"The floods came and we lost everything': weather extremes and households' asset vulnerability and adaptation in rural Ghana
"The floods came and we lost everything': weather extremes and households' asset vulnerability and adaptation in rural Ghana
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DOI：
10.1080/17565529.2017.1291403
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发表时间：
2018-01-01
影响因子：
4.3
通讯作者：
Santos, Eric
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Afriyie, Kwadwo;Ganle, John Kuumuori;Santos, Eric
据观察，洪水等极端天气事件会耗尽家庭资产，使家庭容易受到冲击和贫困。然而，很少有实证研究考察加纳家庭的资产脆弱性和对此类极端事件的适应能力。本文基于对加纳两个生态脆弱社区的定性研究，探讨了家庭针对周期性洪水的资产脆弱性和适应策略。调查结果表明，最容易受到洪水影响的家庭资产是农田、人类健康、住房和储蓄。然而，洪水对家庭资产的影响并不相同；其影响是有性别差异的，通常是由于暴露程度、脆弱性、获得资源、能力和机会方面的不平等造成的。尽管如此，许多家庭正在通过获取有关预警系统的新知识、采用不同的耕作方法以及实现资产多样化来积极调整其资产。因此，了解家庭资产脆弱性的差异，以及男性和女性、年轻人和老年人对不同资产适应战略的优先顺序的差异，对于气候变化适应的有效性以及社区的可持续性非常重要。
Extreme weather events such as flooding have been observed to deplete households' assets and render households vulnerable to shocks and poverty. Few empirical studies have however examined households' asset vulnerability and adaptation to such extreme events in Ghana. Based on qualitative research with two ecologically fragile communities in Ghana, this paper explores the asset vulnerability and adaptation strategies of households against periodic flooding. Findings suggested that households' assets most vulnerable to flooding were farmlands, human health, housing and financial savings. However, flooding did not affect households' assets equally; the effects were gendered and differentiated, often occasioned by inequalities in exposure, vulnerability, access to resources, capabilities and opportunities. Nonetheless, many households are actively adapting their assets by acquiring new knowledge about early warning systems, employing different farming practices and diversifying their assets. Understanding the differences in households' asset vulnerability as well as in the priorities that men and women, as well as the young and old, place on different asset adaptation strategies could therefore be important in the effectiveness of climate change adaptation as well as the sustainability of communities.