2.3 HUMAN DEVELOPMENT APPROACH TO VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENTS
2.3.2 THE CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
In this section the relevance of conceptual framework of Sen’s capability approach to human development in understanding contextual vulnerability is discussed (Figure 2.3).
The contextual vulnerability can be viewed as the ‘deprivation of capabilities or freedoms’ which is influenced by social and environmental conversion factors. Hence to enhance the adaptive capacity of the communities, it is important that interventions focus on expansion of the freedoms/opportunities available to the people to strengthen their capabilities.
According to Sen, capability approach views expansion of freedoms as both primary end and primary means of development which plays constitutive (substantive freedoms) as well as instrumental (instrumental freedoms) role in the process of human development. Thus, it is important to focus on the instrumental freedoms as it acts as the means to achieve better functioning (Sen, 1999) which would lead to higher adaptive capacity. The five types of instrumental freedoms- (1) political freedoms, (2) economic facilities, (3) social opportunities, (4) protective security, (5) transparency guarantees are discussed in the next section
2.3.2.1 POLITICAL FREEDOMS
Political freedoms are mainly concerned with participation, accountability, and transparency in the system of governance. These are considered as key aspects in reducing vulnerability according to Hill (2013). This is substantiated by a study conducted by CARE (2014) where good governance is considered as essential in successful implementation of interventions to reduce vulnerability. For instance, the key
functions of governance such as information gathering and dissemination, resource mobilization and allocation, skill development and capacity building, providing leadership, and networking with other decision makers and institutions are crucial for building adaptation to the impacts of climate change (IPCC, 2008). Similar functions of governance such as granting ownership and rights in the form of accessibility to land, forest, and water also play a crucial role in climate change adaptation. Therefore, having the freedom to elect Government and participate in the functioning of the governance are crucial to reduce vulnerability. This framework endorses the need to assess whether people participated in formulation and implementation of policy interventions to understand their political freedom. This is crucial for reducing the vulnerability of the communities and building adaptive capacity among rural communities as it ensures that the interventions are targeted and demand driven and reflect the accessibility and accountability in the governance system.
2.3.2.2 ECONOMIC FACILITIES
Economic resources are considered as an important indicators to reduce vulnerability to climate change as it enlarges the possessions of resources among the individual/communities to build adaptation (Adger, 1999, Adger and Kelly, 1999a, IPCC, 2001, IPCC, 2014). It has been observed that the ability to use the available resources for the purpose of production, consumption and exchange are limited due to various factors like lack of proper market, poor infrastructure such as roads, poor networking etc. According to Adger (1999) individuals having economic facilities in the form of access to market, employment opportunities, opportunities for agriculture etc., are assumed to have higher adaptive capacity. Therefore, it is essential that facilities for economic activity should be available to each and every member of the society.
Resource includes food, clothing, housing and natural resources such as water, forest, and land. These factors are crucial and helps in coping with climate induced hazards such as earthquake, drought, flood, erratic rainfall etc. Similarly, both farm (land holding size, fertile land, agricultural inputs etc.) and non-farm (TV, household assets etc.) assets determine the ability to cope and adapt to the impacts of climate change (Barua et al., 2014). For instance both farm and non- farm assets are a form of reserve property that can be sold off during crisis (CARE, 2014). Further the opportunity for income generations in the form of wages, savings, credits, and remittances are important in adapting to climate change (Barua et al., 2014). Therefore, to enhance adaptive capacity and reduce vulnerability, economic facilities in the form of income generations, assets, resources, access to market, credits, infrastructure, skills, and knowledge and employment opportunities are crucial.
2.3.2.3 SOCIAL OPPORTUNITIES
Social opportunities deal with the social norms and culture prevalent in the society such as caste, religion, and gender. Social norms limit and restrict individual’s decision- making power and status in the household and family; it also limits access to participation and voice in the public and social sphere(Ferrant, 2013). Accessibility to services such as schools, health, economic facilities, and political freedoms are likely to be hampered due to prevalence of social and cultural norms leading to discrimination on the basis of gender, race, caste, religion etc. The utility of interventions focused on distribution of resources, assets, and income varies among individuals/communities in a socially diverse society. This is variation is attributed to difference in caste, race, religion, and gender (Unni, 2009a).
Equal social opportunities are crucial in enhancing the adaptive capacity of the people as the marginalized sections of the society who lack social opportunities are highly
vulnerable to climate change. Providing equal opportunities and choices irrespective of their caste, race, religion and gender would help them withstand the impact of climate change. Therefore the research is intended to look at whether individual/communities from different gender and social groups have equal opportunities to participate in social process and activities, and equal access to education and healthcare.
2.3.2.4 PROTECTIVE SECURITY
Protective security is focused on protecting the vulnerable section of the population like aged, unemployed, poor, (Sen, 1999). Various studies have revealed that the impact of climate change varies across societies, and within societies it is the children, women, unemployed and old age people who are more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change (Adger and Kelly, 1999a, UNFCCC, 2007a, Agrawal and Perrin, 2008, Norris et al., 2008a, Paavola, 2008b). Sense of social security in terms of pension, unemployment benefits and social safety net schemes for the poor and vulnerable are necessary for the well-being of the vulnerable section of the society. According to Mark et al. (2008), social service provision, social safety nets, and public work programs enhances social protection from the impacts of climate change and are crucial for building adaptive capacity of the communities.
2.3.2.5 TRANSPARENCY GUARANTEES
Transparency guarantees refers to transparency or ‘openness’ in functioning of the governance during the process of implementation of policies, schemes, projects and programs (Sen, 1999). Governance includes complex interaction between and within government, business and civil society (Adger et al., 2003), therefore transparency is of utmost important for good governance. Transparency guarantees plays an important role to ensure openness and accountability in transactions against corruption and to maintain faith in market processes (Barnett and Adger, 2007). Indicators like access to
information, access to government intervention, corrupt free governance build the awareness of the communities and is crucial in building adaptive capacity. Transparency in the system of governance can be instrumental in the process of attaining political freedoms along with economic development of the society.
Figure 2.3 enlists these five instrumental freedoms. The advantage of using the capability approach to human development in understanding contextual vulnerability is that these freedoms are generic in nature and the interpretations are very context-specific.
These freedoms provide a holistic view of the political, social, and economic context as the freedoms supplement and complement each other (Johnson, 2009). That is the freedoms are inter-related and deprivation of one form of freedoms might lead to deprivation of another forms of freedoms. To illustrate, a person who has been deprived of education (social opportunities) due to lack of income (economic opportunities) may fail to participate in political process due to lack of knowledge, resulting in failure to elect dedicated leaders, thereby leading to lack of good governance (political freedoms) and so on. Therefore, it is important to analyze each and every freedom.
Figure 2.3: Freedoms essential for reducing vulnerability Vulnerability
assessments
Political Freedooms
Voting rights, civil rights, and freedoms
of speech, ownership and
rights
System of governance, public
hearing, and fairness in decision-
making process.
Economic Facilities
Income : wages, savings, credits,
remittance
Resources and assets:housing, clothing, water, forest, and forest products, land holdings, farm and
non farm
Social Opportunities
Equal access to water, health, water
and sanitation
Better education and social opportunities
Protective security
Social security, Old age pension, women empowerment
Child development schemes, unemployment
benefits
Transparency guarantees
Right to information, proper implementation of government policies
and programmes
Equal distribution of government
schemes and corrupt free government