Social resilience and institutional adaptation to livelihood risks of sampaguita growers in Sta. Cruz, Laguna, Philippines

The study looked into a social resilience and institutional adaptation to livelihood risks of sampaguita growers in Sta. Cruz, Laguna, Philippines. It aimed to: (1)determine the perception of the sampaguita growers about livelihood risks, (2)explain the development processes of resilience of livelihood risks, 3)analyze the institutional adaptation processes of local government to livelihood risks, 4)assess the impacts of resilience and institutional adaptation on the well-being of sampaguita growers, and 5)develop grounded theories on resilience and institutional adaptation to risks. The grounded research methodology used mixed qualitative and quantitative methods to explore the constructs and meaning of lived experiences about the sampaguita livelihood. Sampaguita livelihood is coping strategy toe perceived a poverty risk. As it became a community source of daily income, sampaguita growers faced other risks related to frequent pesticide spraying, variable production level, unpredictable weather and erratic market prices. The resilience processes of the sampaguita growers to livelihood risks include learning livelihood change, building social support mechanisms, evolving self-organizations, and nurturing adaptation learning. The institutional adaptation in the commitments and structures of the local government helped set agenda and allocate resources to alleviate sampaguita livelihood risks. Resilience and adaptation processes not only enabled the sampaguita growers to solve the adverse effects of livelihood risks, they also created potential to translate the livelihood risks into opportunities fror transformation-from individual into communal risk-solving and from unsustainable into regenerative livelihood practices. The well-being of the sampaguita growers was enhanced through the development of their social, economic, human and natural capitals. The proposed grounded theories are anchored on the lifeworld and the direct experiences of the sampaguita growers. The social resilience theory states that local workers' risk solving behaviour is not simply a result of community's innate adaptive capacity to livelihood risks, but is a confluence between the community's maintenance of balance in their social and physical ecologies, and the availability of institutional support opportunities that will help them alleviate poverty and improve their well-being. The theory on institutional adaptation emphasizes that a government institution that practices the principles of inclusion and cohesion brings about empowered community. Adaptation, in this sense, provides opportunities in order for the community to access the resources necessary in the creation of adaptive livelihoods. Adaptation is also translated into learning from the people and building on what they have.