Livelihood Strategies after the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami in Banda Aceh, Indonesia

Abstract

The 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami disaster which affected Indonesia, particularly the Aceh Province, left devastating impacts to the people and their livelihoods. The tsunami waves wiped out 800 kilometres of coastline and 3, 000 hectares of land, killing many and caused permanent land losses including aquaculture ponds. This resulted in disruption of the households’ livelihood that relies on aquaculture activities as well as on the natural resources such as the mangroves found in the aquaculture farms along the coastal areas. This study aims to understand the impacts of the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami disaster on the households’ livelihood, and the interventions from the government and non-government organisations (NGOs) to help rebuild household’s livelihood. The study also identifies the livelihood strategies households had taken to adapt to their current livelihood. Information from 77 households was collected for analysis. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected between September 2015 to March 2017 through questionnaire surveys, semi-structured interviews, observations, and group discussion to understand the livelihood recovery experience of disaster-affected households. Household who previously were involved in aquaculture farming, traditional cigarette making and fishing had taken up livelihood strategies such as agricultural intensification and livelihood diversification to attain income security and better well-being of education opportunities for their children and better housing condition to live and conduct their home-based businesses.