Operationalizing analysis of micro-level climate change vulnerability and adaptive capacity

Figures & data

Table 1. Major components and sub-components of CCVI developed for three villages of Laos.

Three dimensions of vulnerability	Major component	Sub-components
Exposure	Past experience with climate-related impacts	• Experienced crop failure due to climate risks
		• Experienced crop yield loss due to flood
		• Experienced crop yield loss due to drought
	Biophysical conditions of agricultural land	• Location of agricultural land
		• Soil fertility of main agricultural land
		• Water availability for cultivation
Sensitivity	Agricultural sensitivity	• Main crop yield loss in flood year
		• Main crop yield loss in drought year
		• Rain-dependent agriculture
	Livelihood sensitivity	• Food dependence on own cultivation
		• Reliance on agricultural income
		• Rain-dependent domestic water consumption
		• Accessibility to services during rainy season
Adaptive capacity	Existing coping and adaptive strategy	• Ex post and short-term coping options
		• Ex ante and long-term adaptive strategies
		• Contribution of non-farm income
	Assets available for combating climate risks	• Cash savings
		• Non-productive savings (i.e. gold and jewellery)
		• Physical assets
		• Social network and assistance
		• Livestock size

Figure 1. Three-dimensional Climate Change Vulnerability Cube is a system of visualizing and plotting households within the cube in order to understand their level of vulnerability judged by their position. The cube is split into eight sub-cubes (i.e. A–G) to cluster households with similar characteristics. The goal is to move households towards a lower vulnerability position – see direction of arrow. Source: Adapted from Lin and Morefield (2011).

Figure 2. Study sites, Lao PDR.

Table 2. Indexed and standardized sub-components, major components, and overall CCVI for three villages, Laos.

Vulnerability	Main component • Sub-component/indicator	Kiet Ngong	Houay Ko	Nakok
Exposure		0.377	0.375	0.308
	Past experience with climate-related impacts	0.522	0.500	0.528
	• Percentage of households that experienced crop failure due to climate change impacts	0.537	0.781	0.495
	• Percentage of households that experienced main crop (paddy) yield loss due to flood	0.382	0.344	0.663
	• Percentage of households that experienced main crop (paddy) yield loss due to drought	0.647	0.375	0.426
	Biophysical conditions of agricultural land	0.268	0.281	0.144
	• Percentage of households' agricultural land located prone to flood/drought	0.574	0.438	0.347
	• Percentage of households' agricultural land with low soil fertility	0.044	0.188	0.000
	• Percentage of households' agricultural land with low water availability	0.250	0.125	0.188
	• Percentage of households' agricultural land with too much water availability	0.206	0.375	0.040
Sensitivity		0.579	0.282	0.441
	Agricultural sensitivity	0.556	0.326	0.370
	• Average percentage of main crop (paddy rice) yield loss in flood year	0.347	0.179	0.045
	• Average percentage of main crop (paddy rice) yield loss in drought year	0.660	0.516	0.432
	• Percentage of households dependent on rainwater for agriculture	0.662	0.281	0.634
	Livelihood sensitivity	0.596	0.250	0.494
	• Percentage of households solely dependent on own production for food consumption	0.820	0.375	0.830
	• Average share of total household income derived from agricultural production	0.337	0.250	0.376
	• Percentage of households dependent on rainwater for domestic consumption	0.699	0.375	0.723
	• Percentage of households with poor accessibility to services during rainy season	0.529	0.000	0.050
Adaptive capacity		0.198	0.156	0.187
	Existing coping and adaptive strategies	0.180	0.154	0.162
	• Average number of practised ex post and short-term coping options	0.252	0.230	0.240
	• Average number of practised ex ante and long-term adaptive strategies	0.146	0.042	0.146
	• Average share of total household income derived from non-farm income	0.284	0.207	0.301
	Assets available for combating climate risks	0.227	0.159	0.229
	• Average household cash savings (in local currency)	0.045	0.016	0.040
	• Average household non-productive savings (e.g. gold, in local currency)	0.022	0.002	0.013
	• Average household physical assets holdings (in local currency)	0.024	0.003	0.008
	• Percentage of households with good social network and access to assistance	0.684	0.547	0.624
	• Average number of household livestock size	0.127	0.200	0.124
CCVI		0.104	0.062	0.054

Table 3. Descriptive statistics of exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity across sub-cubes.

	Exposure			Sensitivity			Adaptive capacity
Sub-cubes	Mean	SD	Range	Mean	SD	Range	Mean	SD	Range
A	0.79	0.14	0.51–1.00	0.74	0.14	0.50–1.00	0.34	0.08	0.15–0.50
B	0.75	0.14	0.52–0.97	0.32	0.09	0.00–0.48	0.34	0.09	0.07–0.50
C	0.25	0.15	0.10–0.49	0.62	0.14	0.50–0.91	0.31	0.08	0.17–0.47
D	0.19	0.13	0.00–0.50	0.41	0.05	0.27–0.49	0.31	0.10	0.00–0.50
E	0.79	0.15	0.51–1.00	0.70	0.13	0.50–0.96	0.63	0.14	0.50–0.95
F	0.67	0.05	0.59–0.76	0.33	0.09	0.14–0.45	0.67	0.05	0.51–1.00
G	0.12	0.00	0.12–0.12	0.52	0.02	0.50–0.54	0.52	0.02	0.61–0.71
H	0.23	0.13	0.10–0.43	0.39	0.04	0.32–0.47	0.63	0.13	0.50–0.95

Table 4. Distribution of households in vulnerability sub-cubes by income quartile groups.

