ACE8004: SUSTAINABLE RURAL
LIVELIHOODS
ANALYSIS
Sustainable Rural Livelihoods is a framework for understanding and
promoting development which is fast becoming the 'framework of choice'
amongst development professionals, practitioners and researchers.
This module AIMS to:
provide students with a basic understanding of sustainable rural
livelihoods concepts, approaches, frameworks and applications.
OBJECTIVES: By the end of
this module, students should be able to:
- understand the principles of sustainable livelihoods
- understand the applications of these principles to practical
development issues and problems
- be capable of applying the framework to specific real world
contexts and circumstances.
It is taught by Professor David Harvey of
the School of Agriculture,Food and Rural
Development (SAFRD).
MODUS
OPERANDI: We operate this module largely as a Guided Reading course,
since the general approach and illustrations of its application are
already well documented, especially on the internet. Students are
expected to HAVE READ the references supplied for each componant of the
material PRIOR TO THE RELEVANT CLASS. The class session will then
typically consist of a brief review of the major points and features
of week's material, followed by a class discussion of this
material.
In addition, because of the timetables and teaching arrangements for
students following, especially, the applied science MScs, every
attempt will be made to restrict formal
teaching classes to the Easter (second) term, and
we intend to cease formal
teaching by the Easter vacation (eight weeks
of formal teaching).
References:
Two key texts (available in the
Robinson Library, and from which much of these web-based notes are
derived) are:
- Frank Ellis: Rural
Livelihoods and Diversity in Developing
Countries, Oxford UP, 2000 (Library shelf No. 307.1412 ELL)
- Diana Carney (ed.) Sustainable
Rural Livelihoods, What
Contribution can we make?, Department for International
Development,
London, 1998 (Library shelf No. 338.91091724 SUS)
A further general background reference is available on the net : Chambers,
R. and Conway, G., 1992, “Sustainable
Rural Livelihoods: Practical
Concepts for the 21st. century”, IDS discussion paper, No 296
A principle entry point web site for Livelihood material is the Livelihoods Connect page.
Recent
Survey and appraisal of Natural
Resource related projects: Livelihoods Synthesis Study: Key Determinants of poor peoples'
livelihood strategies and natural resources related management
opportunities. Bianca Ambrose-Oji, DFID, Natural Resources
Systems Programme (NRSP), July, 2004. "commisioned to synthesise
information on key determinants influencing strategies, documenting 18
NRSP projects, encompassing 8 countries spread over three regions
(sub-Saharan Africa, Indian sub-continent, Latin America and the
Caribbean)." The link is to the summary (44 pages, pdf
file). The
full report (130 pages).
Further reference sites are shown below.
Assessment
& Appraisal: One assignment
will be set during the course, which will account
for 60% of the final marks for the course. The remaining 40% of the
final marks will be attached to a final
summative assessment of your
understanding of the course material. The following is the
provisional setting of these two assessments, for discussion and
agreement with the class during the first two sessions.
Interim Assessment: due April 18th, 12.00pm, as
an
electronically submitted Word document (to Professor David Harvey):
Sustainable Rural Livelihoods
- an example.
For an example of your choice,
explain how the Rural Livelihoods framework can assist in the
development process.
This explanation should be limited to 4,000 words (or 10 pages of A4,
single spaced, 12 point, whichever is the greatest), not including
figures or references. You should outline the example you choose,
and then explain how the framework can be applied to your example.
Final Assessment: due May 19th,
5.00pm, as an electronically submitted Word document (to Professor David Harvey): For an example of your choice, explain how
the Rural Livelihoods framework can assist in the development process.
This explanation should be limited to 4,000 words (or 10 pages of A4,
single spaced, 12 point, whichever is the greatest), not including
figures or references. You should outline the example you choose,
and
then explain how the framework can be applied to your example.
As you will see, these two assessments are identical. The intention is
that the interim assessment will be marked and returned with comments
and criticisms by Friday 2nd May, and that your final
submission will take account of these comments and criticisms. The aim
is to encourage you to apply the principles of the framework to a
real-world example of your own choice, and to develop your
understanding
through this route, with feedback and guidance from your lecturing
staff.
Outline Syllabus (subject to
revision)
- Background
- a brief consideration of "development" as the context for
sustainable livelihoods. - taken as read and not class material.
- The economic framework: Economic
Systems and General Equilibrium
Concepts (1 week)
- The basic
concepts of livelihoods, diversification and rural change, and a
framework for livelihoods analysis (2 weeks)
- Dimensions and Determinants of
Diverse Rural Livelihoods (2 weeks)
- Poverty
and income
distributions
- Agriculture
and farm
productivity
- Environment
and sustainability
- A couple of arguments you might want to consider: Multifunctional Farming - what
does it mean and how might we encourage it?
- Policy dependency -
the difficulties of reforming farm (agricultural) policies.
- Gender and rural livelihoods
- Macro
policies and
reform agendas, and MacroEconomic
Principles
(section e of Ellis's Dimensions and determinants)
- What
goes Wrong? a consideration of some problems with
globalisation and international markets. (1 week with 5)
- Investigating livelihoods for
policy purposes (links)
"PRA is a family of continuously
evolving
approaches, methods, values and behaviours which has turned much that
is conventional on its head. It seeks to enable local and marginalised
people to share, enhance and analyse their knowledge of life and
conditions, and to plan, act, monitor and evaluate. In its philosophy,
practice and vocabulary it has come to stress:
- the question ‘whose reality
counts?’ raising issues of equity and empowerment, and of enabling
women, poor people and others who are marginalised to express their
realities and make them count;
- the primacy of the
personal,
especially behaviour and attitudes, and exercising personal judgement
and responsibility." (Chambers,
Ideas for Development: Reflecting Forwards, IDS Working Paper 238, 2004) see,
also, Participatory
Learning and Action (PLA)
and RCPLA Network,
see also Pretty:
A trainer's guide to Particpatory Learning & Action.
