Measuring resilience in Somalia : an empirical approach
Ncube, Nqobile
The objectives of this study were to build an understanding of the concept of
resilience and provide an empirical method of measuring resilience using food
security as a case study. This was carried out in three locations (rural, town
and the internally displaced camps) of Luuq District in Somalia. The research
was conducted through a mixed research methodology that involved both
quantitative and qualitative methods. In the quantitative study, 390 individual
household questionnaires were administered, and the qualitative aspects
involved focus group discussions and key informant interviews. In total 12 key
informants were interviewed while 10 FGDs were conducted in selected
villages in the district. The study made seven findings. First validating that
resilience and vulnerability are not antonyms but are both useful terms in the
humanitarian aid and development discourse. Secondly, that the previous
attempts to measure resilience lacked direction; agreement and they were
devoid of resilience metrics. The validity of resilience measures was not
acceptable, and it was demonstrated that the majority of the respondents did
not feel that they had attained resilience or were on a path of achieving it.
Thirdly, the effectiveness and relevance of resilience measures was location
dependant and in-turn linked to the security of the location. Fourth, that
though there was little appetite to improve resilience measurement, the FAOSHARP
method came close to considering most of the aspects of resilience.
Fifth, that implementing resilience in fragile locations called for innovation for
effectiveness. Sixth, that while there were clear improvements needed on resilience measures though there was little appetite to change due to cost
barriers. Lastly, the study synthesised subjectivity as a potential measure of
resilience capacities and three questions that potentially measure resilience
were recommended for further scrutiny. The major recommendation is that
effective resilience building and measuring efforts are context specific and
unique and the consideration of such is important for the validity of measures
and impact of implementation.
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