Livelihood

Last updated

A person's livelihood (derived from life-lode, "way of life"; cf. OG lib-leit) [1] refers to their "means of securing the basic necessities (food, water, shelter and clothing) of life". Livelihood is defined as a set of activities essential to everyday life that are conducted over one's life span. Such activities could include securing water, food, fodder, medicine, shelter, clothing. An individual's livelihood involves the capacity to acquire aforementioned necessities in order to satisfy the basic needs of themselves and their household. The activities are usually carried out repeatedly and in a manner that is sustainable and providing of dignity. [2] For instance, a fisherman's livelihood depends on the availability and accessibility of fish.

Contents

The concept of Sustainable Livelihood (SL) [3] [4] [5] [6] is an attempt to go beyond the conventional definitions and approaches to poverty eradication. [7]

These had been found to be too narrow because they focused only on certain aspects or manifestations of poverty, such as low income, or did not consider other vital aspects of poverty such as vulnerability and social exclusion. It is now recognized that more attention must be paid to the various factors and processes which either constrain or enhance poor people's ability to make a living in an economically, ecologically, and socially sustainable manner.

The SL concept offers a more coherent and integrated approach to poverty. The sustainable livelihoods idea was first introduced by the Brundtland Commission on Environment and Development, and the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development expanded the concept, advocating for the achievement of sustainable livelihoods as a broad goal for poverty eradication.

In 1992 Robert Chambers and Gordon Conway [8] proposed the following composite definition of a sustainable rural livelihood, which is applied most commonly at the household level: "A livelihood comprises the capabilities, assets (stores, resources, claims and access) and activities required for a means of living: a livelihood is sustainable which can cope with and recover from stress and shocks, maintain or enhance its capabilities and assets, and provide sustainable livelihood opportunities for the next generation; and which contributes net benefits to other livelihoods at the local and global levels and in the short and long term." [9]

In social sciences

In social sciences, the concept of livelihood extends to include social and cultural means, i.e. "the command an individual, family, or other social group has over an income and/or bundles of resources that can be used or exchanged to satisfy its needs. This may involve information, cultural knowledge, social networks and legal rights as well as tools, land and other physical resources." [10]

The concept of livelihood is used in the fields such as political ecology in research that focuses on sustainability and human rights.

Contributors to literature and practice

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rural area</span> Geographic area outside towns and cities

In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry are typically described as rural, as well as other areas lacking substantial development. Different countries have varying definitions of rural for statistical and administrative purposes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International development</span> Concept concerning the level of development on an international scale

International development or global development is a broad concept denoting the idea that societies and countries have differing levels of economic or human development on an international scale. It is the basis for international classifications such as developed country, developing country and least developed country, and for a field of practice and research that in various ways engages with international development processes. There are, however, many schools of thought and conventions regarding which are the exact features constituting the "development" of a country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Acumen (organization)</span> Nonprofit impact investment fund in the USA

Acumen is a nonprofit impact investment fund based in the U.S. that focuses on investing in social enterprises that serve low-income individuals. Acumen was founded in April 2001 by Jacqueline Novogratz. It aims to demonstrate that small amounts of philanthropic capital, combined with business acumen, can result in thriving enterprises that serve vast numbers of the poor. Over the years, Acumen has invested $154.4 million in 167 companies and has had a successful track record in sourcing and executing investment opportunities in the clean energy, education, financial inclusion, health care and agriculture sectors.

Poverty in Pakistan has been recorded by the World Bank at 39.3% using the lower middle-income poverty rate of US$3.2 per day for the fiscal year 2020–21. In September 2021, the government stated that 22% percent of its population lives below the national poverty line set at Rs. 3030 (US$10) per month.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Energy poverty</span> Lack of access to energy services such as electricity and heating

In developing countries and some areas of more developed countries, energy poverty is lack of access to modern energy services in the home. In 2022, 759 million people lacked access to consistent electricity and 2.6 billion people used dangerous and inefficient cooking systems. Their well-being is negatively affected by very low consumption of energy, use of dirty or polluting fuels, and excessive time spent collecting fuel to meet basic needs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Institute of Development Studies</span> UK research institute

