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Flooding, resettlement, and change in livelihoods: evidence from rural Mozambique
Author(s) -
Arnall Alex,
Thomas David S.G.,
Twyman Chasca,
Liverman Diana
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
disasters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.744
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1467-7717
pISSN - 0361-3666
DOI - 10.1111/disa.12003
Subject(s) - livelihood , flood myth , subsistence agriculture , natural disaster , context (archaeology) , agriculture , flooding (psychology) , geography , realm , environmental planning , socioeconomics , economic growth , business , political science , environmental resource management , sociology , psychology , environmental science , archaeology , meteorology , economics , psychotherapist
Post‐disaster development policies, such as resettlement, can have major impacts on communities. This paper examines how and why people's livelihoods change as a result of resettlement, and relocated people's views of such changes, in the context of natural disasters. It presents two historically‐grounded, comparative case studies of post‐flood resettlement in rural Mozambique. The studies demonstrate a movement away from rain‐fed subsistence agriculture towards commercial agriculture and non‐agricultural activities. The ability to secure a viable livelihood was a key determinant of whether resettlers remained in their new locations or returned to the river valleys despite the risks posed by floods. The findings suggest that more research is required to understand i) why resettlers choose to stay in or abandon designated resettlement areas, ii) what is meant by ‘voluntary’ and ‘involuntary’ resettlement in the realm of post‐disaster reconstruction, and iii) the policy drivers of resettlement in developing countries.