While indexes provide a useful means of comparing and evaluating
different units of analysis (e.g. households, geographic regions),
they must also be able to incorporate local, context-specific variables
(Eakin and Bojorquez-Tapia, 2008). Without such flexibility,
assessments can suffer from a lack of specific, local indicators that
may be used to differentiate between vulnerability assessments
based on the best quality information obtainable and the limited resources
and expertise available (