The Institute of Development Studies (IDS) is a research and learning organisation affiliated with the University of Sussex in Brighton, England, and based on its campus in Falmer, East Sussex. It delivers research and teaching in the area of development studies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sustainability measurement</span> Quantitative basis for the informed management of sustainability

Sustainability measurement is a set of frameworks or indicators used to measure how sustainable something is. This includes processes, products, services and businesses. Sustainability is difficult to quantify. It may even be impossible to measure as there is no fixed definition. To measure sustainability, frameworks and indicators consider environmental, social and economic domains. The metrics vary by use case and are still evolving. They include indicators, benchmarks and audits. They include sustainability standards and certification systems like Fairtrade and Organic. They also involve indices and accounting. They can include assessment, appraisal and other reporting systems. The metrics are used over a wide range of spatial and temporal scales. For organizations, sustainability measures include corporate sustainability reporting and Triple Bottom Line accounting. For countries, they include estimates of the quality of sustainability governance or quality of life measures, or environmental assessments like the Environmental Sustainability Index and Environmental Performance Index. Some methods let us track sustainable development. These include the UN Human Development Index and ecological footprints.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rural poverty</span> Poverty in rural areas, which are often less developed than urban areas worldwide

Rural poverty refers to situations where people living in non-urban regions are in a state or condition of lacking the financial resources and essentials for living. It takes account of factors of rural society, rural economy, and political systems that give rise to the marginalization and economic disadvantage found there. Rural areas, because of their small, spread-out populations, typically have less well maintained infrastructure and a harder time accessing markets, which tend to be concentrated in population centers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deep Joshi</span> Indian activist

Deep Joshi is an Indian social worker and NGO activist and a recipient of the Magsaysay award in 2009. He is recognised for his leadership in bringing professionalism to the NGO movement in India. He co-founded a non-profit organisation, Professional Assistance for Development Action (PRADAN), of which he was the Executive Director till 2007. He was awarded the 2009 Magsaysay award for Community Leadership for his work for "development of rural communities". He is also a recipient of the civilian honour of Padma Shri.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Chambers (development scholar)</span> British sociologist, born 1932

Robert John Haylock Chambers OBE is a British academic and development practitioner. He spent his academic career at the Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex. In 2013 he became an honorary fellow of the International Institute of Social Studies.

Tzedek is a UK-based registered charity organisation which aims to provide a Jewish response to the problem of extreme global poverty. Registered as a charity in 1993, Tzedek has a number of overseas development programmes, working closely with local NGOs to alleviate extreme poverty in Northern Ghana and Northeast & Southeast India. As well as supporting local NGOs within these regions, Tzedek aims to develop the leadership skills of young Jewish leaders within the community to provide a long-term, sustainable solution to global poverty.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Climate change and poverty</span> Correlation of disproportionate impacts of climate on impoverished people

Climate change and poverty are deeply intertwined because climate change disproportionally affects poor people in low-income communities and developing countries around the world. The impoverished have a higher chance of experiencing the ill-effects of climate change due to the increased exposure and vulnerability. Vulnerability represents the degree to which a system is susceptible to, or unable to cope with, adverse effects of climate change including climate variability and extremes.

Nigeria had one of the world's highest economic growth rates, averaging 7.4% according to the Nigeria economic report that was released in July 2019 by the World Bank. Following the oil price collapse in 2014–2016, combined with negative production shocks, the gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate dropped to 2.7% in 2015. In 2016 during its first recession in 25 years, the economy contracted by 1.6%. Nationally, 43 percent of Nigerians live below the poverty line, while another 25 percent are vulnerable. For a country with massive wealth and a huge population to support commerce, a well-developed economy, and plenty of natural resources such as oil, the level of poverty remains unacceptable. However, poverty may have been overestimated due to the lack of information on the extremely huge informal sector of the economy, estimated at around 60% more, of the current GDP figures. As of 2018, the population growth rate is higher than the economic growth rate, leading to a slow rise in poverty. According to a 2018 report by the World Bank, almost half the population is living below the international poverty line, and unemployment peaked at 23.1%.

