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, 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.

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. The seminar was hosted by the Livelihoods Connect Network.

Download a PDF versionWhatever happened to SLA within DFID?

From 1998-2002, The UK Department for International Development (DFID) emphasised the development and application of sustainable livelihoods approaches (SLA). Giving meaning and substance to SLA was both challenging and inclusive; it reinvigorated the rural development group in DFID and significantly influenced the wider development community.

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Household by Household: SLA
The last decade has produced a number of approaches to poverty reduction. These include the rights-based approach, the governance approach, the microfinance approach, and the sustainable livelihoods approach (SLA). All promised more than they delivered but it was SLA that lost popularity most quickly.Download a PDF version

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. Download a PDF version

Linking sustainable livelihoods 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. Download a PDF version

Khanya-aicdd’s application of SLA in Southern 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. Download a PDF version

Further Information
Helen Schneider
Livelihoods Connect
Institute of Development Studies
University of Sussex
Brighton, BN1 9RE, UK
Tel +44 1273 915805
Email livelihoods-connect@ids.ac.uk

Useful links
Information on livelihoods approaches
Join the seminar series online discussions

January 2009

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