| This study explores livelihood dynamics, sustainability issues and resilience-building strategies through the perspective of households and local level institutions in two rural Cambodian fishing communities, Koh Sralao (coastal) and Kompong Phluk (freshwater). Two analytical approaches enhance this exploration: (1) a sustainable livelihood framework, with an emphasis on household level negotiation strategies; and (2) a resilience analysis, with an emphasis on scale and uncertainty. An investigation into perceptions of well-being is used to complement this analysis, illuminating local level livelihood realities and additional variables that may enhance well-being such as relationships and luck (an important cultural component).; Qualitative and quantitative methods were used for data collection and analysis, spanning the individual, household and community level. Participatory research methods included (a) four community workshops spanning one to three days, and (b) focus group sessions with households and two resource management committees carried out over 21 months. An open-ended qualitative survey was conducted with 15 members from each resource management committee. Quantitative methods included a livelihood composition and complexity survey with 148 households, representing 20 percent of the households in each community. Research findings were supplemented, and triangulated, with project reports and related documents.; Rural Cambodian livelihoods are diverse, with households relying on a combination of activities and relationships (from the natural resource base and elsewhere) to secure their well-being. This research illustrates how diversification and migration are two important livelihood strategies for rural Cambodian fishing households. Fishing communities, in particular, have porous, ever-shifting boundaries. Household livelihoods may be multi-local (connected to different locations), depending upon seasonality and opportunities that present themselves.; This study illustrates how rural fishers are able to live with uncertainty, and deal with ongoing stresses and shocks. There is an ever-increasing fishing pressure in coastal areas and along the Tonle Sap Lake: more fishers are competing over scarce resources within the same fishing grounds. Conflict ensues, for instance, manifested in gear loss. People cannot adapt to all stresses and shocks, given the constant changes that communities do face. Nonetheless, people are continuously 'doing something' in response to these stresses and shocks. Community-based natural resource management practices found in Koh Sralao and Kompong Phluk provide an example of this.; Perhaps local development is best understood by paying more attention to the way that households respond and deal with continuous change. For households and local level institutions in Koh Sralao and in Kompong Phluk personal relationships with people at various locations (inside and outside a community) are a key element in dealing with change and in establishing a secure livelihood. Local leadership appears to be an important component for enhancing rural livelihood. Thus, a challenge in the development of sustainable livelihoods is creating policy that is flexible and responsive, to support making unsustainable practices more sustainable. Donor policy is often risk-averse: rural livelihood is complex and requires constant (re)negotiation. |
