Household Livelihood Vulnerability to Climate Change in West China

Climate change disproportionately affects natural resource-dependent communities in the ecologically vulnerable regions of western China. This study used the household livelihood vulnerability index under the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (HLV-IPCC) to assess vulnerability. Data were collected from 823 households in Ningxia, Gansu, Guangxi, and Yunnan provinces, these being ecologically vulnerable regions in China. With a composite HLVI-IPCC and multiple regression model, the factors that affect households’ adaptive capability to HLVI-IPCC was estimated. Results indicate that Ningxia is the most vulnerable community, while Guangxi is the least vulnerable community across all indices. Moreover, Gansu has the heaviest sensitivity and exposure to climate change, whereas Ningxia has the highest adaptive capability to climate change. In addition, the age of household head and distance of the home to the town center had significant negative impacts on households’ adaptive capacity to HLVI-IPCC. The results also suggest that the HLVI assessment can provide an effective tool for local authorities to formulate prioritizing strategies with promoting climate-resilient development and increasing long-term adaptive capacity.

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Assessing the Vulnerability of Marine Fisheries in China: Towards an Inter-Provincial Perspective

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su10114302 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 10 (11) ◽

pp. 4302 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Qi Chen ◽

Weiteng Shen ◽

Bing Yu

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Adaptive Capacity ◽

Fisheries Management ◽

Vocational Training ◽

Large Scale ◽

Environmental Changes ◽

Marine Pollution ◽

Marine Fisheries ◽

Intergovernmental Panel ◽

Adaptation Measures

China’s marine fisheries are undergoing large-scale environmental changes associated with climate change, marine pollution, and overfishing. The assessment of marine fisheries vulnerability has become extremely necessary for fisheries management and sustainable development. However, studies on China’s marine fisheries vulnerability remains sparse. This study aimed to provide an analysis of the inter-provincial level vulnerability of China’s marine fisheries under multiple disturbances. The vulnerability measure was composed of exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity indicators specific to marine fisheries based on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) definitions. Results showed that Liaoning, Hebei, Fujian, and Hainan provinces appeared to be the most vulnerable; Shanghai appeared to be less vulnerable among China’s 11 coastal provinces; and the key sources of vulnerability differed considerably among coastal regions. The high vulnerability regions could be divided into two different patterns according to the combination of exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity, but they all had one thing in common: relatively low adaptive capacity. While some existing coercive measures to reduce dependence on fisheries were found to be helpful in China, the reality showed that appropriate adaptation measures such as improving fishermen’s education level and increasing vocational training may be helpful in enhancing the existing policy effectiveness.

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An Assessment of Vulnerability of Fishers’ Livelihood to Climate Change in Coastal Odisha

Current World Environment ◽

10.12944/cwe.14.1.08 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 14 (1) ◽

pp. 60-67 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Sambit Priyadarshi ◽

S. N. Ojha ◽

Arpita Sharma

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Adaptive Capacity ◽

East Coast ◽

Vulnerability Index ◽

The State ◽

Context Specificity ◽

East Coast Of India ◽

Index Approach ◽

Vulnerability Score

A study was conducted in Odisha, a state on the east coast of India, with the objective of assessing the vulnerability of fishers’ livelihood to climate change. The state was chosen for study since it is considered as one of the most vulnerable states due to climate change. A total of 120 fishers were interviewed from two districts, Balasore and Ganjam, to assess their livelihood vulnerability by considering their exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity to climate change. A composite livelihood vulnerability index by suggesting that fishers are vulnerable to climate change. For fishers of + 0.03 and for Ganjam it was 0.5 minima 0, and maxima 1 was used for the purpose. Baleswar the score was 0.56 0.04, s. The aggregated vulnerability score was found to be 0.54+The composite livelihood vulnerability index approach calculates vulnerability by aggregating data for a set of indicators for the components of vulnerability which include exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity + 0.04. Vulnerability score was relatively higher in Baleswar due to higher scores on the exposure and sensitivity parameters overshadowing the higher adaptive capacity. The study shows evidence that marine fishers of Odisha are vulnerable to climate change. Also, it throws light on the location and context specificity of livelihood vulnerability.

