Risk and Vulnerability Mailing List Archive

["Elizabeth Cromwell" <<address removed>>]

You set out the "big picture" relating to vulnerability and the capacity of
the poor to engage in markets in a useful and thought-provoking way. I am
particularly interested in your reference to "non-risk" factors contributing
to vulnerability: gender; age; ethnic and religious minorities, etc. In the
Southern African context, with which I am most familiar, there is increasing
recognition of the significant impact of these factors on entitlements, and
the need therefore for policy to take account of them. But how do we go about
this? There seem to be various areas for action: to address "risk coping"
objectives more effectively within the policy framework surely depends on the
development of more detailed vulnerability assessment indicators for
household and community level, extending the rather blunt food economy
approach, so that the array of available interventions can be targeted more
effectively. I find it harder to see how "risk mitigation" and "risk
reduction" objectives can be met for non-risk factors other than by broader
policies designed to address social exclusion, but what do others think? We
have explored some of these issues in the Forum for Food Security in Southern
Africa (www.odi.org.uk/food-security-forum); I would be very interested to
hear the thoughts and experiences of others from other regions. 


Elizabeth Cromwell

Rural Policy and Environment Group
Overseas Development Institute
111 Westminster Bridge Rd
London
SE1 7JD





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