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Research, Policy and Practice

Table 3 Social, economic and environmental indicators and their effect on vulnerability level

From: Measuring household vulnerability to climate-induced stresses in pastoral rangelands of Kenya: Implications for resilience programming

Hypothesized variables

Percentage

Influence on vulnerabilitya

Social vulnerability variables

  

Sex of HH head: female-headed

50.7

+

Age of HH head: 50+ years

26.6

−

Experiences in the area: less than 5 years

7.9

+

HH size: more than 5 persons

64.6

−

Educational level: no primary education

80.1

+

Dependents: more than 5 persons

43.8

−

Marital status: single (including divorced and widowed)

29.5

+

Linkages: having no social linkages

25.8

−

Visit by extension officers: no access to extension services

54.3

+

Access to early warning information: no access to the information

74.8

+

Economic vulnerability variables

  

Non-farm income: have no non-farm income

35.5

−

Herd size: own less than 2 TLUs

18.3

+

Herd structure: no milking herd

72.8

+

Distance to market: more than 10 km away

39.4

−

Property regime: own private land

8.6

−

Access to remittances: no cash transfers

58

+

HH employed: no member of HH employed

88.1

+

HH coping strategies: more than 2 coping strategies

92.1

+

Livestock diversity: less than 2 livestock species

45.4

−

Credit access: having no access to credit at all

77.8

+

Mobility: able to move livestock freely

67.9

−

Environmental vulnerability variables

  

Climate change: experiencing change

96.7

+

Temperature: experiencing increase

47.9

+

Drought: noticed increasing events

3.4

+

Flood: noticed change

4.1

+

Wind: noticed unusual change

11.6

+

HH facing more than 2 hazards in 5 years

72.5

−

  1. aPositive sign indicates that the variable increases vulnerability, while negative sign means it reduces vulnerability. TLU, tropical livestock unit (1 TLU = 250 kg). (Source: Estimated from June to July 2012 household survey interviews in Turkana; Authors’ compilation).