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Use of Sustainable
Livelihoods Approaches
This
study – a component of a larger project – focussed on two types of
vulnerability: to flood and to drought. It investigated the physical and environmental
contexts of vulnerability, and conducted institutional analysis and vulnerable
group profiling to develop methods for vulnerability assessment to feed into disaster
preparedness action plans.
The
livelihoods and institutional analysis were developed with a participatory vulnerability
assessment framework based on the existing work on livelihoods and vulnerability
assessment in Bangladesh. The methodology was built on a principle of working
in a participatory, process-oriented way, and was concerned to build on the local
knowledge already existing in disaster preparedness and response. The project
involved numerous workshops with local communities, using PRA methods to draw
out different aspects of vulnerability, how drought and floods affect different
livelihood groups differently, how people prepare for and respond to these disasters,
and what institutional suppport is available. Livelihoods
profiles were developed for different groups. While the initial literature review
had produced a likely grouping of ‘small farmers’; ‘labourers’
and ‘others’, the livelihood profiles demonstrated that while these
were appropriate categories for main occupations, all groups also engage in other
activities. The conclusion emphasises that all livelihoods need to be incorporated
into district development plans and to disaster preparedness plans. The
core issue to have emerged from the study is the extreme vulnerability of the
livelihoods of the people residing in these areas. Some of these vulnerabilities
are associated with climatic or environmental conditions, some are linked with
livelihoods dimensions, others depend upon people’s access to adequate services
from formal and informal institutional services. | 
