Are those vulnerable to food insecurity in the future also not resilient? An analysis of Philippine households using feasible generalized least squares and structural equation modeling
Date
2017-01
Authors
Flores, Josette James G.
Painagan, Angelica D.
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Abstract
This paper presents its primary contribution of exploring the untapped possibility of
integrating the analyses of vulnerability and of resilience to derive preliminary insights about
the dynamics between the two concepts. This Vulnerability-Resilience Continuum (V.R.C.)
process was applied in the context of future food insecurity using APIS 2014. Nevertheless, it
should be noted that it was undertaken following a rigorous application where separate
analyses of the two concepts were done. That is, this paper is structured in three vital
parts—with the first two serving as the foundations for the main and final one.
The results contradicted the popular “flip-side hypothesis” that considers the two
concepts as completely opposite of each other. To expound, the technique further
disaggregated the sample households into vulnerable and resilient, vulnerable and non-
resilient, non-vulnerable and resilient, and non-vulnerable and non-resilient. By
capturing the strong and/or weak points of vulnerable (and non-vulnerable) households using
resilience structuring, policymakers will have the capacity to design more direct targeting
policies and to strategize more efficient program execution to better induce welfare gains.
It was found out that both the first category and the second category exhibit the
highest adaptive capacity mainly due to reliance on government assistance and a diversified
basket of income sources, although the latter has substantially lower average values relative
to the former. Hence, vulnerable households, taken as a whole, have common grounds in
terms of very high adaptive capacity. Meanwhile, those under the third group have the
greatest number of asset ownership and the highest average total income. Interestingly, the
fourth group stresses similar trends in the resilience pillars as that of the second group,
thereby, leading to a crucial finding that non-resilient households, in general, have the lowest
asset accumulation and the least access to basic services. To add, this study specified some
non-reversible household demographics (i.e. age, marital status, and family size) that may
distinguish one category from another. Policymakers will then have a further in devising
specialized programs should distinct needs arise.
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Keywords
vulnerability, resilience, vulnerability-resilience continuum, flip-side hypothesis, food insecurity, targeting