Integrating resilience and vulnerability components in assessing urbanization impacts on farming household livelihood strategies: Insights from Ethiopia

Abstract

Integrating resilience and vulnerability components is critical in understanding urbanization impacts on farming household livelihood strategies. This study aims to combine methods and concepts of resilience and vulnerability, that are independently analyzed by previous research to grasp urbanization impacts on farming households. A cross-sectional survey was conducted using a randomly recruited 300 farming households from 4 kebeles to obtain quantitative data. Qualitative data were collected from 30 key informants and 4 group discussions to complement quantitative data. Principal component analysis was employed to identify unrelated factors. Tobit models were applied to estimate strategy-related income that determines household strategy choices. Additionally, linear regression models were utilized to determine factors affecting household resilience and vulnerability index. Results show that farming was the main livelihood strategy in peri-urban despite low earnings. The off-farm strategy was the highest in household income contribution although participants were low. On-farm and off-farm strategies have a greater resilience-vulnerability index to urbanization when compared to farm and non-farm strategies. Urbanization has heterogeneous effects on peri-urban household livelihood strategies due to variations in capital assets, self-organization, learning ability, sensitivity, exposure, and adaptability. Based on these findings, policies should highlight the heterogeneous effects of urbanization and be tailored to the specific needs of different clusters to enhance their resilience and reduce vulnerability to farmland loss. Implementing these measures will aid governments in improving livelihood strategies in peri-urban areas, alleviating poverty, and mitigating food insecurity. Ultimately, such actions will contribute to inclusive and sustainable urban growth amidst rapid urbanization.