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Spatial Assessment of Damage Vulnerability to Storms Based on the Analysis of Historical Damage Cost Data in the Korean Peninsula

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su11216051 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (21) ◽

pp. 6051 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Hyun Il Choi

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Korean Peninsula ◽

Climate Change Impacts ◽

Vulnerability Index ◽

Extreme Weather Events ◽

Economic Damage ◽

Risk Indicator ◽

Damage Cost ◽

Intergovernmental Panel ◽

Spatial Assessment

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Reports, climate variability and changes increase the possibility of extreme weather events causing climate-related hazards and the risk of natural disasters. A storm is one of the most common and serious natural hazards that pose significant human and economic damage costs worldwide. The Korean Peninsula is also at persistent risk of hydro-meteorological disasters induced by rainstorms and typhoons due to geomorphological features and climate change impacts. This study has, therefore, proposed the damage vulnerability index for a spatial assessment of the damage vulnerability to storms, based on the IPCC’s vulnerability assessment concept. The damage vulnerability index is aggregated from the potential indicator for the potential damage targets, estimated by the population and major facility densities, and the risk indicator for the expected damage risk, estimated by the risk analysis for integrating both frequency and severity of human and economic damage cost records. The damage vulnerability index can assess regions vulnerable to the disaster damage induced by rainstorms, typhoons, and both, respectively, over the 231 administrative districts in the Republic of Korea. It is expected that the proposed damage vulnerability index can provide realistic and practical information on sustainable damage mitigation plans for the nationwide administrative districts against storm-induced disasters.

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Adaptive Capacity Mapping of Semarang Offshore Territory by the Increasing of Water Level and Climate Change

Forum Geografi ◽

10.23917/forgeo.v27i1.5084 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 27 (1) ◽

pp. 81

Author(s):

Ifan Ridlo Suhelm

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Sea Level Rise ◽

Adaptive Capacity ◽

Sea Level ◽

Land Subsidence ◽

Educational Background ◽

Intergovernmental Panel ◽

Two Factors ◽

The Face ◽

The Village

Tidal inundation, flood and land subsidence are the problems faced by Semarang city related to climate change. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predicted the increase of sea level rise 18-59 cm during 1990-2100 while the temperature increase 0,6°C to 4°C during the same period. The Semarang coastal city was highly vulnerable to sea level rise and it increased with two factors, topography and land subsidence. The purpose of this study was to map the adaptive capacity of coastal areas in the face of the threat of disasters caused by climate change. The parameters used are Network Number, Employee based educational background, Source Main Livelihoods, Health Facilities, and Infrastructure Road. Adaptive capacity of regions classified into 3 (three) classes, namely low, medium and high. The results of the study showed that most of the coastal area of Semarang have adaptive capacities ranging from low to moderate, while the village with low capacity totaling 58 villages (58.62%) of the total coastal district in the city of Semarang.

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Assessing Local Vulnerability to Climate Change by Using Livelihood Vulnerability Index: A Case Study of Dipang Watershed in Central Himalaya Region of Nepal

Grassroots Journal of Natural Resources ◽

10.33002/nr2581.6853.040312 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 4 (3) ◽

pp. 147-163

Author(s):

Kapil Dhungana ◽

Harish Bahadur Chand ◽

Dinesh Bhandari ◽

Abhishek Kumar ◽

Sanjay Singh ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Vulnerability Index ◽

Primary Data ◽

Contributing Factors ◽

Group Discussions ◽

Intergovernmental Panel ◽

High Exposure ◽

Climate Risks ◽

Average Temperature ◽

Vulnerability To Climate Change

The current study uses the livelihood vulnerability index (LVI) and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change livelihood vulnerability index (IPCC-LVI) approaches to assess household’s livelihood vulnerability in the Dipang watershed located in the Central Himalayan region of Nepal. Primary data was collected through various participatory rural appraisal (PRA) tools such as direct observation, key informant interviews (KIIs), focus group discussions (FGDs) and household surveys. Similarly, data on climatic variables were collected from the nearby meteorological station over 30 years (1987-2018). The mean annual average temperature increased by 0.036°C while the average rainfall decreased by 2.30 mm. Respondents perceived a similar trend of rising temperatures, decreasing rainfall intensity, dryness in the atmosphere, and dwindling water sources. The overall LVI score (0.416) indicated that the households are vulnerable to climate change. Food (0.642) and natural disasters and climate variability (0.566) were the most vulnerable among all contributing factors. Similarly, the overall LVI-IPCC score (0.104) indicated that the households were moderately vulnerable due to high exposure (0.566), sensitivity (0.448), and low adaptive capacity (0.334). The study findings suggest an urgent need to reduce high exposure to climate risks, improved livelihood strategies, and boost agricultural productivity and health in the watershed area.

