Promoting sustainable livelihoods: An approach to postdisaster reconstruction

Disasters are widely accepted as "windows of opportunity" to withstand strongly for other shocks and stresses. There are no "one-size-fit-to-all" postdisaster reconstruction approaches; it depends upon the context. Recently, livelihood strategies are considered as a layer of resilience and applied as a postdisaster reconstruction approach for promoting sustainable livelihoods. The purpose of the paper is to explore how earthquake-affected rural communities have promoted their livelihoods through postdisaster reconstruction. The paper examines how the strategy of livelihoods can be linked to postdisaster reconstruction approaches for promoting sustainable livelihoods and help to achieve rural development objectives. The study adopted semistructured interview methods in three postdisaster reconstructed settlements of Nepal. The face-to-face interviews were conducted with key stakeholders and investigated the livelihood interventions considered for postdisaster reconstruction approaches. The study established that postdisaster activities such as the relief, recovery, and reconstruction should be linked with livelihood provisioning, livelihood protection, and livelihood promotion. Measuring the change in terms of sustainable livelihoods the disaster is complex and has to be considered as a long-term goal of postdisaster recovery. Nepal is on the process of postdisaster reconstruction. The postdisaster reconstruction experiences over 4 years that have identified good practices such as reconstruction settlement should be linked to formerly existing livelihoods and promote gender equity through improving their economic situation, sustainable use of natural resources, and community participation in the reconstruction and livelihood interventions process, which are highly relevant for the further postdisaster recovery process.