Resilience, Pathways and Circumstances: Unpicking livelihood threats and responses in the rural Philippines.

Abstract

The response of small scale agricultural producers in the Philippines to livelihood threats arising from market integration has received less attention than responses to other threats. The ability of agricultural producers to respond to changes in their production environment is an important component of livelihood resilience. This research unravels the patterns of livelihood response used by small scale agricultural producers in the Philippines affected by livelihood threats resulting from changes in their production environment as a result of agricultural trade liberalisation.
Research was conducted at the household level using a sustainable livelihoods based approach in order to examine the following research questions: (1) Does current livelihood and disaster theory adequately account for and explain the diverse livelihood options pursued by small scale agricultural producers facing threats based on deterioration?; (2) Are current distinctions between different patterns of responses and the rationale of such responses appropriate?; (3) Are current research methods adequate to the task of picking out individualized patterns and rationales of response?; and (4) What is the role of historical factors (institutional and personal) of past events – in moulding patterns of response?
Findings from this study contribute to the limited existing empirical data on livelihood strategies in Mindanao. In particular the research shows that while current research methods capture the various livelihood activities that people engage in, they tend to take a static view of livelihoods, failing to capture the complexity of historical influences on livelihoods and livelihood pathways over time. The findings from the study also demonstrate that factors beyond context which are embedded in personal circumstance play a significant role in the rationale and patterns of livelihood response used by small scale producers in the research sites. The implications of these findings are considered from a wider policy and practice perspective and recommendations as regards the future directions of current research methods are presented.