Spontaneous resettlement after drought: An Ethiopian example*

Determinants of psychological well-being in Irish immigrants

Immigration accounts for nearly half of the U.S. population growth in the past 20 years, and this trend is expected to continue. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between demographics, resilience, life satisfaction, and psychological well-being among Irish immigrants. Employing a cross-sectional design, a sample of 100 Irish immigrants completed the Demographic and Migration Questionnaire, the Resilience Scale, the Migration Quality of Life Scale, and the General Well-Being Schedule. Hierarchical regression analyses were used to test the association of psychological well-being with demographics, resilience, and life satisfaction. Findings revealed that number of annual health care appointments, higher resilience, and greater life satisfaction were the strongest predictors of psychological well-being.

From relief to development: the long-term effects of 'temporary' accommodation on refugees and displaced persons in the Republic of Croatia

The increasing scale of international intervention in conflict is generating new pressures on the humanitarian community. Increased expenditure on emergency relief, static levels of overseas development aid and subsequent lack of funds for development are dictating that agencies design relief projects that positively effect developmental reconstruction. This paper examines the provision of shelter for refugees and displaced persons in the Republic of Croatia and identifies ways in which it has encouraged and discouraged sustainable reconstruction. It argues that to promote lasting reconstruction, programmes must focus on saving livelihoods as well as lives, thus minimising the long-term psychological and physical impacts of aid on refugees, displaced persons and host communities.

Epidemiology and control of parasites in nomadic situations

Nomadism is a highly specialised mode of life that enables humans to exploit resources that are widely distributed over space and time. The isolation and remoteness of many nomad populations have limited studies on the macroepidemiology of parasitic infection in nomad populations. From the available information, the influence of a number of factors on the prevalence and transmission of parasitic infections in nomads is discussed. Environmental conditions, especially relative humidity and temperature, profoundly influence parasitic diseases. Human behaviour varies with cultural factors and influences exposure to disease. Periodic movements of nomads may either remove them and their animals from contaminated environments or may bring then into contact, often seasonally, with infections. There may be a strong ecological interdependence between diet and infection and disease in nomadic groups. Finally, the influence of drought can be profound in that seasonal or prolonged drought promotes concentration of populations in small areas or their sedenterisation, often with an increase in parasite transmission. Relevant information that needs to be acquired to develop appropriate practical and cost-effective health and veterinary care and control programmes for nomadic populations and their livestock is outlined.

Famine, gold and guns: the suri of southwestern ethiopia, 1985-91

Over the past few years, the Suri have lived through a deep ecological and social crisis without substantial external aid from either the Ethiopian government or international aid agencies. They have experienced drought, cattle disease and an increasing level of violent conflict with their neighbours, leading to the severe disruption of their traditional agro-pastoral subsistence system and settlement pattern. Through migration, the exploitation of gold resources and investment in automatic weapons, however, they have managed virtually a full recovery of their economy and society.

Warfare, vulnerability and survival: a case from southwestern ethiopia

The Mursi are a small group of herders and cultivators living in the Lower Omo Valley of southwestern Ethiopia. Over the past 20 years they have suffered a disaster of classic proportions, involving drought, famine, migration and war. Measures taken to ensure the physical survival of people, and especially cattle, in the face of regular and expected attacks by their neighbours have made the economy of the Mursi more vulnerable to climatic uncertainty. A crude materialist explanation of warfare is not, therefore, supported by this case but it is clear also that warfare has played a key part in Mursi expansion northwards, over the past century, into the territory of the Bodi. Warfare, in this context, is a means of establishing and maintaining the separate political identities of neighbouring groups. The problem of survival does not present itself to the Mursi and their neighbours as a choice between political and physical survival: the only way they know of saving lives is to save their way of life.

Indigenous responses to drought in sub-Saharan Africa*

Drought is a frequent occurrence in contemporary sub-Saharan Africa, and the existence of periodic drought can be documented over hundreds of years. As a consequence of the routine rainfall shortages that affect them, agricultural and pastoral societies have developed a number of social institutions and mechanisms for bridging temporary food production shortfalls caused by drought. Drawing on the literature and field data from southeastern Kenya, this paper discusses a number of regular indigenous responses to short-term drought in sub-Saharan Africa. Changes in these patterns in the present day are also discussed. It is concluded that market-based responses are now the most important strategies, but that traditional institutions remain significant and contribute to the viability of drought-affected societies.