Will the sustainable livelihoods approach regain its reputation?
The sustainable livelihoods approach (SLA) has served as a powerful tool and helped many development practitioners analyse rural development issues from a range of perspectives. A decade ago many development organisations placed SLA at the centre of their development programmes. Compared to the last decade, however, the application of SLA today has dwindled. Why is SLA not as prominent as it was a decade ago? What can be done to restore its reputation?
From his personal experience working in Ethiopia with Save the Children UK, Tesfu Kahsay adds his thoughts to the issue of re-energising sustainable livelihoods approaches in an id21 viewpoints article which can be consulted here: http://www.id21.org/viewpoints/KahsaySept09.html
Recent id21 viewpoints addressing the SLA include the following:
- Re-energising livelihoods approaches
Robert Chambers and Ian Scoones from the Institute of Development Studies, reflect on the future prospects for livelihoods approaches to development. Robert Chambers discusses the failure to apply livelihoods thinking in the North and to those who are rich in the South. Ian Scoones asks, why are livelihoods approaches less prominent today than a decade ago? - 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, Jane Clark and Diana Carney, David Sanderson, Zuo Ting and representatives of Khanya-aicdd reflect on lessons learnt and future prospects for livelihoods approaches to development.
To read these and other id21 viewpoints, please visit http://www.id21.org/viewpoints/index.html
