Asset vulnerability analytical framework and systems thinking as a twin methodology for highlighting factors that undermine efficient food production

Jàmbá: Journal of Disaster Risk Studies

 
 
Field Value
 
Title Asset vulnerability analytical framework and systems thinking as a twin methodology for highlighting factors that undermine efficient food production
 
Creator Ebhuoma, Eromose E. Simatele, Mulala D. Tantoh, Henry B. Donkor, Felix K.
 
Subject Geography asset vulnerability analytical framework; systems thinking; subsistence farmers; Delta State; Nigeria
Description Food production in developing countries has been highly susceptible to both climatic and non-climatic stressors. To identify the factors that prevent the rural poor from producing food efficiently, various participatory methodologies have been utilised. However, most methodologies have implicitly illustrated how vulnerable the livelihood activities of the poor are from an asset-based perspective. As assets give people the capability to thrive, we make a case for the asset vulnerability analytical framework (AVAF) and systems thinking (ST) as an integrated methodological framework. Data for this study were obtained from the rural Delta State of Nigeria through the principles and traditions of participatory research, which include Venn (or institutional) diagrams, transect walks, brainstorming, community risk mapping and historical timelines. Findings indicate that the AVAF, on the one hand, will make it relatively easier for development practitioners to effectively identify the factors that undermine the poor’s ability to maximise their livelihood assets during food production. The ST, on the other hand, will enable development practitioners to visualise the long-term consequences of the continued inability of the poor to maximise their livelihood assets. This article argues that the utilisation of both AVAF and ST will simplify the complex challenges of decision-making. This, in turn, will facilitate the implementation of appropriate policy interventions to protect the crucial assets necessary for the rural poor to produce their food efficiently and sustainably.
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor National Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences and the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (NIHSS-CODESRIA) and a writing grant from the Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa.
Date 2019-04-18
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — Focus group discussions and one-to-one semi-structured interviews
Format text/html application/epub+zip application/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/jamba.v11i1.597
 
Source Jàmbá: Journal of Disaster Risk Studies; Vol 11, No 1 (2019); 12 pages 1996-1421 2072-845X
 
Language eng
 
Relation
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://jamba.org.za/index.php/jamba/article/view/597/1125 https://jamba.org.za/index.php/jamba/article/view/597/1124 https://jamba.org.za/index.php/jamba/article/view/597/1126 https://jamba.org.za/index.php/jamba/article/view/597/1101
 
Coverage — — 20 - 85; male and female; black Africans
Rights Copyright (c) 2019 Eromose E. Ebhuoma, Mulala D. Simatele, Henry B. Tantoh, Felix K. Donkor https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
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