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The determinants of precarious rural livelihoods in the Mahanadi Delta, India

The determinants of precarious rural livelihoods in the Mahanadi Delta, India
The determinants of precarious rural livelihoods in the Mahanadi Delta, India
Precarious livelihoods, as a phenomenon that characterises rural household survival strategies, is a serious long-term issue for policies concerned with reducing rural poverty in developing countries. Engaging in precarious livelihood activities, such as daily-wage labour, is a characteristic of rural survival reflecting the continuing vulnerability of rural livelihoods. The increase of the proportion of households engaging in precarious activities in rural areas of many developing countries is not only due to a readjustment of the economy from agrarian to industrial but rather is a persistent phenomenon that reflects the increasing inequalities in rural areas. However, despite the recommendations from rural studies that have shown the importance of multi-level approaches to rural poverty, neither the determinants of precarious livelihoods nor their place-specific context has been well understood. Based on a participatory assessment conducted in rural communities in India, this thesis investigates the determinants of precarious rural livelihoods. After differentiating two levels of livelihood capitals (household capitals and community capitals), the thesis characterises their associations with agricultural livelihood activities by using national census data in a multilevel modelling framework. The thesis then investigates how place influences the drivers of livelihood precariousness by defining typologies of rural communities based on their access to natural resources, social services and productive infrastructures. The associations between agricultural shocks, household capitals and precarious livelihood strategies are characterised for each community type to show how the type of community influences the impact of climatic shocks on livelihoods and changes the direction of the relationships between capitals and livelihood strategies. This thesis brings a new perspective on livelihood studies by demonstrating that community resources and household capitals do not have the same effect on livelihoods. It also demonstrates that the bundle of locally available community capitals influences households’ livelihood opportunities and coping strategies, thus influencing the drivers of rural poverty. The thesis identifies that a lack of access to human, financial and social capitals at the household level is associated with vulnerable activities, such as daily-wage agricultural labour. Households located in communities with a greater access to community natural capital are less likely to be agricultural labourers, while proximity to rural centres and access to financial infrastructures are associated with greater chances for households to be landless agricultural labourers. Agricultural shocks drive livelihood precariousness, while access to capitals tends to reduce it. These findings suggest that investment in rural infrastructure might increase livelihood vulnerability, if not accompanied by an improvement in the provisioning of complementary rural services, such as access to rural finance, and by the implementation of agricultural tenancy laws to protect smallholders’ productive assets. Overall, this thesis suggests that livelihood studies and poverty alleviation programmes should include community capitals and typologies in their approach to provide place-specific interventions that would strengthen context-specific household capitals, thus reducing livelihood precariousness.
University of Southampton
Berchoux, Tristan
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Berchoux, Tristan
bf82581a-f817-4e6c-a7d2-1164db7ca4fc
Hutton, Craig
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Atkinson, Peter M.
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Amoako johnson, Fiifi
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Berchoux, Tristan (2018) The determinants of precarious rural livelihoods in the Mahanadi Delta, India. University of Southampton, Doctoral Thesis, 296pp.

Record type: Thesis (Doctoral)

Abstract

Precarious livelihoods, as a phenomenon that characterises rural household survival strategies, is a serious long-term issue for policies concerned with reducing rural poverty in developing countries. Engaging in precarious livelihood activities, such as daily-wage labour, is a characteristic of rural survival reflecting the continuing vulnerability of rural livelihoods. The increase of the proportion of households engaging in precarious activities in rural areas of many developing countries is not only due to a readjustment of the economy from agrarian to industrial but rather is a persistent phenomenon that reflects the increasing inequalities in rural areas. However, despite the recommendations from rural studies that have shown the importance of multi-level approaches to rural poverty, neither the determinants of precarious livelihoods nor their place-specific context has been well understood. Based on a participatory assessment conducted in rural communities in India, this thesis investigates the determinants of precarious rural livelihoods. After differentiating two levels of livelihood capitals (household capitals and community capitals), the thesis characterises their associations with agricultural livelihood activities by using national census data in a multilevel modelling framework. The thesis then investigates how place influences the drivers of livelihood precariousness by defining typologies of rural communities based on their access to natural resources, social services and productive infrastructures. The associations between agricultural shocks, household capitals and precarious livelihood strategies are characterised for each community type to show how the type of community influences the impact of climatic shocks on livelihoods and changes the direction of the relationships between capitals and livelihood strategies. This thesis brings a new perspective on livelihood studies by demonstrating that community resources and household capitals do not have the same effect on livelihoods. It also demonstrates that the bundle of locally available community capitals influences households’ livelihood opportunities and coping strategies, thus influencing the drivers of rural poverty. The thesis identifies that a lack of access to human, financial and social capitals at the household level is associated with vulnerable activities, such as daily-wage agricultural labour. Households located in communities with a greater access to community natural capital are less likely to be agricultural labourers, while proximity to rural centres and access to financial infrastructures are associated with greater chances for households to be landless agricultural labourers. Agricultural shocks drive livelihood precariousness, while access to capitals tends to reduce it. These findings suggest that investment in rural infrastructure might increase livelihood vulnerability, if not accompanied by an improvement in the provisioning of complementary rural services, such as access to rural finance, and by the implementation of agricultural tenancy laws to protect smallholders’ productive assets. Overall, this thesis suggests that livelihood studies and poverty alleviation programmes should include community capitals and typologies in their approach to provide place-specific interventions that would strengthen context-specific household capitals, thus reducing livelihood precariousness.

Text
Tristan Berchoux PhD thesis final copy - Version of Record
Available under License University of Southampton Thesis Licence.
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Published date: 2018

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 449893
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/449893
PURE UUID: a798e190-7c11-40da-a49c-4bbe40efb824
ORCID for Craig Hutton: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-5896-756X

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 24 Jun 2021 16:30
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 07:19

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Contributors

Author: Tristan Berchoux
Thesis advisor: Craig Hutton ORCID iD
Thesis advisor: Peter M. Atkinson
Thesis advisor: Fiifi Amoako johnson

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