Poverty and Vulnerability

The links between poverty and vulnerability are complex. Vulnerability is often discussed in terms of the interaction between physical and social variables, with poverty entering as one of the dominant social dimensions affecting overall vulnerability. Poverty is not, however, the only dimension. Social vulnerability involves the intersection of economic, political, cultural and institutional factors that, in conjunction, influence overall vulnerability within a given hazardscape. Social vulnerability has been defined as “the characteristics of a person or group and their situation that influence their capacity to anticipate, cope with, resist and recover from the impact of a natural hazard” (Weisner et al. 2004). Social vulnerability is constructed, dependent on a number of factors including: usage and access rights to natural and social resources, access to political power and representation (Mustafa 2002, as cited in CDRSS 2006: 73), cultural constructions surrounding gender, age, beliefs and norms and physical vulnerability, among others.

Poverty greatly contributes to an individual's or community's vulnerability. Poverty has been described as “the deprivation of basic capabilities” (Dhanani and Islam 2002: 1211). People who are poor often lack access to resources, both natural and social, and political power, to reduce their vulnerability to natural disasters or economic or social shocks. Poverty is a multidimensional phenomenon, encompassing not just lack of income or ability to consume resources, but the ability to access such resources as health care, education, or political representation. Lack of livelihood diversity, that is reliance on one source of income, and type of livelihood can trap people into a cycle of poverty that leaves them vulnerable to shocks such as climate variability and change or fluctuations in the global market. Furthermore, income disparity is likely to make some individuals, communities, and developing nations more vulnerable to the effects of climate change and variability.

Poverty can reduce an individual's ability to adapt to climatic variability and change.  It also reduces their ability to recover from losses. One of the most visible impacts of climate change is likely to be changes to water resources. Many of the world's poorest rely on agriculture as their primary income source and for subsistence. Fluctuations to the water cycle and in the frequency and intensity of extreme climate events will negatively impact agricultural output and the ability of many to continue agriculturally based livelihoods. Thus, one of our strategies for reducing vulnerability to climate change and for reducing poverty is to focus on livelihood diversification, including non-agriculturally based livelihoods.

Although poverty greatly contributes to vulnerability, it is important to note that the two are not equivalent. Many examples are available to illustrate this: during the Asian tsunami, many extremely wealthy individuals lost their lives because they chose oceanfront locations for their residence and vacations. In the Pakistan earthquake, individuals who could afford cement houses were disproportionately affected and in the Gujarat drought of 2002, middle-income farmers who depended on high intensity agriculture were heavily affected as irrigation supplies declined. All of the above illustrate that, while poverty and vulnerability are closely interlinked, much depends on the specific nature of the hazard and how that interacts with livelihood and other social systems.