- See, especially, Dr.
P.O-T's Basic Guide, and Methods and Tools notes
- Case studies Intro. (1 week)
John Lingard: to
be pursued without formal lectures during the summer term, in
preparation for the summative assessement. See, especially,
"Evaluation of a Livelihoods Approach in Assessing the Introduction of
Poverty-Focused Aquaculture into a Large-Scale Irrigation System in
Tamil Nadu, India" by Cecile Brugere
and John Lingard,
2001. See also, powerpoint presentation on "Livelihoods analysis, aquaculture and
irrigation in India"
[This syllabus (3 - 7) reproduces the major chapter headings of the
Frank Ellis
text, though not necessarily in the text order]
Potentially useful
reference sites:
Forum for the Future
("recognised as the leading
sustainable development charity in the UK")
The Carnegie
Commission for rural community development (UK)
Livelihoods Connect page (The
DfID and IDS Livelihoods front
page)
The Development
Gateway (an independent not-for-profit organization. It was
conceived by World Bank
President James Wolfensohn and initially developed in the World Bank.
Operations began in July 2001)
United Nations University: World
Institute for Development Economics Research (WIDER)
Global Development Network
("The Global Development Network benefits from the support of many
organizations and institutes across the world. These include: regional
network partners, global partners and donors.")
International Institute for Environment
and Development
International Institute for Sustainable
Development: especially, perhaps, their Measurement &
Assessment page, which has links to a 1997 book (available as a pdf
file) on Assessing Sustainable Development: Principles into
Practice. (the outcome of their Bellagio project).
World
Bank: Capacity Development Resource Centre: "The Capacity Development Resource Center
provides an overview of case studies, lessons learned, "how to"
approaches, and good practices pertaining to capacity development.
It
also includes links to international and local capacity development
agencies and other knowledge sources including working papers, recent
books, strategy notes, and diagnostics. The empirical examples captured
in this website are primarily intended to support World Bank task teams
and other development professionals who are working with countries to
design and manage capacity development interventions."
UNESCO:
Management of Social Transformations (MOST) Programme: "designed as a research
programme to produce reliable and relevant knowledge for policy makers.
The original mandate established a strong commitment to the promotion
of research that was comparative, international, interdisciplinary and
policy relevant. The programme was also designed to organize and
promote international research networks, to give attention to capacity
building and to establish a clearing house of knowledge in the social
science field.
The new focus (2003) is on building
efficient bridges between research, policy and practice. The programme
will promote a culture of evidence-based policy-making – nationally,
regionally and internationally.
Investigation Methods:
Pathways to
participation: critical
reflections on PRA, Andrea Cornwall and Garett
Pratt, 2002, IDS
Participation Group briefing.
IIED
PLA Notes Participatory Learning and Action "the world's
leading
informal journal on participatory
learning and action approaches and methods, reaching over 20,000
readers in 121 countries."
Recent References:
IFPRI: Assessing
Development Strategies and Africa's Food and Nutrition Security -
Franz Heidhues, Achi Atsain, Hezron Nyangito, Martine Padilla,
Gérard Ghersi, and Jean-Charles Le Vallée (PDF file)
IFPRI: 2020 AFRICA CONFERENCE BRIEFS, Reforming
Land Rights in Africa - Tidiane Ngaido (PDF file)
IFPRI Press briefing TIME TO EMPOWER
WOMEN IN THE DEVELOPING WORLD in
advance of the
United Nations' 49th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women,
February 28 to March 11
Charles Kenny: "Why are
we worried about income? Nearly everything that matters is converging."
World Development, 33 (1),
2005, 1- 19.
Theme
Issue of Development Policy Review:
Analysing Macro-Poverty Linkages, Volume 23, Issue 3, May 2005
"The analysis of macro-poverty linkages has emerged as an important yet
contentious area of national and international policy-making. Though
considerable progress has been made during the past few years in
analysing these linkages, as well as in developing tools for such an
analysis, the potential contribution macroeconomic policies can make to
poverty reduction remains largely unrealised. Based on an international
workshop, co-organized by the European Network on Debt and Development
(EURODAD), the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI),
the New Rules for Global Finance Coalition and Oxfam International,
this Theme Issue provides useful insights into methodological issues as
well as policy implications."
"Analysing Macro-Poverty Linkages:
An Overview" Bernhard G. Gunter, Marc J. Cohen and Hans
Lofgren
John Thompson "Participatory Approaches in Government
Bureaucracies: Facilitating the Process of Institutional Change",
World Development, 1995, 23 (9)
1521 - 1554. Summary. -
This paper examines why a growing number of government bureaucracies
are attempting to develop and integrate participatory research and
development approaches into their program activities. Using a
conceptual model of the institutional learning and training cycle, it
analyzes the experiences of
three large public agencies in Sri Lanka, Kenya and the Philippines
which have made significant progress toward building internal capacity
to employ participatory approaches effectively and facilitate the
process of institutional change. The training of agency personnel in
participatory principles, concepts and methods has played an important
role in these transformations. Both the model and the case studies
reveal, however, that to have a lasting impact training must be viewed
as part of a broader process of organizational learning. The paper
concludes with 10 key elements necessary for institutionalizing
participatory approaches within public agencies.
Some ideas about how social systems relate to each other - which may
provide some insights into how "Social Capital" and "Transforming
Structures and Processes" might be related to the wider issues facing
humanity: "A conjecture on the
Nature of Social Systems", D. R. Harvey, 21st Century Society, 2008.
Let me know if you find any
more useful sites, and I'll add them to the list.
Comments and suggestions to DRH
Back to DRH Teaching index.