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Livelihood Diversity, Food Security and Resilience among the Caiçara of Coastal Brazil

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Abstract

To analyze the relationships between local livelihoods and vulnerability to food insecurity, using a resilience approach, we interviewed 350 households from seven mixed-heritage Caiçara communities in Paraty, Brazil. Fishing was a livelihood activity for 70 % of the households, and the main declared activity for 16 %. Fishing was combined with other activities such as day-wage jobs, tourism, agriculture, and commerce. Livelihood activities were not homogeneously distributed among communities, and a higher proportion of fishing households were found in generalist communities. Food insecurity appeared to be transitory (and not chronic), and fishing is central to food security. Small-scale fisheries cannot be seen in isolation from the diversity of activities that make up the livelihood portfolios of coastal communities. In view of rapid change in the area, pressures from protected areas, large-scale fisheries, tourism development and economic change in general, threaten the resilience of Caiçara livelihoods, with implications for future food insecurity.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the team who assisted in data collection: L.G. Araujo, M. Giraldi, L.A. Cavechia, F.S. Bueloni, I. M. Martins, C.J. Idrobo, R.R. Freitas, L. Garuana and L. Carpenter. We acknowledge R. Possidônio and M. Giraldi for additional field observations, and thank families and communities included in this study. The research was supported by the International Research Chairs program (Dr. Alpina Begossi, PI) of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) of Canada, project “Community-based resource management and food security in coastal Brazil”, with additional support from FAPESP. N. Hanazaki and C.S. Seixas thank CNPq for their productivity scholarships (306895/2009-9 and 308480/2009-0).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil

    Natalia Hanazaki & Nivaldo Peroni

  2. Natural Resources Institute, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada

    Fikret Berkes

  3. NEPAM–Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil

    Cristiana S. Seixas

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  1. Natalia Hanazaki
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  2. Fikret Berkes
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  3. Cristiana S. Seixas
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  4. Nivaldo Peroni
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Correspondence to Natalia Hanazaki.

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Hanazaki, N., Berkes, F., Seixas, C.S. et al. Livelihood Diversity, Food Security and Resilience among the Caiçara of Coastal Brazil. Hum Ecol 41, 153–164 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-012-9553-9

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