 Poverty and Disasters: Do Remittances Reproduce Vulnerability?L. Le De, J. C. Gaillard and W. Friesen Journal of Development Studies, 2015, vol. 51, issue 5, 538-553 Abstract: In many low-income countries, remittances are important in sustaining people's livelihood and become even more significant during disasters. Meanwhile, the literature suggests that remittances are mainly accessible to middle and upper-income households, rather than to the poorest, thus implying differential capacities amongst households to overcome crises. The present study uses cyclone Evan that hit Samoa in December 2012 as a case study to test this hypothesis. It focuses on the village of Tafitoala and draws on interviews and participatory activities undertaken with the poorest households of the community. It indicates that the poor receive little to no remittances and that they struggled more than the rest of the community to cope with and recover from the cyclone. Their lack of access to remittances had negative consequences on the security and sustainability of their livelihoods. We conclude that remittances reproduce or even increase both inequalities and vulnerabilities existing within the community of origin. Date: 2015 Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:jdevst:v:51:y:2015:i:5:p:538-553 Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from DOI: 10.1080/00220388.2014.989995 Access Statistics for this article Journal of Development Studies is currently edited by Howard White, Oliver Morrissey and Ken Shadlen More articles in Journal of Development Studies from Taylor & Francis Journals |
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