ABSTRACT
This section takes a more focused look at social dynamics that can contribute to both vulnerability and resilience. Social, political, religious, and economic inequalities structure levels of vulnerability and predict the likelihood of food insecurity. Food security is a major predictor of resilience and recovery, so it is explored in depth. It is intimately linked with livelihood systems, which integrate strategies and coping mechanisms for physical and economic survival (e.g., agriculture, pastoralism, fishing, petty trading, wage labor, or a combination). These systems are shaped by local contexts, such as agro-ecological zones and climate, social, economic, and political environments, and by access to assets including human, social, natural, physical, and financial capital.
