Livelihoods toolkits and practical guides from Eldis Livelihoods Connect

Eldis Livelihoods Connect aims to provide researchers, policy-makers and development practitioners with up-to-date, diverse and credible information on the application of livelihoods approaches to development, research, policy and practice. These information resources cover a range of frameworks, principles and methodologies covered by the term ‘livelihoods approaches’ – principally multi-disciplinary, multi-level, people-centred, asset-based approaches to development. A list of practical guides and toolkits on a range of livelihoods related topics is available on Livelihoods Connect at: http://www.eldis.org/go/topics/dossiers/livelihoods-connect/tools

id21 Viewpoints: Revitalising the Sustainable Livelihoods Approach

The Livelihoods Network's ESRC-funded seminars bring together researchers, policymakers and practitioners to explore the theoretical development and practical application of Sustainable Livelihoods Approaches (SLAs). Following the first seminar in October 2008, Caroline Pinder, Roland Hodson, David Sanderson, Zuo Ting and representatives of Khanya-aicdd reflect on lessons learnt and future prospects for livelihoods approaches to development through inputs on:

Revitalising the Sustainable Livelihoods Approach: At an October 2008 seminar at the Institute of Development Studies, in the UK, participants discussed whether and how Sustainable Livelihoods Approaches (SLA) could be revitalised and returned to the forefront of development approaches.
Transactional or transformational? The search for the magic bullet: Over the last decade a number of approaches to poverty reduction have been fashionable. These include rights-based approaches (RBA), the governance approach, the microfinance approach, and sustainable livelihoods approaches (SLA). All promised more than they delivered but it was SLA that sunk from popularity most quickly
Livelihoods approaches are a powerful tool for practice: Despite demonstrable benefits, the rapid ascendancy of Sustainable Livelihoods Approaches (SLA) in the mid to late 1990s was followed by their quick demise among some donors, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and development agencies, as a result of internal politics and other factors.
Linking sustainable livelohoods approaches to policymaking in China: As the largest developing country in the world, China faces enormous challenges in rural areas. Peasants comprise the overwhelming majority of the country’s impoverished. Poverty alleviation and the advancement of rural life in this highly diversified transitional society require multiple approaches.
Khanya-aicdd's application of SLA in South Africa: In the last decade the South Africa based organisation, Khanya-aicdd, has taken the Sustainable Livelihoods Approach (SLA) and applied, implemented and contextualised it across Africa. For example, Khanya have taken the so-called ‘Policies, Institutions and Processes’ (PIPs) of the DFID SL Framework and distilled six governance indicators at micro, meso and macro levels.

To read more about these inputs or to find out more about the Seminar Series, please see here >>>

Guidance Sheets on the Sustainable Livelihoods Approach, Livelihoods Connect

The Guidance Sheets offer core guidance on the Sustainable Livelihoods Approach. Produced around the turn of the millennium by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) with the aim to “stimulate reflection and learning”, they describe the department’s understanding of the SLA and relate it to their organisational goals at the time of production. The 8 guidance sheets, each 10 – 20 pages long, cover issues related to the use and methods for implementation of SLA, the reform of the policy and institutional environment and a comparison of development approaches. There is also an extensive glossary and a bibliography regarding SLA issues. Guidance sheets are available in English, French,Spanish and an umber of other languages. Read on...

Baumgartner R. and Högger R. (eds), 2004, In Search of Sustainable Livelihood, Managing Resources and Change, Sage, New Delhi, Thousand Oaks, London.

Policy makers and practitioners of rural development have for long focused on sustainable land use and sustainable natural resource management as major concerns. However, experience shows that this focus often fails to address the issue that is of utmost importance fir rural households in semi-arid India – namely the rapid erosion of sustainable livelihoods. The contributors to this important volume adopt a holistic approach to understanding rural livelihood systems. They maintain that a livelihood system embraces not just the economic conditions for physical subsistence, but all the elements that provide material continuity and cultural meaning to the life of a family or a community. In this framework, the contributors explore and analyse a diverse range of rural livelihood systems based on fieldwork in a variety of contexts.

Sustainable Livelihoods: Lessons From Early Experience, Caroline Ashley; Diana Carney (1999)

Ashley and Carney draw lessons and challenges from practical applications of SL approaches in eleven countries or regions, as well as exploring internal institutional issues for DFID. These are preliminary lessons but they reflect optimism about SL approaches, and openness to reflection, learning and sharing. Download (Pdf 440 kb)

Keysheets for Sustainable Livelihoods, Overseas Development Institute for DFID, (2004)

The purpose of these Key Sheets is to provide decision-makers with an easy and up-to-date point of reference on issues relating to the provision of support for sustainable livelihoods.

The sheets are designed for those who are managing change and who are concerned to make well-informed implementation decisions. They aim to distil theoretical debate and field experience, making it readily accessible and useful across a range of situations. The sheets address three broad sets of issues: (I) Service Delivery (II) Resource Management (III) Policy Planning and Implementation. Each of the development themes is divided into a number of sub-themes for which a 1-2 page key sheet gives an overview on the current debate and the key issues for decision-making. Read on...

Understanding Rural Livelihoods in India - a set of briefing notes, Caroline Ashley, et al, ODI (2003) (Experience from ODI’s “Livelihood Options” project in Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh)

These briefing notes aim to help policy-makers and practitioners to increase their understanding of complex rural livelihoods in India. Policy choices in a range of areas such as employment, enterprise development, social protection, rural infrastructure and agriculture have major impacts on rural livelihoods. In turn, the outcomes of such policies are affected by the choices, preferences and constraints of the poor. Thus effective policy-making requires an understanding of rural livelihoods. The briefing notes focus on three livelihood issues in particular: the dynamics of livelihood change; diversification of livelihoods; and issues of exclusion and access to livelihood options and resources. Read on...

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