Measuring populations' vulnerabilities for famine and food security interventions

The case of Ethiopia's Chronic Vulnerability Index

Bibliographic Data

ID7750618
AuthorsJericho Burg (University of California San Diego, corresponding author)
Year2008
Volume32
Issue4
Pages609-630
Publication date2008-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueDisasters (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0361-3666 • E-ISSN: 1467-7717
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/j.1467-7717.2008.01057.x
PMID18479473
OpenAlexW2058694457
LanguageEN
Citations received12
References cited12

The concept of vulnerability has become an important part of food security analyses since the 1980s. It is seen as having two sides: exposure to external hazards; and an inability to cope with those shocks, attributed to social, political, and economic factors. Numerous attempts have been made to construct models to determine levels of vulnerability among populations. This paper analyses one such attempt, the Chronic Vulnerability Index (CVI), developed to measure levels of vulnerability to food insecurity in Ethiopia. The example of the CVI reveals many of the difficulties associated with producing a basic model of vulnerability that can be used in disaster mitigation. Ultimately, the CVI assumes that vulnerability is a linear, additive phenomenon with discrete causes and effects and fails to capture interactions between hazards and the human systems that produce and complicate them. The paper concludes with a discussion of alternatives to the CVI

Biology · Business · Climate change · Computer security · Construct (python library · Economics · Environmental health · Environmental resource management · Famine · Food security · Geography · Index (typography · Psychological intervention · Risk analysis (engineering · Social vulnerability · Vulnerability (computing · Vulnerability assessment · Vulnerability index · Agricultural risk and resilience · Child Nutrition and Water Access · Computer Science · Medicine · Poverty, Education, and Child Welfare · Ecology

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub