Managing Risk and Securing Livelihood (eBook)

TABLE OF CONTENTS 6
LIST OF FIGURES 10
LIST OF TABLES 11
LIST OF PHOTOS 12
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS 13
GLOSSARY 15
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 18
ABSTRACT 20
ZUSAMMENFASSUNG 22
1. INTRODUCTION 24
1.1 THE PROBLEMATICS OF THE HEGEMONIC ADAPTATION PERSPECTIVE 24
1.2 APOLITICAL ADAPTATION AND PASTORALISTS’ DEVELOPMENT 26
1.3 APPROACHING THE ‘LOCAL CONTEXTS’ FROM A POLITICAL ECOLOGY PERSPECTIVE 29
1.4 POINT OF DEPARTURE: RISK, RESOURCES AND RELATIONAL MODES 31
1.5 ORGANIZATION OF THE BOOK 34
2. ADAPTATION, VULNERABILITY AND LOCAL AGENCY: THEORETICAL AND CONCEPTUAL REFLECTIONS 36
2.1 INTRODUCTION 36
2.2 PUTTING THE CONCEPT OF ADAPTATION IN PERSPECTIVE 36
2.3 THE CONVENTIONAL APPROACH TO ADAPTATION 37
2.4 THE INADEQUACY OF THE CONVENTIONAL APPROACH 39
2.5 THE CONCEPT OF VULNERABILITY IN ADAPTATION RESEARCH 40
2.6 POLITICAL ECOLOGY AND THE VULNERABILITY PARADIGM 46
2.7 LOCATING ACTORS IN POLITICAL ECOLOGY 48
2.8 SUMMARY 51
3. RESEARCHING WITH THE LOCALS: METHODOLOGICAL REFLECTIONS 52
3.1 INTRODUCTION 52
3.2 UPPER AWASH VALLEY, FENTALLE WOREDA: DESCRIPTIONS 53
3.3 METHODOLOGICAL STANCES: QUALITATIVE APPROACH IN GEOGRAPHY 57
3.4 THE RESEARCH PROCESS: PRELIMINARY VISITS AND INITIAL ACQUAINTANCE 59
3.5 MIXING VARIOUS INTERVIEW TECHNIQUES 64
3.6 FIELD NOTES AND PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION 67
3.7 DOCUMENT ANALYSIS AND SECONDARY INFORMATION 68
3.8 ANALYSIS AND WRITE UP 68
3.9 ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS 69
4. LIVELIHOOD INSECURITY IN CONTEXT: HISTORICAL TRAJECTORIES 71
4.1 INTRODUCTION 71
4.2 STATE-PASTORALISTS RELATIONS: ‘DEVELOPMENT’ AND THE PERILS OF PLANNING 72
4.3 ENVIRONMENTAL SOURCES OF LIVELIHOOD RISK 80
4.4 THE POST-1991 STATE IN PASTORAL SPACES: A LIABILITY OR AN ASSET? 88
4.5 IN-MIGRATION AND INCREASED POPULATION PRESSURE 95
4.6 SUMMARY: MULTIPLE SOURCES OF LIVELIHOOD INSECURITY 98
5. ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSFORMATION AND LIVESTOCKBASED LIVELIHOOD PRACTICES 101
5.1 INTRODUCTION 101
5.2 ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSFORMATION AND SOCIAL DISORGANIZATION 101
5.3 PASTORALISTS’ AGENCY AND RESPONSE TO CHANGE 110
5.4 CONTEXTS INFLUENCING PASTORAL MOBILITY DECISIONS 115
5.5 REORGANIZATION: CAMEL-BASED LIVELIHOOD PRACTICES 118
5.6 SURVIVING ON CAMELS: RISK MANAGEMENT AND LIVELIHOOD PRACTICES 119
5.7 SUMMARY 128
6. LIVING THE TRANSFORMATION: THE MOVE TOWARDS AGRO-PASTORALISM 129
6.1 INTRODUCTION 129
6.2 CULTIVATION AS RISK MANAGEMENT AND LIVELIHOOD PRACTICE 129
6.3 SIGNIFICANT ASPECTS INFLUENCING DECISIONS TO CULTIVATE 131
6.4 BRINGING NEW PRINCIPLES IN: FENCING COMMUNAL PASTURE 142
6.5 EMERGENCE OF NEW ARRANGEMENTS 143
6.6 SOME CONSTRAINTS TO CULTIVATION AS A CONTEMPORARY STRATEGY 151
6.7 NON-PASTORAL AND NON-AGRICULTURAL ACTIVITIES 153
6.8 SUMMARY 157
7. CONTEXTUALIZED ADAPTATION: HEGEMONIC PERSPECTIVES AND LOCAL RESPONSES 159
7.1 INTRODUCTION 159
7.2 THE POLITICS OF ADAPTATION: TOP-DOWN APPROACHES TO DEVELOPMENT 160
7.3 SITUATED AND LOCAL-LEVEL ADAPTATION PRACTICES 162
7.4 SUMMARY 168
8. CONCLUSIONS 169
8.1 STARTING-POINT VULNERABILITY: THE POLITICAL ECOLOGY OF LOCAL ADAPTATION 169
8.2 LOCATING AGENCY IN POLITICAL ECOLOGY 171
8.3 LOCALIZING THE INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE ON ADAPTATION TO CLIMATE CHANGE 173
8.4 BACK TO THE RESEARCH QUESTIONS 174
8.5 IMPLICATIONS FOR POLICY AND DIRECTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH 176
9. LIST OF REFERENCES 180