Centre researchers have previously studied the importance of social networks in natural resource governance, however, much research on how households depend upon a diversity of income sources often falls short in mapping and understanding how the different sources are connected.
 
A better picture of how things are related
In a study conducted in five countries in the western Indian Ocean, centre researcher Örjan Bodin together with Joshua E. Cinner from ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies applied a novel methodological framework to systematically gather and relate the different sources of income.
 
Bodin and Cinner studied 27 coastal communities in Kenya, Tanzania, Madagascar, Seychelles and Mauritius.
 
Surveying a total of 1564 households, the researchers examined their dependence on fishing and other livelihood activities by asking respondents to list all the jobs members of the household engaged in for food and money.
 
They then created 'livelihood landscapes' by mapping all the occupations and how they interrelated (see illustration below).
 
Community leader interviews were used to determine the presence or absence of key community resources such as hospitals, schools, electricity services and food markets.

Households more specialised, communities remain diversified
One of the goals with the study was to develop a methodological framework to examine household-scale linkages between occupational sectors and then apply this to economies on a community scale.

- The key advantage of this network analysis is that it provides us with a better picture of the interrelations between household occupations as well as the economy of a community as a whole, says Örjan Bodin.

Bodin and Cinner's research suggests an increase in household-level specialization for most occupational sectors, which can have implications for the natural resource use and management in a community.

- Diverse livelihood portfolios are generally seen as a source of resilience in the face of adverse trends or sudden shocks. A reduction of household livelihood diversity may render whole communities more vulnerable to change and compromise its adaptive capacity, says Bodin.

Only scratching the surface
Bodin and Cinner see a great potential in using this network methodology also in other social-ecological systems.
 
- This research just scratches the surface of what can be a potentially effective way to better understand how livelihood strategies influence the use and misuse of natural resources, Örjan Bodin says.

Source: Cinner, J. E., and Ö. Bodin. 2010. Livelihood diversification in tropical coastal communities: a network-based approach to analyzing ‘livelihood landscapes´. PlosONE. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0011999.