An Empirical Analysis of Household Coping Strategies in Ceara, Brazil

Abstract

The primary purpose of this thesis is to provide a better understanding of how families in Ceara, Brazil react immediately to avert famine and cope with lack of water during drought years. This thesis addresses three major hypotheses: do households adopt coping strategies in a sequential fashion, from reversible mechanisms (Stage 1) to the sales of assets (Stage 2); understand how household characteristics and government policies can influence families' resistance to drought; and evaluate how these same factors may influence the type and number of coping strategies taken by a household. Empirical results show that there is no sequence between Stage 1 coping strategies and the decisions to implement more reactionary strategies, in Stage 2. Families with fewer assets were more likely to implement coping strategies from Stage 1 and families with more valuable animals were more likely to use coping strategies from Stage 2. In addition, families with fewer assets adopt a larger number of coping mechanisms.