Purpose

The conceptual root of vulnerability dates back to the 1970s in the social science spheres. Vulnerability is a multi-dimensional and determinant precondition for disaster occurrence. The Gamo lowlands are exposed to a wide range of vulnerabilities. Therefore, this study aims to schematize community perceptions and understanding of vulnerability in drought-affected rural Gamo lowlands.

Design/methodology/approach

A community-based cross-sectional survey design and the mixed-methods research approach were executed. A four-staged multistage sampling was used to identify the respondent households. Into the four study sites, sample households were allocated proportionally by the lottery method. The survey data were gathered from 285 lowland households. The structured survey questionnaire, key informant interview, focus group discussion, and field observations, and transect walks were the tools used to collect the primary data. Data were analyzed deploying both qualitative and quantitative techniques. The Likert scale is used to analyze households’ vulnerability perceptions in which the item analysis approach was used for detailed analysis of the Likert-type items.

Findings

Locally, people perceive and understand vulnerability as exposure to drought hazard, rainfall inconsistency, the prevalence of human and animal diseases, livelihood insecurity, food shortfalls, poor income, lack of access to market, landholding and livestock ownership which are schematized by vulnerability perception pathways that delineate its extent. The findings also showed that the Gamo lowland inhabitants are unequally vulnerable as 96.5% of the studied households stated the differential idiosyncrasy of vulnerability. Old-aged, small-sized and female-headed households with no supportive force were found to be more vulnerable.

Practical implications

For better resilience, enhancing communities’ perceptions and understanding of vulnerability via continuous awareness creation by all the concerned stakeholders is recommended as the majority was lowly educated. It also yields input for policy debates and decision-making in the drought-prone lowland setup for building a resilient community.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is an original work pursued by using a household survey with empirical data sourced from drought-prone rural lowland communities.

中文翻译：

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易受干旱的加莫低地社区的脆弱性认知和理解示意图：来自埃塞俄比亚西南部的证据

目的

脆弱性的概念根源可以追溯到 1970 年代的社会科学领域。脆弱性是灾害发生的多维和决定性前提。加莫低地面临着广泛的脆弱性。因此，本研究旨在概括社区对受干旱影响的加莫低地农村脆弱性的看法和理解。

设计/方法/方法

执行了基于社区的横断面调查设计和混合方法研究方法。使用四阶段多阶段抽样来确定受访家庭。样本住户通过抽签的方式按比例分配到四个研究地点。调查数据来自 285 个低地家庭。结构化调查问卷、关键知情人访谈、焦点小组讨论和实地观察以及样带步行是用于收集原始数据的工具。使用定性和定量技术分析数据。李克特量表用于分析家庭的脆弱性感知，其中项目分析方法用于对李克特类型项目进行详细分析。

发现

在当地，人们将脆弱性感知和理解为暴露于干旱灾害、降雨不一致、人类和动物疾病的流行、生计不安全、粮食短缺、收入低下、缺乏市场准入、土地持有和牲畜所有权，这些都是由脆弱性感知路径图解的勾勒出它的范围。调查结果还表明，加莫低地居民的脆弱性不平等，因为 96.5% 的研究家庭表示脆弱性的差异特质。发现没有支持力量的老年、小户型和女性户主家庭更容易受到伤害。

实际影响

为了提高复原力，建议通过所有相关利益相关者的持续意识提高社区对脆弱性的认识和理解，因为大多数人受教育程度低。它还为在易受干旱的低地环境中建立弹性社区的政策辩论和决策提供投入。

原创性/价值

据作者所知，这是一项原创工作，通过使用来自易受干旱的农村低地社区的经验数据进行的家庭调查进行。