uptake is considered. In addition, mechanism tests were performed to identify the channels through which insurance influences productivity. These show that agricultural insurance contributes to increasing labor productivity and the area of cultivated land per capita and encourages specialized planting, all of which promote growth in agricultural production. Finally, agricultural insurance plays a more important role in Eastern China and nonmajor crop‐producing areas [EconLit Citations: Q13, Q18].

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Class and climate‐change adaptation in rural India: Beyond community‐based adaptation models

Aslany

Brincat

2021

Sustainable Development

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This article explores the ways in which class structure in agrarian societies shape local adaptation responses to the impact of climate change, based on an empirical study of a village society in western Maharashtra, India. It draws on two types of fieldwork data, quantitative and qualitative, including a round of household socio‐economic survey questionnaire and qualitative semi‐structured interviews. We show that climate‐change adaptation is class specific and varies considerably amongst the different classes within the relations of production even in the same village. The local class structure shape ownership and access to natural resources, with implications for both individual adaptive capacities and attempts to organize adaptation practices at the community‐level. Specifically, adaptive practice is revealed as being largely contingent on the size of land owned and livelihood options that affects, in turn, households' adaptation capacities and their experiences of climate change. We find that whilst the village inhabitants have initiated various adaptation strategies privately, no community‐based adaptation practices could be identified. As such, we call for a more comprehensive understanding of the class nature of climate change for developing effective climate adaptation strategies at the village‐community level and especially for community‐based adaptation (CBA) models.

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Managing risk, changing aspirations and household dynamics: Implications for wellbeing and adaptation in semi-arid Africa and India

Cited by 75 publications

References 86 publications

Exploring methodological approaches to assess climate change vulnerability and adaptation: reflections from using life history approaches

Exploring methodological approaches to assess climate change vulnerability and adaptation: reflections from using life history approaches

The role of agricultural insurance in boosting agricultural output: An aggregate analysis from Chinese provinces

Class and climate‐change adaptation in rural India: Beyond community‐based adaptation models

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