Impact of household endowments on response capacity of farming households to natural disasters

Abstract

This article investigates the impact of household endowments on household’s ability to cope with natural disaster risks and the determining factors of disaster coping capacity. We present results of a research based on household survey. The data were analyzed with an ordered Probit model regression. The project surveyed 923 rural households in 2009 and 2010 in 39 national-level poverty-stricken counties of Sichuan, Yunnan, and Guizhou Provinces and Chongqing Municipality. This research determined that the economic strength of households is the most important factor affecting their disaster coping capacity. The ability of farming households to cope with disasters is also significantly impacted by family members’ experiences and their economic context at the village level. Ethnic minority areas in southwestern China are the poorest in the country and are often the main disaster-affected areas. Since household endowments significantly affect the ability of farming households to cope with disasters, integration of disaster risk management and poverty reduction is a viable way of enhancing coping capacity of farming households to natural disasters.

Keywords

disaster risk / ethnic minority areas / farming households / household endowments / response ability

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