Abstract
In African rural area, farmers are exposed to the risks occurring from fluctuating ecological situation, political and social changes. Then, a concept of "vulnerability", including risks which farmers would possibly face and capacity which they can cope with, has become essential in understanding rural society and economy in developing countries.
Vulnerability is defined as 1)the risks of exposure to crises, stress and shocks, 2)the risks of inadequate capacities to cope with stress, crises and shocks, and 3)the risks of severe consequences of, and the attendant risks of slow or limited recovery from crises, risk and shocks. In practice, these emerge in the form of unexpected natural disaster and social marginalization to the levels of both individual, household and region.
Many studies on vulnerability have claimed that vulnerability is defined by external factors(natural disaster or change of economic policy and political situation) and then internal factors as coping strategies would decide how it affect to each actors. This presentation, however, will analyze the process of fluctuation in vulnerability with the attention to the aspects which social and cultural factors occurring from inner context of individual and household affect to it.
This study is based on field survey conducted in Aug.2006 to Mar.2007, and Aug.2008 to Mar.2009 in Lusitu ward in Southern Province, Zambia. Data of livelihood strategies of all households in survey villages are collected by semi-structured interview (n=49). Out of 49 households, 20 households are chosen at random and interviewed about their life history.
In survey area, amount of rainfall is extremely fluctuated and droughts happen after a few years. Stable food supply is primary concern in this area. Some households run out of their food storages before the next harvest, but there are various means of earning food and money; agricultural and non-agricultural wage labour supplied by wealthy households, food aid from the government and NGOs, and labour migration. Therefore, whether vulnerability increase by the failure of food production is deeply related with access to these coping strategies.
Through life history interviews, however, another aspect of vulnerability was found out. Vulnerability is either increased or mitigated by another reason which is different from food insecurity and access to coping strategies stated above. Social event such as death of family members and relatives who one looks to for support, marriage and divorce make one's economic situation changed suddenly, then they correct and alter their livelihood strategies.
As stated above, vulnerability in the survey area is fluctuated not only by amount of rainfall and access to coping strategies, but also by accidental social event which occurring inner context of individual and household. However, each risk are not separate alone but correlated, so each factors of ecological, social and economic need to be considered with integrated perspective both at individual and household.
