| What are Sustainable Livelihoods ? |
The term 'sustainable livelihood' was first used as a development concept in the early 1990s. Chambers and Conway (1991) defined a sustainable livelihood as follows:
"A livelihood comprises people, their capabilities and their means of living, including food, income and assets. Tangible assets are resources and stores, and intangible assets are claims and access.
A livelihood is environmentally sustainable when it maintains or enhances the local and global assets in which livelihoods depend, and has net beneficial effects on other livelihoods. A livelihood is socially sustainable which can cope with and recover from stress and shocks, and provide for future generations."
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| What is Capital ? |
In traditional economic systems, capital, or wealth, is based on human-produced assets, goods and services that can be assigned monetary value and some of which can be consumed. Historically, economic development has attempted to maximize monetary capital, but has tended to ignore non-monetary assets, such as human health and well-being, social networks, clean air and water, and biological diversity. As a result, economic development has often occurred to the detriment of both human and natural resources. These are clearly valuable to human society, but are usually not included in economic accounting systems. Livestock, and thus livestock development, have an obvious and strong relationship to natural capital.
In order to achieve sustainability, the traditional definition of capital needs be expanded to include natural and social, as well as economic resources. Five types of capital have been identified:
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Natural Capital |
This produces nature's goods and services, and comprises food (both farmed and harvested or caught from the wild), wood and fibre; water supply and regulation; treatment, assimilation and decomposition of wastes; nutrient cycling and fixation; soil formation; biological control of pests; climate regulation; wildlife habitats; storm protection and flood control; carbon sequestration; pollination; and recreation and leisure. |
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Social Capital |
Social capital yields a flow of mutually beneficial collective action, contributing to the cohesiveness of people in their societies. The social assets comprising social capital include norms, values and attitudes that predispose people to cooperate; relations of trust, reciprocity and obligations; and common rules and sanctions mutually-agreed or handed-down. These are connected and structured in networks and groups. |
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Human Capital |
Human capital is the total capability residing in individuals, based on their stock of knowledge skills, health and nutrition. It is enhanced by their access to services that provide these, such as schools, medical services, and adult training. People's productivity is increased by their capacity to interact with productive technologies and with other people. Leadership and organizational skills are particularly important in making other resources more valuable. |
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Physical Capital |
Physical capital is the store of human-made material resources, and comprises buildings (e.g. houses, factories), market infrastructure, irrigation facilities, roads and bridges, manual and mechanized tools, communications, as well as energy production and transportation systems, that make labour more productive. |
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Financial Capital |
Financial capital is defined as the financial resources that are available to people and which provide them with different livelihood options. These include savings, credit, insurance and pensions, remittances, welfare payments, grants and subsidies.
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| Sustainable Livelihoods Guidance Sheets |
The overall objective of SL approaches is poverty elimination. SL draws on many other strands of development thinking and makes use of a variety of existing methods of analysis. The SL framework is a tool to assist those using an SL approach. It helps to show how the main factors that influence livelihoods relate to each other.
DFID's Sustainable Livelihoods Guidance Sheets summarize and share emerging thinking on the sustainable livelihoods approach. They do not offer definitive answers. The Guidance Sheets are intended to stimulate reflection and learning on the sustainable livelihoods approach and encourage users to make their own contributions to its further development. As the sustainable livelihoods approach evolves, so the sheets will be updated.
The Sustainable Livelihoods Guidance Sheets are designed to:
- Show how the livelihoods approach fits in with DFID's overall aims
- Explain the livelihoods framework (as it is currently understood)
- Explain links between this and existing/past approaches and methodologies
- Lay out suggestions for how the approach can be implemented in practice
- Pinpoint priorities (notable 'gaps' in understanding) for future work
- Identify relevant expertise (projects, experience and literature)
To view the Sustainable Livelihoods Guidance Sheets click on the relevant icons in the list below.
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Cover Page |
Cover to the print edition |
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Contents Page |
Details of available sections |
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DFID Information |
Overview of DFID and its work |
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Section 1 |
Introduction to the Sustainable Livelihoods Approach |
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Section 2 |
Framework of Sustainable Livelihoods |
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Section 3 |
Uses of the Sustainable Livelihoods Approach |
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Section 4 |
Methods of Implementing Sustainable Livelihoods Approaches |
Parts 4.1 to 4.7 |
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Parts 4.8 to 4.13 |
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Section 5 |
Policy reform |
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Section 6 |
Comparing development approaches |
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Section 7 |
SL approaches in practice |
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Section 8 |
Glossary |
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Key Literature and Web sites |
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| References and Further Reading |
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| Livelihoods Connect Web Site (http://www.livelihoods.org) |
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Chambers, R. and Conway, G. (1991). Sustainable Rural Livelihoods: Practical Concepts for the 21st Century. IDS Discussion Paper, no. 296. Institute of Development Studies.
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