How much vulnerable the flood-affected villagers are? An assessment of Livelihood Vulnerability to Flood Hazard in Assam, India

Abstract

Abstract This study is a micro-level analysis of the households’ livelihood vulnerability in a flood-prone district of Assam by employing LVI and LVI-IPCC approaches. A total of eight major components of livelihood vulnerability along with fifty-three sub-components or variables are considered in this study. Based on the geographic and socioeconomic specificities of the study area, new variables have been incorporated by the authors in estimating the Livelihood Vulnerability Index. The empirical results categorize the villages into most vulnerable, moderately vulnerable, and low vulnerable. Villages with exposure to natural disasters are more vulnerable due to low adaptive capacity and high sensitivity. However, many villages despite high exposure and sensitivity have been able to enhance adaptive capacity by adopting crop diversification, non-farm activities, out-migration, etc. The livelihood vulnerability assessment carried out in this paper is helpful in identifying the vulnerable communities, households, and societies in any developing region. Less variation in the sensitivity parameters of the communities is one of the key findings of this study. The low livelihood vulnerability of some villages is a result of their lack of exposure to flooding and erosion. In the lack of adaptive capacity, future exposure to erosion and flood may increase the livelihood risk of the low-susceptible villages. Therefore, in a flood-prone state like Assam, policy measures targeting adaptative behavior are crucial.