Livelihood assessment of rural hilly areas by sustainable livelihood framework

Abstract

The hilly regions in India, which covers around 18% of the land, faced several challenges, including limited access to healthcare facilities, transportation, and markets, resulting in poor economic conditions. The effects of climate change, such as landslides, avalanches, and water shortages, affected the livelihood opportunities harshly. This forced people to migrate to urban areas, leading to the abandonment of villages. The concept of sustainable livelihoods, defined as means of living that can cope with and recover from stresses and shocks while maintaining or enhancing capabilities and assets without depleting natural resources, emerged as a potential solution to address these challenges. The study aimed to assess the livelihoods in rural hilly areas using the DFID's Sustainable Livelihood Framework and proposed strategic measures to enhance their livelihoods’ sustainability. To assess the livelihood condition in hilly regions, this study selected four villages from two-gram panchayats in Sult block of Almora District, Uttarakhand. The selection was based on the villages' ranking in the Mission Antyodaya Ranking 2019, with Maulekh being the highest ranked and Garkot Talla being the lowest ranked. Maulekh GP has only one village while Garkot Talla GP have three villages namely Mayalgaon, Jogyura and Talla Garkot from which a total of 56 samples were collected using the Slovin Sampling formula. Data collection for the study involved the use of Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) tools, focused group discussions, stakeholders' meetings, household surveys, and livelihood surveys conducted in all four villages. A set of 12 qualitative indicators and 13 quantitative indicators were used to assess the five livelihood assets, namely, physical, social, natural, financial, and human assets. The collected data was then analyzed using the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) method to assign weightages to the indicators and calculate individual index asset values. These values were aggregated to obtain village-wise Livelihood values, which were used to rank the villages and develop a priority matrix. The results showed that Maulekh had the highest score, indicating better livelihood conditions, while the villages of Garkot Talla had relatively poor scores. The index Livelihood Assessment of Rural Hilly Areas by Sustainable Livelihood Framework: A Case of Almora, Uttarakhand iii asset values in these villages were very low and prioritized as highest. Specifically, the physical and social assets had the lowest scores among all the assets. The findings from the analysis were supplemented by interviews conducted on-site to understand the underlying reasons for the identified shortcomings. Based on these findings, the study proposed practical and strategic interventions as suggested in the DFID’s framework. Practical interventions focused on addressing immediate issues, while strategic interventions aimed at addressing long-term challenges over time. By applying the DFID's Sustainable Livelihood Framework and conducting a comprehensive assessment of the livelihoods in hilly regions, this study aimed to provide valuable insights and propose targeted strategies to improve the livelihood conditions of the selected villages. The hilly regions in India, which covers around 18% of the land, faced several challenges, including limited access to healthcare facilities, transportation, and markets, resulting in poor economic conditions. The effects of climate change, such as landslides, avalanches, and water shortages, affected the livelihood opportunities harshly. This forced people to migrate to urban areas, leading to the abandonment of villages. The concept of sustainable livelihoods, defined as means of living that can cope with and recover from stresses and shocks while maintaining or enhancing capabilities and assets without depleting natural resources, emerged as a potential solution to address these challenges. The study aimed to assess the livelihoods in rural hilly areas using the DFID's Sustainable Livelihood Framework and proposed strategic measures to enhance their livelihoods’ sustainability. To assess the livelihood condition in hilly regions, this study selected four villages from two-gram panchayats in Sult block of Almora District, Uttarakhand. The selection was based on the villages' ranking in the Mission Antyodaya Ranking 2019, with Maulekh being the highest ranked and Garkot Talla being the lowest ranked. Maulekh GP has only one village while Garkot Talla GP have three villages namely Mayalgaon, Jogyura and Talla Garkot from which a total of 56 samples were collected using the Slovin Sampling formula. Data collection for the study involved the use of Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) tools, focused group discussions, stakeholders' meetings, household surveys, and livelihood surveys conducted in all four villages. A set of 12 qualitative indicators and 13 quantitative indicators were used to assess the five livelihood assets, namely, physical, social, natural, financial, and human assets. The collected data was then analyzed using the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) method to assign weightages to the indicators and calculate individual index asset values. These values were aggregated to obtain village-wise Livelihood values, which were used to rank the villages and develop a priority matrix. The results showed that Maulekh had the highest score, indicating better livelihood conditions, while the villages of Garkot Talla had relatively poor scores. The index Livelihood Assessment of Rural Hilly Areas by Sustainable Livelihood Framework: A Case of Almora, Uttarakhand iii asset values in these villages were very low and prioritized as highest. Specifically, the physical and social assets had the lowest scores among all the assets. The findings from the analysis were supplemented by interviews conducted on-site to understand the underlying reasons for the identified shortcomings. Based on these findings, the study proposed practical and strategic interventions as suggested in the DFID’s framework. Practical interventions focused on addressing immediate issues, while strategic interventions aimed at addressing long-term challenges over time. By applying the DFID's Sustainable Livelihood Framework and conducting a comprehensive assessment of the livelihoods in hilly regions, this study aimed to provide valuable insights and propose targeted strategies to improve the livelihood conditions of the selected villages.