Mediating disability and environmental change: capability analysis of disabled people exposed to drought and flood conditions in East Africa

As climate change increases the frequency and severity of droughts the resulting impacts will be more severe and prolonged. The human consequences of droughts in East Africa are already significant; increasing malnutrition, heightening the risk of disease, and reducing opportunities for education. However, the precise nature of the relationship between droughts and poverty remains both complex and challenging. Within this context, disabled people are at the greatest risk as they are considerably more vulnerable to poverty. Their exposure to the adverse effects of droughts is complicated by a lack of information that specifically recognises disabled peoples' situation, their poor participation in disaster relief efforts, and the everyday issues around accessibility they confront.

This research project responds to a lack of information and knowledge on the subject and reflects on the situation and reality of disabled people. It does so by exploring how the ability and freedom to choose to pursue activities of worth (capabilities) are shaped by beliefs, attitudes, taboos, customs and laws (institutions) to either create or constrain an effective response to drought.

The project draws on the social model of disability which asserts that society and its response to people with impairments creates disability. This perspective grounds the study of the social context within which disability exists. Analysis of this context, and the norms, rules and taboos which characterise it, is informed by critical institutionalism, which recognises that there is no one set of rules which determine how lives and societies are governed but a set of diverse institutions, which interact and are both formally enacted, like laws, and informally abided by, like norms. Finally, the work of Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum on capabilities, as "spheres of freedom and choice", allows the opportunity to evaluate poverty in a way that is not dependent upon economic analysis and external categorisations. It is an empowering view that allows individuals to self-determine what they value and how easy it is for them to attain it. It also allows people to influence and determine the research agenda and key issues.

These theories will frame a response to the question of "How do institutions shape the capabilities of disabled people and their capacity to respond to extreme drought conditions?"

The research will use a mixed-method case-study design to explore the relationship between the three key phenomena using Ethiopia and Uganda as cases. A comparative case study design will allow the research to consider the influence of a range of institutional factors, including different legislative and political responses to disability in Ethiopia and Uganda. Qualitative data will be collected through semi-structured interviews with members of Disabled Peoples Organisations (DPOs) in Dire Dawa, Ethiopia and Mbale, Uganda to explore the impacts of drought, flooding and other environmental shocks on disabled people. A series of key informant interviews will take place with stakeholders and actors at the national level in Ethiopia and Uganda to explore the different factors, capabilities, and institutions that shape how environmental changes and shocks impact disabled people. Analysis of the data will examine how the institutions, customs, norms, and social context of disabled people mediate their vulnerability to climate change and impacts their resilience. Statistical analysis will be undertaken of the Ethiopian Socioeconomic Survey (ESS) and Uganda National Panel Survey (UNPS) to test whether statistically significant relationships between multidimensional poverty and capabilities, disability, and climate change can be inferred and test whether the relationship between these discrete variables suggests any causal relationship.