Resilience Strategies: Experiences of Layer Farmers During Covid-19 and El Niño

Poultry farming is an important sector in many countries, providing food and income to millions. However, the sector is also vulnerable to various disasters, including COVID-19 (new, long-duration disaster) and El Niño (old, short-duration disaster), which can significantly impact farmers' livelihoods. This study aims to fill this knowledge gap by examining the experiences of layer farmers in coping with both disasters and identifying the factors that contribute to their resilience. This study used a grounded theory approach with layer farmers with a minimum of 10 years of farming experience to understand the challenges faced by farmers during both disasters. Interview data and field notes were analyzed through three stages of coding–open, axial, and selective coding–using NVivo 15 software. Survival and adaptation strategies are resilience capacities that emerge in the face of such disasters. These strategies include personal funding sources, social values and operational flexibility. The attributes that can improve the resilience capacity of layer farmers are agricultural diversification, financial planning skills, social relationships, and business scale. Understanding the resilience of layer farms in the face of disasters is critical for realizing more disaster-resilient farm businesses and ensuring the sustainability of poultry farming, particularly small-scale farming. The resilience assessment is expected to prepare poultry farmers for future disasters.