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Household’s Agricultural Vulnerability to Climate Induced Disasters: A Case on South-west Coastal Bangladesh

10.21203/rs.3.rs-399084/v2 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Md. Ayatullah Khan ◽

Kazi Humayun Kabir ◽

Kamrul Hasan ◽

Rashmia Sultana ◽

Sardar Al Imran ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Adaptive Capacity ◽

Vulnerability Index ◽

Average Score ◽

Intergovernmental Panel ◽

Coastal Bangladesh ◽

Coastal Adaptation ◽

Agricultural Vulnerability ◽

Farm Credit ◽

Household Heads ◽

Study Sites

Abstract Climatic events have a significant impact on south-western coastal agriculture in Bangladesh. The purpose of this study was to assess household’s agricultural vulnerability to climate-induced disasters and to identify the sub-indicators of adaptive capacity that determine the agricultural vulnerability to climate-induced disasters of south-western coastal households in Bangladesh. The vulnerability has been calculated by taking the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concept through an Agricultural Vulnerability Index (AVI). Then, the ordered logit model has been employed to identify the key sub-indicators of adaptive capacity that determine the agricultural vulnerability to climate-induced disasters. A survey of 346 household heads from the two villages (181 household’s head from Sutarkhali and 165 household’s head from Nalian) of Sutarkhali Union of Dacope Upazila under Khulna District has been used in this study. Findings reveal that the mean score of Sutarkhali is 0.703 (high) for exposure, 0.762 (high) for sensitivity, 0.397 (low) for adaptive capacity and finally, the AVI is 0.689 (high). In the same fashion, Nalian has an average score of 0.658 (high) for exposure, 0.681 (high) for sensitivity, 0.410 (low) for adaptive capacity, and finally 0.643 (high) for the AVI. Non-farm employment, ownership of livestock, access to irrigation pump, improved crop diversification/ saline tolerant High Yielding Variety (HYV) crops, and access to farm credit have been found statistically significant sub-indicators of adaptive capacity that determine the agricultural vulnerability of both study sites. Finally, it is recommended that the intervention required for coastal adaptation of agriculture should be initiated by respective authorities.

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Vulnerability Assessment of Farmer’s Livelihood to Flood in An Giang Province

Asia-Pacific Journal of Rural Development ◽

10.1177/2516602619860621 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 251660261986062

Author(s):

P. X. Phu ◽

N. N. De

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Adaptive Capacity ◽

Global Environmental Change ◽

Vulnerability Index ◽

Livelihood Strategies ◽

Middle Zone ◽

Lower Zone ◽

Knowledge And Skills ◽

Global Environmental ◽

Local Farmers

This study, conducted in An Giang Province of Vietnam, assesses the vulnerability and adaptability of local farmers to the flood in different conditions. Livelihood Vulnerability Index (LVI) proposed by Hahn, Riederer, and Foster (2009, Global Environmental Change, 19(1), 74–88) was applied for livelihood vulnerability analysis of different flooding zones (upper, middle and lower zones) in low flooding condition. Research results showed that LVI of different flooding zones are decreasingly dependent on major components of social networks, knowledge and skills, natural resources, finance and incomes, livelihood strategies, and natural disaster and climate variability. In which, LVI of Phu Huu commune in An Phu district which locates in the upper zone is 0.397 higher than LVI of two communes located in the lower parts of the river: Vinh An commune, Chau Thanh district (middle zone; LVI: 0.299) and Vinh Phuoc commune, Tri Ton district (lower zone; LVI: 0.357). Adaptive capacity of Phu Huu commune (0.415) is also higher than Vinh An (0.304) and Vinh Phuoc (0.355) communes. It reflects the direct correlation between LVI and adaptive capacity. The research recommends some solutions to reduce the vulnerability on livelihoods due to floods in the context of climate change.

