Livelihood Asset Pentagon and Multi-dimensional Vulnerability: A Zone-wise Analysis of Udalguri District

Abstract

This paper focuses on the multi-dimensional livelihood vulnerability analysis in Udalguri district, a geographically and ecologically diverse foothill area of the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR), employing Sustainable Livelihoods Framework (DLF, 1999) through Livelihood Asset Pentagon (LAP), zone-wise. The study is based on a primary household survey conducted across 26 villages in 174 households in four geo-ecological zones that have been defined in the study using GIS-based Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) analysis (Saaty, 1980) and systematically maps the five livelihood capitals (natural, financial, human, physical and social) along a fragile-to-resilient geo-ecologic gradient. Inferential statistical tests, including one-way ANOVA, chi-square, independent-samples t-tests, and Pearson correlations, show that the geo-ecological hierarchy is statistically sound for almost all of the household-level indicators. The normalized Livelihood Asset Pentagon shows that Zone 1 (Fragile Geo-ecological and Livelihood-Constrained Zone) has near-zero composite scores on all five capitals, whereas Zone 4 (Geo-ecologically Resilient and Livelihood-Supporting Zone) has maximum scores on four of five capitals. The composite measure of human capital — Zone 2 outperforms Zone 4 — is the only non-monotonic dimension that can be explained by the persisting female literacy gap in the most infrastructure-rich zone, human capital. The study concludes that the vulnerability of Udalguri is multi-dimensional in nature and is structurally geo-ecologically determined, with gender inequality in educational levels and an institutional coverage gradient following the resilience hierarchy. The strongest bivariate finding is the correlation between income and savings (r = 0.792, p < 0.01) which indicates that savings capacity is income constrained across the district.