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

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的原因和对社区的影响外，了解人的方面越来越重要，特别是社区的脆弱性、复原力和适应能力。 这篇博士论文研究了在人口增长的背景下，社区弹性如何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、过程和机构。该研究将弹性定义为吸收变化并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社区一级的复原力问题，并认识到人们是决策的积极推动者，而不是变化的被动受害者。它旨在记录选定社区的复原力及其变异性。对复原力的评估是复杂的，依赖于社区代表和其他利益攸关方的参与，并依赖于对多个来源的信息的整合。复原力不容易衡量，指标因具体情况而异，因此，本研究将确定地方复原力指标。鉴于其复杂性，人们可能会期待许多可能的指标，包括机构、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，参与性农村评估方法构成社区互动的基础。这些指标将在参与性研讨会上加以说明，并进行空间分析和合并，以创建一个社区复原力指数。该指数将有助于了解社区的相对复原力。这项研究将在埃塞俄比亚提格雷州进行，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有关的紧迫问题。由于生计依赖自然资源，易受全球环境变化影响的程度与资源稀缺直接相关。从一个农业生态区中选出四个社区，代表了依赖农作物-牲畜混合农业的大多数人口。选定的社区在暴露于环境压力和可获得性方面表现出明显的差异。 这项研究将通过促进在全球环境变化的背景下对社区复原力的理解，进一步推进复原力的概念。主要成果将是更好地了解社区在面对全球挑战的情况下在自然资源管理方面的动态和决策过程。使用为编制社区复原力指数而编制的地方界定的指标，将增进对决定社区一级复原力的因素、进程和机构的了解。更好地了解社区的复原力，将有助于提高适应能力，使社区在地方决策中发挥积极作用。将与参与社区和地方政府分享成果，并向更广泛的学者和发展专业人员介绍。这项研究旨在通过加强当地发展努力和适应全球环境变化的能力，为埃塞俄比亚发展可持续的脱贫道路做出有意义的贡献。加强对社区复原力的了解将有助于建设地方能力，以抓住发展机遇。

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.