Risk and Vulnerability Mailing List Archive

["Ruchi Tripathi" <<address removed>>]

ActionAid is a late entrant to the discussions, although i have been following 
the discussions when possible.  I am going to divide my submissions on risk and 
vulnerability into 3 parts
1. who are the vulnerable
2. what are the factors that contribute to their vulnerability
3. inital suggestions for DFID

ActionAid believes that one of the fundamental factors ensuring food security 
is not only access but also control over the resources to produce, buy and 
exchange food.  

ActionAid works with resource poor farmers around the world and has experience 
in working with local groups and community organisations to ensure that change 
is appropriate and long-lasting, including: helping farmers to reclaim and 
safeguard new land for agriculture; training farmers to build terraces, plant 
hedges, make compost, and use the most suitable seed for local conditions that 
give good yields; encouraging the use of demonstration plots to teach others 
how to use new production techniques.  ActionAid also provides poor communities 
with access to cash and seed credit so that they can buy better agricultural 
equipment or food, and store food and seed in advance of the next planting 
season.  This helps them cope with shortages caused by emergencies, such as 
drought or flooding.  The schemes focus on women, as they are mainly 
responsible for producing food for their families.  

Who are the vulnerable?

ActionAid's starting point is hunger and food insecurity amongst the most 
vulnerable in society.  Although we recognize that three quarters of the 
world's poor people live in rural areas, we also recognize the trends towards 
urbanization, vulnerability and hunger in urban areas, and the needs of other 
socially and politically excluded groups such as migrants, internally displaced 
people, women, indigenous peoples and groups belonging to certain castes and 
ethnic groups. This means attention to issues such as employment and conditions 
of employment.

ActionAid's internal survey of 13 country programmes identified the following 
as those most likely to suffer from food insecurity and hunger:  

*       
        Agricultural labourers, landless producers of own food
*       
        Resource poor farmers - key problems are small land holdings, 
upland/highland farming, poor soils, and those farming in areas of repeated 
natural disasters (floods, droughts, pests)
*       
        Ethnic minorities and indigenous peoples, and people living in remote 
areas
*       
        Low income earners, those employed in the informal sector
*       
        The unemployed, street children, homeless
*       
        Small scale artisans and fishers
*       
        People living in areas of conflict/at risk from conflict
*       
        People living with HIV/AIDS
*       
        People living in areas of poor sanitation and public health, or disease 
infested areas
*       
        Refugees, migrant workers, settlers, the internally displaced

 Within these groups, there was common agreement that women and children, 
especially girl children, disabled children and adults, old people, and female 
headed households were the most vulnerable.  There is an appreciation that 
because these groups often live hand-to-mouth existence the impact of even 
small changes in their entitlements (rises in food prices, decreases in wages) 
put them at risk.

Ruchi Tripathi

Food Trade Policy Analyst 
ActionAid International UK
Hamlyn House 
MacDonald Road 
London N19 5PG 
Ph: 44 207 561 7560 

 



ActionAid's vision is a world without poverty in which every person can 
exercise their right to a life of dignity. Registered Charity No. 274467
www.actionaid.org 

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