Doctoral Dissertation Research: Community Resilience to Resource Scarcity in the Context of Population Growth in Tigray, Ethiopia

博士论文研究：埃塞俄比亚提格雷人口增长背景下的社区对资源稀缺的抵御能力

• 批准号: 0703426
• 负责人: Charles Hutchinson
• 金额: $ 1.19万
• 依托单位: University of Arizona
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2007
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2007-04-15 至 2008-09-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0703426&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Community; Resilience

Global environmental change has accelerated due to the scale and intensity of human activities. Understanding the human dimensions is increasingly important, especially the vulnerability, resilience, and adaptive capacity of communities, in addition to a better knowledge of the causes and impacts of these changes on communities. This doctoral dissertation research addresses how community resilience decreases vulnerability to global environmental change and resource scarcity in the context of population growth. It aims to understand different levels of community resilience as expressed in the management of natural resources; i.e. factors, processes, institutions that influence resilience. This study defines resilience as the ability and capacity to absorb change, and seize opportunity to improve living standards. The research in unique in addressing resilience at the community level and recognizing people as active agents in decision-making rather than passive victims of change. It is designed to document resilience and its variability across selected communities. The assessment of resilience is complex and relies on the participation of community representatives and other stakeholders, and on the integration of information from multiple sources. Resilience is not easily measurable and indicators are context specific, hence, this research will identify local resilience indicators. Given its complexity one may expect a multitude of possible indicators, including institutions, social capital, community structure, environmental conditions, and governance. As emphasis is placed on utilizing local knowledge, participatory rural appraisal methods form the basis of community interactions. The indicators will be described in participatory workshops, spatially analyzed and combined to create a community resilience index. The index will help provide an understanding of relative resilience of communities. This research will be carried out in Tigray, Ethiopia where food insecurity and poverty remain pressing problems that are linked with rapid population growth and increasing resource scarcity. With livelihoods dependent on natural resources, vulnerability to global environmental change is directly linked to resource scarcity. Four communities are selected from one agro-ecological zone, representing the majority of the population that depends on mixed crop-livestock farming. The selected communities show marked variability in exposure to environmental pressures and accessibility. This research will further the concept of resilience by contributing towards an understanding of community resilience within the context of global environmental change. The main outcome will be an improved understanding of community dynamics and decision-making processes with respect to natural resource management in the light of global challenges. The use of locally defined indicators compiled to create a community resilience index will enhance knowledge about factors, processes and institutions that determine resilience at the community level. An improved understanding of community resilience will provide a means to enhance adaptive capacity and give communities an active role in local decision-making. The results will be shared with the participating communities and local government, and presented to a wider audience of academics and development professionals. This research aims to make a meaningful contribution towards developing sustainable pathways out of poverty in Ethiopia, by strengthening local development efforts and adaptive capacities in the light of global environmental change. Enhanced understanding of community resilience will help build local capacity to seize opportunities for development.

由于人类活动的规模和强度，全球环境变化加速。除了更好地了解这些变化对社区的原因和影响之外，了解人类的维度也变得越来越重要，尤其是社区的脆弱性、复原力和适应能力。 本博士论文研究探讨了社区复原力如何在人口增长的背景下降低对全球环境变化和资源稀缺的脆弱性。它旨在了解自然资源管理中表现出的不同程度的社区复原力；即影响复原力的因素、过程、机构。本研究将韧性定义为吸收变化、抓住机会提高生活水平的能力和能力。这项研究的独特之处在于解决了社区层面的复原力问题，并认识到人们是决策的积极推动者，而不是变革的被动受害者。它旨在记录选定社区的恢复力及其可变性。复原力的评估很复杂，依赖于社区代表和其他利益相关者的参与，以及来自多个来源的信息的整合。复原力不容易衡量，而且指标是特定于具体情况的，因此，本研究将确定当地的复原力指标。鉴于其复杂性，人们可能会期望有多种可能的指标，包括制度、社会资本、社区结构、环境条件和治理。由于强调利用当地知识，参与式乡村评估方法构成了社区互动的基础。这些指标将在参与式研讨会上进行描述，进行空间分析并结合起来创建社区复原力指数。该指数将有助于了解社区的相对弹性。这项研究将在埃塞俄比亚提格雷进行，那里的粮食不安全和贫困仍然是与人口快速增长和资源日益稀缺相关的紧迫问题。由于生计依赖于自然资源，全球环境变化的脆弱性与资源稀缺直接相关。从一个农业生态区选出四个社区，代表了依靠混合种植业和畜牧业为生的人口的大多数。所选社区在环境压力和可达性方面表现出显着的差异。 这项研究将有助于理解全球环境变化背景下的社区复原力，从而进一步深化复原力的概念。主要成果将是根据全球挑战，更好地了解与自然资源管理有关的社区动态和决策过程。使用当地定义的指标来创建社区复原力指数将增强对决定社区层面复原力的因素、过程和机构的了解。加深对社区复原力的了解将提供一种增强适应能力的方法，并使社区在当地决策中发挥积极作用。研究结果将与参与社区和地方政府分享，并向更广泛的学者和发展专业人士展示。这项研究旨在通过加强当地的发展努力和针对全球环境变化的适应能力，为埃塞俄比亚制定摆脱贫困的可持续途径做出有意义的贡献。加强对社区复原力的了解将有助于建设当地抓住发展机遇的能力。