Natural disasters impact all populations but poorer, rural populations are particularly vulnerable. We know from research in large-scale modern societies that wealthier, healthier, and more educated individuals have greater resilience to adverse events. However, in much of United States as well as in the world at large, there remain people living at or near the poverty line. Natural disasters can push people over that line into "poverty traps" from which they may never recover. Therefore, understanding factors that promote resilience in populations with limited schooling, material wealth, and access to good healthcare is critical for developing programs and policies that will protect all Americans from the long-term effects of disasters.
The research will be conducted in lowland Bolivia where there was catastrophic flooding in early 2014. This is a particularly apt research setting because the investigators have done research in this site since 2002. Therefore, they have detailed, individual-level baseline data with which to make comparisons. They also can leverage existing infrastructure and support, which allows a small amount of funding now to produce significant research impact. The researchers will focus on the Tsimane Amerindians who practice a subsistence lifestyle based on horticulture, fishing, and hunting. The 2014 floods destroyed crops and possessions in over sixty Tsimane villages; widespread food insecurity and disease are expected to follow. Due to the extent of the losses, wealth inequality has likely been substantially reduced across households and villages. The investigators will assess whether involvement in the local market economy, schooling, and social connections helped protect families against the losses from the floods and whether these factors will help buffer families during the period of recovery. Investigators will also assess whether wealth inequalities that existed prior to the flood re-emerge one year after the flood. Investigators will visit affected villages, conduct surveys, collect information on health, nutritional status and activities, and assay stress hormones from salivary samples. Findings from this research will provide insight into the factors that promote and perpetuate poverty traps by examining the extent to which social subordination, low human capital and lack of psychological resilience impact recovery efforts and restoration of well-being and economic productivity.
