Vulnerability assessment of rural livelihoods under multiple stressors : the case study of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Abstract

Almost half of the population in Bosnia and Herzegovina lives in rural areas, in the conditions around the poverty line. The causes for the difficult living conditions are mainly found in the complex political situation, as well as the war period that has implicitly influenced the livelihoods of the poor. Climate change is posing additional threat to already endangered livelihoods. Under the pressure of these multiple stressors, livelihoods of the poor are not able to adequately respond to these changes, and therefore they tend to become vulnerable. Livelihood vulnerability can be defined as the extent to which household livelihoods are susceptible or are able to cope with various socio-economic, political and environmental stresses. This study explored how multiple stressors (socio-economic and environmental) affect the vulnerability of livelihood assets for the northern, central and southern region of Bosnia and Herzegovina, using descriptive statistics, Livelihood Vulnerability Index (LVI) and Sustainable livelihood approach (SLA). The results showed that households in all three regions ranked main stressors on their livelihoods by following order: political instability (4.5), agrarian policy (4.5), market access and prices (3.5), climate change (3.0) and weak infrastructure (2.8). Furthermore, the overall LVI value (49.2) showed that livelihoods of all three regions are moderately vulnerable to multiple stressors. The main components which influence overall household livelihood vulnerability of observed regions under multiple stressors were financial capital with LVI value of 66.7 and natural capital (62.6), followed by human (44.8), social (37.9) and physical (33.7) capital. Certain differences found among regions in terms of differential vulnerability levels and households perceptions were discussed in details. Based on the results, it was concluded that low income levels, poor access to arable land, lack of forests, insufficiently irrigated land, low trust in local government, low involvement in social organizations and the lack of labour are the main causes of marked vulnerability levels under multiple effects of the stressors. The results clearly indicate the need to establish institutions and enabling policies that would help rural livelihoods recover from stresses in terms of providing sustained access to capitals. The obtained results are also useful, since they can facilitate better decision-making and strategic planning in order to enhance resilience to various stressors.