Poverty in Sri Lanka is 31% of the population as of June 8, 2023 Sri Lanka's life expectancy and literacy rate are nearly on par with those of developed countries, and even top the rankings for the South Asia region. While all these indicate that Sri Lanka should be experiencing a high standard of living, until recently it has only ranked in the medium category of the Human Development Index (HDI). This is despite the fact that Sri Lanka has been experiencing moderate growth in its GDP averaging 5.5 per annum between 2006 and 2009. One of the reasons is due to its relatively low GDP per capital;. The Sri Lankan government has been successful in reducing poverty from 15.2% on 2006 to 8.9% in 2010, urban poverty was reduced from 6.7 to 5.3% while rural poverty was reduced from 15.7 to 9.5%, and the nation has made significant progress towards achieving Millennium Development Goals on eradicating extreme poverty and hunger.

Environmental inequality in the United Kingdom is the way in which the quality of the environment differs between different communities in the UK. These differences are felt across a number of aspects of the environment, including air pollution, access to green space and exposure to flood risk.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bees for Development</span> International charity

Bees for Development is an international charity working to alleviate poverty through beekeeping. Beekeeping contributes to supporting sustainable livelihoods in poor and remote communities; honey bees provide an essential ecosystem service. Bees for Development currently runs projects in Uganda, Zanzibar, Ethiopia and Kyrgyzstan. Its offices are in Monmouth, South Wales.

Balochistan Rural Support Programme (BRSP) was a project funded by the German technical cooperation agency Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) in the early 1980s which was converted into the Balochistan Rural Support Programme in 1991. It is a Non Government Organization (NGO), part of the Rural Support Programmes Network, working in rural areas of Balochistan, Pakistan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sankar Datta</span> Biography of Sankar Datta

Sankar Datta is a development worker who has spent his life searching for a better way to Serve people of India.

The Sarhad Rural Support Programme (SRSP) is the largest non-governmental organization working to alleviate poverty in North West Pakistan. It was established in 1989 with the aim of reducing poverty and ensuring sustainable means of livelihood in what is now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. SRSP is part of the Rural Support Programmes (RSP's) initiated by United Nations Environment Programme Global 500 Award winner Shoaib Sultan Khan. It is now the largest regional RSP, with extensive outreach into communities. In recent years because of its vast outreach, SRSP has had to play a prominent role in disasters that have hit Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. As a result, humanitarian work along with development has become a core competency of the organization.

Sustainable Livelihood emerges at the intersection of development and environmental studies to offer a new way to think about work, production and distribution. Specifically, the work of vulnerable populations are discussed in this concept to build a sustainable future where inequality is eliminated in households. The term reflects a concern with extending the focus of poverty studies beyond the physical manifestations of poverty to include also vulnerability and social exclusion.

