LIVELIHOOD

Livelihood can be best defined as the methods and means of making a living in the world. The concept revolves around resources such as land/property, crops, food, knowledge, finances, social relationships, and their interrelated connection with the political, economic, and sociocultural characteristics of an individual community. A livelihood consists of capabilities, assets, and activities that are required for living. A sustainable livelihood is defined by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN-ESCAP) as having “the ability to cope and recover from unexpected events, while at the same time enhancing current and future capabilities” (UN-ESCAP, 2008). This definition interlinks the definitions of resilience, sustainability, and livelihood, as each affects the others and highlights how DRR or mitigation strategies directly affect sustainable livelihood. This means that there needs to be a heavy focus on reducing vulnerabilities of the community, including reducing poverty levels, building capacities and coping mechanisms, and focusing on community resilience.

 

There are five primary assets or capitals in the sustainable livelihoods framework that can influence sustainability and community resilience, as they can all be affected during disasters. These assets are human, social, natural, physical, and financial capital. Collectively, this is referred to as the Pentagon model. Human capital includes the skills, knowledge, labor ability, and good health that collectively allow people to pursue livelihood. Social capital consists of the specific social resources that are necessary to pursue one’s own unique livelihood. These can be fostered via establishment of networks, trusting relationships, and membership of formalized groups. Natural capital consists of the natural resource stocks from which resource flows and sources are derived; these natural resource stocks include such elements as nutrient cycling and erosion protection, both which are useful for maintaining livelihood. Physical capital represents the resources available to support viable livelihood. This may include clean water, adequate sanitation, and effective shelter; these items are often encompassed by basic infrastructure. Financial capital consists of the financial resources that are required if people want to fulfill their livelihood objectives.

There have been examples that show how sustainable livelihood and disaster risk reduction (DRR) are interrelated. For example, in post-tsunami research, it is noted that disasters represent both a crisis and an opportunity; it depicted how the disaster helped raise awareness of the gaps in strategy that had been present, thus further highlighting the importance of reducing vulnerabilities. Components of risk/vulnerability reduction include relief and rehabilitation, and it was stressed that these two elements should actually help reduce risk instead of just reconstructing current risks. Mt Everest Forest Botanicals Alliance sees the relationship between sustainable livelihood and DRR from an economic standpoint and emphasizes that helping people gain a stable income allows them to handle disasters more effectively and make them less vulnerable to facing livelihood losses; this, in turn, increases resiliency and mitigates the disastrous effects of hazards. The Alliance also recommends using a community-inclusive approach, in which the community has a say in building their resiliency levels and identifying plans that can help with DRR. This allows the community to gain more control of their own lives, protection, and livelihood sustainability, along with the opportunity to produce an accurate needs assessment on how to achieve their resiliency goals.