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Communities’ Livelihood Vulnerability to Climate Variability in Ethiopia

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su11226302 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (22) ◽

pp. 6302 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Misganaw Teshager Abeje ◽

Atsushi Tsunekawa ◽

Nigussie Haregeweyn ◽

Zerihun Nigussie ◽

Enyew Adgo ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Climate Variability ◽

Adaptive Capacity ◽

Policy Development ◽

Composite Index ◽

Household Survey ◽

Kendall Test ◽

Vulnerability Index ◽

Relative Difference ◽

Sustainable Livelihood

Ethiopia has experienced more than 10 major drought episodes since the 1970s. Evidence has shown that climate change exacerbates the situation and presents a daunting challenge to predominantly rain-fed agricultural livelihoods. The aim of this study was to analyze the extent and sources of smallholder famers’ livelihood vulnerability to climate change/variability in the Upper Blue Nile basin. We conducted a household survey (n = 391) across three distinct agroecological communities and a formative composite index of livelihood vulnerability (LVI) was constructed. The Mann–Kendall test and the standard precipitation index (SPI) were employed to analyze trends of rainfall, temperature, and drought prevalence for the period from 1982 to 2016. The communities across watersheds showed a relative difference in the overall livelihood vulnerability index. Aba Gerima (midland) was found to be more vulnerable, with a score of 0.37, while Guder (highland) had a relatively lower LVI with a 0.34 index score. Given similar exposure to climate variability and drought episodes, communities’ livelihood vulnerability was mainly attributed to their low adaptive capacity and higher sensitivity indicators. Adaptive capacity was largely constrained by a lack of participation in community-based organizations and a lack of income diversification. This study will have practical implications for policy development in heterogeneous agroecological regions for sustainable livelihood development and climate change adaptation programs.

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Livelihood vulnerability and climate change: a comparative analysis of smallholders in the Indo-Gangetic plains

Environment Development and Sustainability ◽

10.1007/s10668-021-01516-8 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Terese E. Venus ◽

Stephanie Bilgram ◽

Johannes Sauer ◽

Arun Khatri-Chettri

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Adaptive Capacity ◽

Information And Communication Technologies ◽

Alternative Energy ◽

Conservation Agriculture ◽

Vulnerability Index ◽

Weather Data ◽

Gangetic Plains ◽

Alternative Energy Sources ◽

Climate Exposure

AbstractIn the Indo-Gangetic Plains, one of India’s most productive agricultural regions, smallholder livelihood vulnerability can inhibit sustainable development. As there are significant differences in economic development, natural resources and agricultural productivity within the region, we estimate the Livelihood Vulnerability Index in two districts (Vaishali, Bihar and Karnal, Haryana) to determine suitable adaptation strategies under diverse conditions. To reflect different aspects of climate exposure, we include both self-reported climate shocks and spatially interpolated weather data. The assessment of 1127 households shows that while both districts have similar exposure and adaptive capacity levels, the sensitivity dimension makes Vaishali more vulnerable to climate change. To reduce sensitivity, decision-makers should focus on improving infrastructure (e.g., permanent housing, latrines, health centers, alternative energy sources). To improve adaptive capacity and reduce climate risk in both regions, policymakers should promote the expansion of extension training for livelihood diversification, information and communication technologies as well as conservation agriculture.

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Assessing Vulnerability to Climate Change in Smallholder Irrigation Schemes of Zimbabwe

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su131810023 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (18) ◽

pp. 10023

Author(s):

Liboster Mwadzingeni ◽

Raymond Mugandani ◽

Paramu L. Mafongoya

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Social Networks ◽

Rural Communities ◽

Vulnerability Index ◽

Irrigation Scheme ◽

Water Insecurity ◽

Intergovernmental Panel ◽

Vulnerability To Climate Change ◽

Midlands Province ◽

Smallholder Irrigation

Globally, climate change poses enormous threats to the livelihoods of rural communities in arid and semi-arid regions. Assessing the extent of vulnerability is critical to identify climate hot spots and develop appropriate adaptation policies and strategies. This paper uses the Livelihood Vulnerability Index (LVI) and the Livelihood Vulnerability Index—Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (LVI-IPCC) to compare vulnerability to climate change in the Exchange, Insukamini, and Ruchanyu smallholder irrigation schemes (SISs) in the Midlands Province of Zimbabwe. A questionnaire was used to collect data from a sample of 317 randomly selected households. Results show higher exposure and sensitivity to climate change in the Insukamini irrigation scheme despite the higher adaptive capacity. Both LVI and LVI-IPCC show that households in Insukamini irrigation scheme are more vulnerable to climate change than in Exchange and Ruchanyu irrigation schemes, attributed to water insecurity, poor social networks, and natural disasters and climate variability. The study recommends that development and investment in Insukamini and Ruchanyu should prioritize improving social networks while Exchange should primarily focus on improving livelihood strategies. Using the LVI-IPCC framework is a key methodology for understanding the vulnerability of communities in SISs and identifying areas that need prime development and investment. These results have implications on implementing investments and livelihood policies in SISs of Zimbabwe.

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