Sustainable Rural Livelihoods Framework Research Articles

Living through crises due to successive commodity booms and busts: Investigating the changing peasants farming style in rural Indonesia

This study aims to explain how a peasant community makes decisions in response to recurring crises in order to maintain their farms, and the extent to which vulnerability contexts and (external) institutions influence peasants’ decision-making regarding their livelihoods. In doing so, we present a case study of the Village of Ranga, in the South Sulawesi Province, Indonesia, where data collected through semi-structured interviews, observation, and Focus Group Discussion (FGD). Data regarding farmers' livelihood strategies in responding to the crises, in the form of commodity booms and busts, is analyzed by employing a sustainable rural livelihoods framework, while a Chayanovian “balance” approach is used to understand peasants’ decision making and the extent to which they retain operations as ‘peasant farms’. We found that the most critical vulnerability that directly contributes to changes in the peasants' livelihood trajectories is successive shocks in the form of physical disturbances to plants and land. In making decisions regarding changes in livelihood strategies when facing crises, farmers seem to be pushed to abandon various balances they previously upheld, except to some extent the labor-consumption balance. This change potentially deepens the vulnerability of the Ranga Village peasants by adding more exposure to volatile markets and environmental pressure (such climate-induced hazards, pests, disease, and water crisis). This research can help us to understand the nature of the peasant responses in times of crises, and therefore help to inform the scanning of potential strategic measures for rural agricultural development in order to increase agricultural resilience.

Environmental Education efforts in a rural drought-prone district in Zimbabwe: Micro innovations with growth potential

In Sub-Saharan Africa, climate change is evident due to the frequency of drought cycles. This paper explores the Environmental Education (EE) efforts for reducing the impact of climate change in drought prone Gwanda district, Zimbabwe. The paper focuses on how climate change mitigation and adaptation stakeholders within the community can initiate EE programs which have the potential to be upscaled to macro innovations. A qualitative interpretive case study approach was used with three data generation tools (interviews, a focus group discussion and document analysis). The sample comprised 38 participants. The study was guided by the Sustainable Rural Livelihoods Framework (1998). The study revealed that for EE programmes to be effective, they have to harness local factors. The study found that formal field days, information and skills sharing among neighbours during letsema/lidaba and Indigenous Knowledge Systems were micro innovations with growth potential to build farmers’ generative resilience to climate change.

Smallholder Farmer Engagement in Citizen Science for Varietal Diversification Enhances Adaptive Capacity and Productivity in Bihar, India

There is evidence that in many situations the use of a diverse set of two or more crop varieties in the field has benefits for production. The benefits of varietal diversification include lower crop disease incidence, higher productivity, and lower yield variability. Targeted interventions could increase varietal diversity where smallholder farmers lack the knowledge and access to seeds needed to diversify their varieties. Innovations based on crowdsourced citizen science make it possible to involve a large number of households in farmer participatory varietal selection. This study analyses varietal diversification in Bihar, India, focusing on the effects of the largest citizen science-based intervention to date, involving 25,000 farmers and 47,000 plots*seasons. The study examines if an increase in the varietal diversity of major staple crops, namely wheat and rice, under real farming conditions contributed to: (1) crop productivity and (2) the ability of households to recover from agricultural production shocks. We used the Rural Household Multi-Indicator Survey (RHoMIS) as a survey tool for rapid characterization of households and the sustainable rural livelihoods framework to understand the potential multiple interactions that are activated within the system by the intervention. We found that an increase in varietal diversification produced livelihood benefits in terms of crop productivity and the ability of households to recover from the occurrence agricultural shocks. Finally, outcomes highlight the effectiveness of development programmes aimed at strengthening rural livelihoods through participatory approaches and use of local crop varietal diversity.

Marginal communities and livelihoods: San communities’ failed transition to a modern economy in Tsholotsho, Zimbabwe

ABSTRACT The San community in Zimbabwe is one of the indigenous tribes that have had a rather belated encounter with modernisation and globalisation. Their transition from a hunting and gathering economy to an agro-capitalist economy is widely considered as failed. Using the sustainable rural livelihoods framework, the study ethnographically investigates the performance of San livelihood portfolios. The main objective of the study was to interrogate the factors that prevent San communities from climbing up the social ladder to gain equal access to resources when compared with their Bantu neighbours. The study found out that some of the key drivers of the failed San communities’ transition include their location close to wild animals, systematic structural oppression by the Ndebele and Kalanga ethnic groups, and the natural environmental challenges such as climate change. We recommend that programming for San communities should take into cognisance these structural and contextual issues.

