It is widely acknowledged that the impacts of environmental perturbations are
partly due to the socio-economic condition of populations at risk. This was evident in the
immediate aftermath of the Indian Ocean Tsunami that affected fisher communities along
the southern and eastern coasts of Sri Lanka. The poor socio-economic status of these
communities presented greater challenges for people to cope with and recover from the
event. The purpose of this study is to develop a coping capacity index that takes into
account social, economic, and demographic characteristics of populations in three
districts in Sri Lanka. The coping capacity index is derived from a regression model,
where the relative influence between poverty, the dependent variable, and a combination
of predictor variables associated with income, assets, education, gender, and ethnicity, is
established. These variables characterize the root causes of poverty and vulnerability
among rural populations that influence the way in which they deal with and recover from
changes in the environment.
The findings of the research reveal a wide range of heterogeneity across the study
area in how social, economic, and demographic factors influence coping capacities. In
some areas, similar variables contribute toward improving coping capacities, and in
others they undermine them. Spatial variations in the combination of variables that
contribute to coping capacity were observed across districts and DS divisions, the
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subdivision of a district. Temporal differences were also found such that the combination
of variables that contribute to higher coping capacity is different in 2001/2002 compared
to the later time period analyzed (2006/2007). These temporal and spatial variations
highlight the importance of context, and the impact of development policies and
reconstruction programs when assessing the vulnerability of people in a given location.