Capital asset substitution as a coping strategy: Practices and implications for food security and resilience in southwestern Ethiopia. Issue 106 (November 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Manlosa, Aisa O.; Schultner, Jannik; Dorresteijn, Ine; Fischer, Joern
• Is Part Of: Geoforum. Issue 106(2019)
• Page Start: 13
• Page End: 23
• Publication Date: 2019-11
• Subjects: Agriculture -- Equity -- Capital assets -- Substitution -- Sustainability -- Coping strategies; Geography -- Periodicals; Human geography -- Periodicals; Regional planning -- Periodicals; Sciences de la terre -- Périodiques; Géographie -- Périodiques; Géographie humaine -- Périodiques; Aménagement du territoire -- Périodiques; Earth sciences; Geography; Human geography; Regional planning; Periodicals; Electronic journals; 304.205
• DOI: 10.1016/j.geoforum.2019.07.022
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0016-7185

Abstract

Highlights: Challenges related to natural capital were the most commonly mentioned challenges. Capital asset substitution using social and human capitals maintained asset base. Substitution by economic and physical capitals tended to erode capital asset base. Erosion of capital assets undermined resilience and food security. Abstract: We investigated how smallholder farming households in southwestern Ethiopia coped with challenges related to lack in capital assets and food shortage. We focused on interactions between capital assets using, in particular, capital asset substitution as an analytical lens to classify and unpack the interactions. The most commonly mentioned challenges were related to natural and economic capitals, and these frequently caused seasonal food shortages. Households responded to the lack in capital assets or food through processes that drew on more readily available capital assets. Common ways in which households coped involved drawing on social and human capitals (i.e. increasing labor input) to address lack in other types of capital assets and lack in food. These types of asset substitution tended to facilitate the maintenance of a household's capital asset base. In contrast, some households liquidated physical and economic capital assets to cope, but these types of substitution tended to erode their capital asset base. In sum, our findings highlight the natural environment as well as social and human capitals as foundational to smallholder livelihoods and food security. In practical terms, the study provides information on coping strategies that should be avoided or modified to prevent capital asset erosion, and highlights those that should be supported and strengthened to enable the maintenance (and eventual growth) of households' capital assets. Conceptually, the study contributes to livelihoods research by highlighting the usefulness of capital asset substitution for investigating interactions between different capital assets.