Assessing Multi-Hazard Livelihood Security and Resilience of Lower Mekong Basin Communities

The Lower Mekong Basin (LMB) is a subsidiary region of the Mekong River, with approximately 10 million people directly dependent on the river for livelihood and economic activities. However, communities in the region are increasingly exposed to multiple hazards that have significant direct and indirect impacts on their livelihoods. The Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research, Japan supported project aims to develop a multi-stakeholder Livelihood Security and Resilience Assessment (LiSeRA) framework by studying the dimensions and factors influencing livelihood security and resilience in communities living in the LMB region.

This paper studies the multi-hazard scenario and impacts in the LMB region, the interlinkages between livelihood and resilience, and proposes a localized assessment framework that can be used by stakeholders in decision-making process. Floods, droughts and tropical storms were identified as primary natural hazards, while a multi-hazard assessment highlighted a wide spatial variation in the hazard levels across the region. The proposed framework provides a tool to measure the multi-hazard livelihood security and resilience in LMB communities, and can be used by government authorities and development partners in planning and implementing mitigation and preparedness activities to manage and reduce the risk of hazards.