Livelihood assets

As scholarship on livelihoods has evolved, the importance of livelihood assets has come to be recognized beyond simply meeting basic needs. Rather, they are seen to give meaning to a person s world ... 

Safety nets help households manage risk. At minimum, safety net programs help households facing hard times avoid irreversible losses, allowing them to maintain the household and business assets on which their livelihoods are based, and to adequately nourish and school their children. At best, they can provide an insurance element that lets households make choices about livelihoods that yield higher earnings. Safety nets thus both protect households and promote their independence. 

The size and timing of the transfer depend primarily on the objective and can include the value of lost assets and a more regular translier supporting livelihoods. In the aftermath of natural disasters in Maldives, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, cash transfers first addressed the asset restoration objeotive, but also attached transfers to the status of housing reconstruction or rehabilitation. 

Ex post interventions can be divided into three categories. In the immediate after-math of the disaster, search and recovery operations and humanitarian assistance may be needed, especially for rapid-onset events such as earthquakes or typhoons. This kind of specialized assistance is beyond the scope of this book. In the medium term, households will require support to prevent the further loss of assets and to allow them to start reinvesting in their livelihoods. Safety nets of the sort discussed in this book can play a role here. The longer-term response will focus on reconstructing public infrastructure and services. 

All these losses put forced migrants at an economic disadvantage upon arrival. Over time, unless they can recover their livelihoods, they are at risk of further impoverishment However, recuperating asset losses after displacement can be extremely difficult, because of the social exclusion at work in the host country context... 

During acute crisis, including intense violence, bombing, and shelling, resources from relatives maybe sent to get people out of immediate danger of death or injury. Such transfers may also be necessary for poorer households simply to sustain life during times outside acute crisis when assets, resources, and means of livelihood are destroyed, looted, or have to be sold off. 

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