	Poorest		Less poor		Medium		Well-off		Sample mean
Sub-cube	No. of HH	%	No. of HH	%	No. of HH	%	No. of HH	%	No. of HH	%
A	12	18.2	22	32.4	22	32.4	18	26.9	74	27.5
B	8	12.1	12	17.6	12	17.6	7	10.4	39	14.5
C	5	7.6	3	4.4	3	4.4	7	10.4	18	6.7
D	33	50	23	33.8	13	19.1	9	13.4	78	29.0
E	2	3	1	1.5	9	13.2	12	17.9	24	8.9
F	2	3	2	2.9	2	2.9	6	9	12	4.5
G	0	0	0	0	2	2.9	0	0	2	0.7
H	4	6.1	5	7.4	5	7.4	8	11.9	22	8.2
Total	66	100.0	68	100.0	68	100.0	67	100.0	269	100.0

Table 5. Household coping strategies in response to loss in productivity and/or income.

	Poorest		Poor		Medium		Well-off		Sample
Coping mechanism	No. of HH	%	No. of HH	%	No. of HH	%	No. of HH	%	No. of HH	%
Extra labour work	39	59.1	54	79.4	45	72.1	52	77.6	190	70.6
Catch more fish	39	59.1	39	57.4	37	54.4	32	47.8	147	54.6
Harvest more forest product	17	25.8	24	35.3	21	30.9	24	35.8	86	32.0
Harvest products prematurely	14	21.2	5	7.4	8	11.8	9	13.4	36	13.4
Replant or plant other crop	6	9.1	12	17.6	9	13.2	12	17.9	39	14.5
Start new activities	4	6.1	2	2.9	3	4.4	10	14.9	19	7.1
Migration remittance	13	19.7	14	20.6	13	19.1	16	23.9	56	20.8
Spend savings	12	18.2	24	35.3	27	39.7	37	55.2	100	37.2
Sell livestock	22	33.3	23	33.8	29	42.6	39	58.2	113	42.0
Sell assets	2	3.0	1	1.5	4	5.9	7	10.4	14	5.2
Reduce food consumption	3	4.5	2	2.9	5	7.4	10	14.9	20	7.4
Reduce non-food spending	34	51.5	29	42.6	34	50.0	35	52.2	132	49.1
Borrow money/get loan	14	21.2	15	22.1	11	16.2	17	25.4	57	21.2
Assistance from relatives and friends	7	10.6	11	16.2	6	8.8	11	16.4	35	13.0
Assistance from community NGOs	4	6.1	5	7.4	3	4.4	5	7.5	17	6.3

Table

Vulnerability	Main component • Sub-component/indicator	Units	Kiet Ngong	Houay Ko	Nakok	Sample mean	SD
Exposure	Past experience with climate-related impacts
	• Households experienced crop failure due to climate change impacts	Dummy^a	0.54	0.78	0.50	0.55	0.50
	• Households experienced main crop (paddy) yield loss due to flood	Dummy^a	0.38	0.34	0.66	0.48	0.50
	• Households experienced main crop (paddy) yield loss due to drought	Dummy^a	0.65	0.38	0.43	0.53	0.50
	Biophysical conditions of agricultural land
	• Households' agricultural land located prone to flood/drought	Dummy^a	0.57	0.44	0.35	0.47	0.50
	• Households' agricultural land with low soil fertility	Dummy^a	0.04	0.19	0.00	0.05	0.21
	• Households' agricultural land with low water availability	Dummy^a	0.25	0.13	0.19	0.21	0.41
	• Households' agricultural land with too much water availability	Dummy^a	0.21	0.38	0.04	0.16	0.37
Sensitivity	Agricultural sensitivity
	• Average percentage of main crop (paddy rice) yield loss in flood year	Per cent	0.35	0.18	0.05	0.21	0.31
	• Average percentage of main crop (paddy rice) yield loss in drought year	Per cent	0.66	0.52	0.43	0.26	0.40
	• Households dependent on rainwater for agriculture	Dummy^a	0.66	0.28	0.63	0.61	0.49
	Livelihood sensitivity
	• Households solely dependent on own production for food consumption	Dummy^a	0.82	0.38	0.83	0.77	0.33
	• Average share of total household income derived from agricultural production	Per cent	0.34	0.25	0.38	0.34	0.27
	• Households dependent on rainwater for domestic consumption	Dummy^a	0.70	0.38	0.72	0.67	0.47
	• Households with poor accessibility to services during rainy season	Dummy^a	0.53	0.00	0.05	0.29	0.45
Adaptive capacity	Existing coping and adaptive strategies
	• Average number of practised ex post and short-term coping options	Count	3.5	3.2	3.3	3.4	1.9
	• Average number of practised ex ante and long-term adaptive strategies	Count	2.6	0.8	2.6	2.4	2.5
	• Average share of total household income derived from non-farm income	Per cent	0.28	0.21	0.30	0.28	0.30
	Assets available for combating climate risks
	• Average household cash savings	USD^b	111	39	100	98	226
	• Average household non-productive savings (e.g. gold)	USD^b	219	19	131	162	708
	• Average household physical assets holdings	USD^b	2508	349	855	1631	8039
	• Households with good social network and access to assistance	Dummy^a	0.68	0.55	0.62	0.65	0.25
	• Average number of household livestock size	Count	9.5	15.0	9.3	10.1	11.3

^aDummy: 1 = yes, 0 = otherwise.

^b1 USD = 8075.57 Kip (local currency) in the study period (Bank of Lao PDR).

Lin, B.B., & Morefield, P.E. (2011). The vulnerability cube: A multi-dimensional framework for assessing relative vulnerability. Environmental Management, 48, 631–643. doi: 10.1007/s00267-011-9690-8

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