References

  1. ↑ Wedgwood, Hensleigh (1855). "On False Etymologies". Transactions of the Philological Society (6): 68.
  2. ↑ Oxford Dictionary of English. Oxford University Press. 2010. doi:10.1093/acref/9780199571123.001.0001. ISBN   9780199571123 – via www.oxfordreference.com.
  3. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-10-04. Retrieved 2013-08-01.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. ↑ "IDS Bookshop - Item details". Archived from the original on 2013-10-05. Retrieved 2013-08-01.
  5. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-10-05. Retrieved 2013-08-01.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. ↑ "Data" (PDF). www.sarpn.org.
  7. ↑ Krantz, Lasse (2001). "The Sustainable Livelihood Approach to Poverty Reduction" (PDF). SIDA: 1.
  8. ↑ "Documents" (PDF). opendocs.ids.ac.uk.
  9. ↑ "Info" (PDF). www.humanecologyreview.org.
  10. ↑ Blaikie P., Cannon T., Davis I., Wisner B. At Risk: Natural Hazards, People’s Vulnerability, and Disasters. New York, NY: Routledge, 2004,
  11. ↑ "Ian Scoones". www.ids.ac.uk. Retrieved 2016-03-24.
  12. ↑ Bebbington, Anthony (1999). "Capitals and Capabilities: A Framework for Analyzing Peasant Viability, Rural Livelihoods and Poverty" (PDF).
  13. ↑ "Nothing found for Publications Prarticle 2005 09 29 5069774463 Prarticle 2005 09 29 1875579521 Skatpublication 2005 11 22 4965887530 File". skat.ch. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2013-08-01.
  14. 1 2 "In Search of Sustainable Livelihood Systems - SAGE Publications Inc". www.sagepub.com. Retrieved 2016-03-24.
  15. ↑ "Premchander, Smita - SAGE Publications Inc". www.sagepub.com. Retrieved 2016-03-24.
  16. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-11-26. Retrieved 2013-08-01.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  17. ↑ [ dead link ]
  18. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2004-09-07. Retrieved 2013-08-01.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  19. ↑ "Commission for Research Partnerships with Developing Countries" (PDF). www.kfpe.ch. Retrieved 2016-03-24.
  20. 1 2 "Ruralfinance.org - Min økonomi blogg". Ruralfinance.org. Archived from the original on 2013-07-02. Retrieved 2016-03-24.
  21. ↑ "Gkkaranth". Archived from the original on 2013-05-02. Retrieved 2013-08-01.
  22. ↑ "G K Karanth - Publications". www.researchgate.net. Retrieved 2016-03-24.
  23. ↑ "V Ramaswamy". www.isec.ac.in.
  24. ↑ The Threshing Floor Disappears: Rural Livelihood System in Transition. Institute for Social and Economic Change. 2003-01-01.
  25. ↑ "Opinion data" (PDF). www.odi.org.uk.
  26. ↑ Ellis, Frank (2000-06-29). Rural Livelihoods and Diversity in Developing Countries. OUP Oxford. ISBN   9780198296966.
  27. ↑ "Rural Livelihoods and Diversity in Developing Countries". Goodreads. Retrieved 2016-03-24.
  28. ↑ "Research data" (PDF). r4d.dfid.gov.uk.
  29. ↑ "Professor Frank Ellis - UEA". www.uea.ac.uk. Retrieved 2016-03-24.
  30. ↑ [ dead link ]
  31. ↑ Ellis, Frank (2000-05-01). "The Determinants of Rural Livelihood Diversification in Developing Countries". Journal of Agricultural Economics. 51 (2): 289–302. doi:10.1111/j.1477-9552.2000.tb01229.x. ISSN   1477-9552.
  32. ↑ "Workshop info" (PDF). ced.org.in.
  33. ↑ "Shambu Prasad Chebrolu - Institute of Rural Management Anand - Academia.edu". ximb.academia.edu. Retrieved 2016-03-24.
  34. ↑ "Meeting with BAIF Group from India | Babcock Institute". Archived from the original on 2012-08-22. Retrieved 2013-09-05.
  35. ↑ "Info" (PDF). www.baif.org.in.
  36. ↑ "Pradan - Workshop on NREGA: Beyond Wages to Sustainable Livelihoods". www.pradan.net. Retrieved 2016-03-24.
  37. ↑ "Food Security for Dryland Communities". www.ddsindia.com.
  38. ↑ Watch, National Social. "Land, Livelihoods & Food Security By K.S. Gopal". www.socialwatchindia.net. Retrieved 2016-03-24.
  39. ↑ "Ajit Kanitkar / Team / Expanding Livelihood Opportunities for Poor Households / Economic Fairness / Ford Foundation". Archived from the original on 2013-09-06. Retrieved 2013-09-05.
  40. ↑ Deshpande Foundation (2013-06-11), Ajit Kanitkar : DD 2013 - Keynote Panel - Tipping Point , retrieved 2016-03-24
  41. ↑ "Ajit Kanitkar | Economic and Political Weekly". Archived from the original on 2013-12-14. Retrieved 2013-09-05.
  42. ↑ "My schedule for Ashoka Future Forum". ashokafutureforum2013a.sched.org. Retrieved 2016-03-24.
  43. ↑ Kanitkar, Ajit; Friedrich-Naumann-Stiftung (1995-01-01). Grassroots entrepreneurship: entrepreneurs and microenterprises in rural India. New Age International Publishers. ISBN   9788122407396.
  44. ↑ "Data" (PDF). www.irma.ac.in.
  45. ↑ "Sankar Datta". SAGE. Retrieved 2016-03-24.
Listen to this article (5 minutes)
Sound-icon.svg
This audio file was created from a revision of this article dated 20 October 2019 (2019-10-20), and does not reflect subsequent edits.
(Audio help  · More spoken articles)
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.