Under-utilised crops and rural livelihoods: Bambara groundnut in Tanzania

ABSTRACT Indigenous crops are often neglected in development research, largely because they are grown in particular localities and only account for modest shares of agricultural production at a national level. This article aims to rectify this neglect with respect to the Bambara groundnut using a mixed methods study of farmers in Mtwara, Tanzania. The interest is in determining the importance of the crop in local production patterns and livelihoods, as well as potential levers for improved utilisation. Using the Sustainable Rural Livelihoods framework, we show that the crop is popular and recognised for its agronomic and nutritional properties. It is grown as an additional (or marginal) rather than main crop, with most growers reporting meeting consumption and food security needs as their primary motivation. The absence of markets constitutes a strong barrier towards sales of Bambara, and many farmers report being deterred from growing it for that reason.

Adaptive strategies enhance smallholders’ livelihood resilience in Bihar, India

This study empirically assesses if and to what extent adaptive strategies contribute to smallholders’ livelihood resilience in Bihar, India. The sustainable rural livelihoods framework has been implemented to understand how household livelihood systems may interact with the outside context. This poses significant empirical and methodological challenges, since studies of the interconnections between livelihood resources, livelihood strategies and livelihood outcomes from a quantitative point of view are still limited. The results extend the theoretical understanding of the relationships identified by the Sustainable Rural Livelihoods framework, and also provide empirical evidence about how livelihood resources, livelihood strategies and livelihood outcomes (food security in particular) are strictly interconnected. The study highlights that while the adaptive strategies implementation is influenced by the livelihood resources of rural households, it significantly influences the food security status of the smallholders in Bihar. On the basis of the above, the current study emphasizes the importance of targeted interventions to improve specific forms of households’ livelihood resources which are prominent determinants of adoption of strategies that leads to the maintenance of resilience by environmentally dependent households in the developing world.

Tryout and (Dis)adoption of conservation agriculture. Evidence from Western Madagascar

Conservation agriculture has been promoted in sub-Saharan Africa to address land degradation, which jeopardizes farmers’ livelihoods. However, the low adoption rate of this technology raises the question of its suitability for smallholders. The aim of this study is to assess the factors influencing the tryout and disadoption of conservation agriculture thanks to a qualitative and econometric analysis. The Sustainable Rural Livelihoods framework is used to structure the analysis. Drawing on primary data collected from farmers in Western Madagascar, our model shows the adoption of the technology as a two-step process encompassing the tryout and disadoption. Our findings show a high tryout rate of CA - 56 % of the whole sample tried out CA - and also a high disadoption rate thereafter - 80 % of farmers who tried out CA later disadopted. We conclude that monetary poverty (financial capital) and agricultural work (social capital) decrease the likelihood a farmer will try out CA. The results also highlight that the longer the farmers receive CA technical support (human/social capital), the less likely they disadopt CA. The availability of upland areas (natural capital) influences farmers’ decisions both to try out CA and to adopt the technology thereafter. To tackle the problem of land degradation in this area, it is important to tailor conservation agriculture technology and its accompanying measures to the diversity of farm characteristics. Moreover, technical changes and farmers’ innovations need to be supported for a longer period.

Agroecological tourism: bridging conservation, food security and tourism goals to enhance smallholders’ livelihoods on South Pentecost, Vanuatu

ABSTRACTSmallholder farmers continue to make up the largest proportion of the world's disadvantaged. Rural smallholders in the South Pacific are particularly vulnerable to climate change, underinvestment and growing competition for land and resources. Strengthening synergies between agriculture and tourism through avenues such as agritourism has been widely discussed; however, very little research has approached these concepts from a sustainability perspective. This case study of rural Ni-Vanuatu smallholders uses the Agroecology and Sustainable Rural Livelihoods Framework (ASRLF) to explore tourism's potential contribution to improved conservation and food security outcomes. Data collection combined participatory methods such as “storian sessions” with analysis of secondary data.The findings highlight minimal current opportunities for rural Ni-Vanuatu smallholders to gain significantly from the tourism sector in Vanuatu. The shift from traditional gardening systems to cash cropping monocultures is also conflicting with tourism and conservation goals. This paper puts forward agroecological tourism as a strategy for integrating positive conservation, food security and livelihood outcomes for rural smallholders. It defines agroecological tourism as having a primary focus on the interpretation of sustainable traditional agroecosystems which exhibit cultural and heritage significance. Agroecological tourism has potential to support traditional practices, enhance the preservation of cultural knowledge and promote sustainable farming practices.

Agroecology and Sustainable Rural Livelihoods: A Conceptual Framework to Guide Development Projects in the Pacific Islands

This article reviews rural development literature in the areas of sustainable livelihoods and agroecology. Combining agroecological and sustainable livelihoods approaches enables interdisciplinary research that incorporates principles from sociology, economics, agronomy and ecology. The outcome of this literature analysis alongside participatory research in Vanuatu and Fiji in 2013–2014 was the development of the integrated Agroecology and Sustainable Rural Livelihoods Framework (ASRLF). The Pacific Island nations have a well-developed traditional economy, but appropriate rural economic development has been problematic. The ASRLF seeks to function in the local Pacific Island context while also having relevance to sustainable rural development projects elsewhere.

Participatory assessment of the sustainability of livelihoods in the agroecosystem of Abesard, Iran

In order to improve the livelihoods of communities and make them more sustainable, study of the vulnerability of livelihoods seems necessary. In this paper, participatory vulnerability analysis was used within a sustainable rural livelihoods framework to assess the sustainability of livelihoods in the agroecosystem of Abesard, Iran. In addition, this paper explored vulnerability contexts that affect livelihood assets. Findings revealed that land use change, climate variability, market fluctuations and higher mechanisation were the main reasons of vulnerability. To overcome these problems and to adapt to changes, households have followed livelihood strategies such as agricultural intensification, livelihood diversification, and agricultural biodiversity. The government has also provided some services such as extension programmes, fertilizers, and subsidies to compensate for asset limitations. Overall, implementation of the following development policies are recommended: (1) support of agricultural production by government institutions; (2) moving towards the development of sustainable agricultural practises that integrate a variety of methods in a sustainable manner; (3) development of agricultural intensification in a sustainable way that compensates for any inadequacy of assets; and (4) providing adult vocational training programmes for both men and women related to on-farm and off-farm activities. In the end, results highlighted the need for more emphasis on overcoming the challenges of sustainable agriculture using a participatory approach in assessment of the vulnerability of community livelihoods.

Livelihood Resilient Strategies through Beekeeping in Chitanga Village, Mwenezi District, Zimbabwe

<p>The study sought to establish the contribution of beekeeping in rural livelihoods sustainability. Chitanga village had experienced low agricultural productivity due to poor and infertile soils and this has led to food insecurity which had driven them into beekeeping. This opportunity has been driven by the existence of tall trees and wild plants that develop flowers in the village which attracted bees. However, the utility of beekeeping enterprise as a livelihood activity has not been fully realised. This study was carried out in the context of a sustainable rural livelihoods framework. This framework states that at any given time, every community or society falls under a vulnerability context as a result of both natural and human made disasters. In light of the vulnerability, a community mobilises the various forms of its assets at its disposal to earn a living. Applying this framework, the study analysed the strategies the community employed to enhance its livelihoods through the sharing of benefits. The research used questionnaires, structured interviews and observations as sources of gathering data. The study established the benefits which accrued from beekeeping that included honey as food, income in the form of cash, medicines, scenery creation for tourism and income generating projects through making of hives, growing of flowers and citrus fruits which attract bees. A backward and forward linkage of enterprises emerged. Employment creation and increasing in the number of livelihood activities in the area has been witnessed due to beekeeping. This culminated in diversification of livelihood options leading to rural transformation through utilization of local available resources. The study recommends that the sustainability of beekeeping enterprise should be reinforced by backward and forward linkages. The government partnered by NGOs should take the lead and compliment the efforts of beekeepers by providing clear policy and planning.</p>

Implications of a changing climate on food security and smallholders’ livelihoods in Bogotá, Colombia

Small farmers who supply the city of Bogota with food are facing many challenges that are jeopardizing their livelihoods and by extension, the food security of Colombia’s capital. We expect future changes in climatic conditions to exacerbate the plight of the small farmers and this is expected to compromise Bogota’s food security even further. This paper specifically seeks to assess the impact of climate change (CC) on the livelihoods of smallholders who supply Bogota with most of its food. In our multidisciplinary methodology, we translated the exposure to CC into direct impact on crops and assessed sensitivity and adaptive capacity using the sustainable rural livelihoods framework. The results show that rainfall (by average of 100 mm) and temperature (by average of 2.1 °C) will increase over the study area, while the future climate suitability of the most important crops such as mango (Mangifera indica), papaya (Carica papaya), corn (Zea mays) and plantain (Musa balbisiana) shows a decrease of 19 % to 47 % climate suitability by the year 2050. The assessment of sensitivity and adaptive capacity demonstrates that farmers participating in a farmers’ market, initiated by several local and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs), are less vulnerable to CC than farmers who sell through intermediaries. Those farmers selling directly to consumers in the farmers’ market have a higher adaptive capacity (3 on a scale of 3) in social and financial capital than those selling to intermediaries with less adaptive capacity (1 on a scale of 3). In light of the reduction in overall climatic suitability of some of the major crops and the change of geographic location of suitability for others, there are likely to be serious threats for Bogota’s food security, the ecological landscape around the city, and farmers’ livelihoods. We further conclude that unless proper adaptation measures are implemented, the geographical shift in climate suitability may also force farmers to shift their crops to higher elevations including remaining forests and paramos (the Colombian alpine tundra ecosystems), which may be threatened in the near future.

A multicriteria approach to sustainable energy supply for the rural poor

Despite significant progress in energy technology, about two billion people worldwide, particularly the poor in rural areas of developing countries, have no access to electricity. Decision-making concerning the most appropriate energy technology for supplying these areas has been difficult; existing energy decision-support tools have been useful but are mostly incomplete. Trade-offs, as well as impacts that can be positive or negative, may emerge as a result of implementing modern forms of energy. These can affect both community’s livelihoods as well as the confidence of decision-makers in relation to alternative technologies. The paper discusses a newly designed multicriteria approach and its novel robustness analysis for selecting energy generation systems for the improvement of livelihoods in rural areas. The proposed methodology builds upon a sustainable rural livelihoods framework to address multiple interactions and calculate trade-offs aimed at boosting decision-makers’ confidence in the selected technologies. The methodology is tested via a case study in Colombia.

Local perceptions of sustainability of farming systems on Leyte, Philippines – divergences and congruencies between different stakeholders

Resource-poor farmers in the Philippines have limited options for sustaining their livelihood, therefore it is important for them to practise and/or develop sustainable farming systems. But often in sustainability evaluations the perceptions of local stakeholders are not considered, although they are the ones who will apply sustainable technologies – or not apply them! This paper reports a study in Leyte, Philippines, where farmers, as well as stakeholders active in extension advice, on five study sites were asked to identify and rank criteria that could be used for comparison of different farming systems. Criteria were organised under the Sustainable Rural Livelihoods Framework, with its five capital assets: financial, physical, natural, human and social. When stakeholders ranked the identified list of criteria later individually, statistical differences between farmers and other stakeholders as well as between regions were found with regard to single criteria, but not with regard to the importance of the five different capital assets. Furthermore, farmers' individual ranking differed from the ranking by the group during focus group discussions. These findings indicate that the perceptions of farmers and other stakeholders regarding sustainability of farming systems are similar when looking at the whole picture, but differences regarding single issues can be wider. This underlines the importance of including several local stakeholders to identify suitable criteria. The concept of sustainable rural livelihoods seemed to correspond with stakeholders', especially farmers', perception of sustainability and worked well for identifying criteria covering all aspects of sustainability, including social and human aspects.

Sustainable Rural Livelihoods under Joint Forest Management (JFM) Programme: Some Evidence from West Bengal, India

The objectives of this article are to assess linkages and impact of participatory JFM Programme on Sustainable Rural Livelihoods (SRL) across socio-economic group of forest fringe communities. The study is based four sample FPCs – one female FPC and three joint FPCs - under Midnapore and Bankura districts in West Bengal. The results from this study suggest that the JFM Programme under the sample FPCs/Villages in West Bengal is participatory. With regard to the SRL framework, strong sustainability criteria meet for very poor and poor households, which live below poverty line and are dependent on forest resource for their livelihood security. The study suggests that force or law cannot effectively control illegal collection of TFPs for the households living below poverty line, until a considerable increase in the collection of legal forest products – NTFPs, fuelwood etc. – and wage income from forest provide for their minimum livelihood security.

Contending with unequal and privileged access to natural resources and land in the Okavango Delta, Botswana

This paper reviews how state policy and regulatory instruments, including protected area alienations and concessions, have altered or denied the access to land and natural livelihood resources of the indigenous Basarwa and minority subsistence‐oriented communities in the Okavango Delta (OD) in Botswana. Drawing on field research and guided by a sustainable rural livelihoods framework, the paper provides an overview of key institutional interventions – in particular the setting up of the Moremi Game Reserve, Wildlife Conservation Policy, Tourism Policy, Agricultural Development Policy and the erection of veterinary fences – that have served to privilege a foreign‐owned and dominated commercialized wildlife and nature tourism sector and the export‐oriented beef industry in the OD. The officially sanctioned barriers to customary and usufructory rights and access, and the non‐recognition of historically embedded traditional land uses have decimated already marginalized resource‐based subsistence livelihoods, and precipitated intergroup conflicts over preferential rights and access to resources and opportunities, notably wildlife, non‐timber veld products, agriculture and community‐based tourism schemes. Such outcomes, moreover, will have consequences for the longer‐term sustainability of the OD both as a socioeconomic resource base and as a natural ecosystem.

Participatory Watershed Development in India: Can it Sustain Rural Livelihoods?

AbstractThe purpose of this article is to assess the impact of policy interventions through watershed development (WD) on the livelihoods of the rural communities. This is done by assessing the programme in the context of a sustainable rural livelihoods framework, that is, looking at its impact on the five types of capital assets and strategies required for the means of living. The article also examines the vulnerability and stability of these capital assets, as well as analysing which people participate in the programme and enhance their livelihoods through sharing its benefits. In the light of the analysis, it is argued that watershed development holds the potential for enhanced livelihood security even in geo‐climatic conditions where the watershed cannot bring direct irrigation benefits on a large scale. In such fragile environments, however, watershed development is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for sustaining rural livelihoods. While the focus of watershed development is primarily on strengthening the ecological base such as water bodies (including traditional tanks), grazing lands and wastelands, it should be complemented with other programmes which focus on landless poor households in order to make it pro‐poor. In the context of low rainfall regions where improvement in irrigation facilities is slow, agriculture alone cannot support the communities. Policies and programmes should aim at creating an environment for diverse livelihood activities, which are the choice of the household rather than distress activities.

Household food security in semi-arid Africa—the contribution of participatory adaptive research and development to rural livelihoods in Eastern Kenya

The already precarious household food-security situation in many semi-arid areas of Africa may be rendered more so through the implementation of structural adjustment programmes that frequently prescribe austerity measures, along with a safety net to protect the vulnerable. However, longer-term development policy perspectives on the one hand, and shorter-term food-relief considerations on the other, often conflict. This paper illuminates the policy conflicts which arise when local-level research and development initiatives interface with the effects of macro-policy-initiated changes and safety-net interventions. Using a participatory agricultural research project in Eastern Kenya as a case study, the paper describes specific household food-security problem diagnosis and a range of research interventions planned within a more sustainable rural livelihoods framework. Working with local farmers, the project implemented a range of applied research and linked development interventions that showed promise in easing food security through a broadening of the livelihood base. Some of these initiatives were carried further through the local farmers' own initiative. The conclusion is that semi-arid areas, despite views that see these as low-potential and obvious safety-net candidates, often have potential for agricultural intensification and increased productivity. However, to ensure that research results are utilised and farmers have access to new technology and markets, there is a need for external or public-sector support to integrated longer-term development initiatives. This may require rethinking the scope of research and development approaches, particularly removing unhelpful boundaries between research, extension and development functions, and increasing farmer participation in the whole process—if possible as part of a less centralised and more household-oriented approach to food-security policy and strategy.