RURAL BANGLADESH - PreventionWeb

Socio-Economic Profiles of WFP Operational Areas and Beneficiaries
For example, some households have difficulty recovering once they have been exposed to a
particular risk (TANGO 2004a).
2.3 Managing Risk
Households can respond to or manage risk in a variety of ways. For most vulnerable households, risk
management involves both pre-shock (ex ante) and post-shock (ex post) actions. Pre-shock actions
are preventative measures taken to reduce risk (e.g., drought tolerant crops, diversified livestock
production, flood proofing barriers) or lower exposure to risk (e.g., livelihood diversification to offfarm
employment). Households can also reduce risk through investment in insurance strategies such
as precautionary savings or association with supportive social networks (TANGO 2004a).
Post-shock risk management refers to actions taken in response to the occurrence of shocks. Such
actions are often referred to as coping strategies in that they are undertaken in an effort to manage the
negative impacts and limit potential losses of food security posed by shocks that have already
occurred. Common examples include selling assets, removing children from school, migration of
selected family members, reducing the number of meals consumed and the variety of foods
consumed, and reliance on families for loans. The various types of post-shock support offered by
family or community members in response to a shock are often referred to as informal safety nets,
while those implemented by governments and NGOs are referred to as formal safety nets. Formal
safety nets include activities such as public works programs and direct food aid intended to assist
households in coping with risk of food and livelihood insecurity (Heitzmann et. al. 2002, TANGO
2004a).
Risk combined with household responses leads to a food security outcome. The magnitude, timing
and history of risk, and risk responses determine the nature of the outcome. For example, a
household might be able to mitigate or cope with risk in the short-term while other households facing
frequent or long-term risks may find it unable to manage risk in subsequent periods, particularly
when assets are degraded. The outcomes (proxies for food insecurity, increased malnutrition, and
increased poverty) are often captured in static snapshots. Vulnerability, however, is a continuous
process of exposure to risk and responses and is forward looking in terms of expectance of outcomes
(TANGO 2004a).
A vulnerability analysis uses a livelihood framework to examine the various components of
risk encountered by a given household or community. A thorough assessment of
vulnerability starts with careful analysis of each component sequentially arranged in a risk
chain (Figure 2). The process begins with consideration of the political, social, economic,
and environmental context that characterize both the given locale and the history of risk
events it has been exposed to. Second, it takes into consideration the various ex ante risk
management strategies that have been developed by individuals, households and
communities living in this context. For any given context, the vulnerability of households
will be determined largely by the varying status of assets as well as the combination of
livelihood strategies pursued. The third step in a vulnerability analysis examines the
magnitude, frequency and duration of past and potential shocks. Fourth, it examines the ex
post risk coping strategies used by households, communities and governments to respond to
such shocks. This includes household coping strategies, informal safety supported by
communities, and formal safety nets implemented by governments and NGOs. Finally, the
outcomes that result from a shock and the risk response are taken into account to enable
social support to be temporally and spatially targeted (TANGO 2004a).
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