The Way we Live: Livelihood Systems in the Sahel AIACC_AF92 Presented at the Africa Regional Workshop, South Africa March 10-13, 2003

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The Way we Live Livelihood Systems in the
SahelAIACC_AF92Presented at the Africa
Regional Workshop, South AfricaMarch 10-13, 2003
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Basic Questions

• What are the various livelihood systems of the
  rural people in the Sahel?
• Who can achieve a sustainable livelihood, and who
  cannot in the face of climate change?
• What resources, institutions and strategies are
  important for enabling the options open to the
  rural poor in the Sahel to adapt to climate
  change?
• What practical, operational and policy
  implications stem from adopting this approach?

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Defining Livelihood

• Livelihoods are the ways people make a living,
  including how they distribute their productive
  resources and the types of activities in which
  they are engaged.
• The decisions people make about how to organize
  their livelihoods may incorporate a whole range
  of goals and values, e.g. an individuals
  preference for agricultural work over pastoral
  work.
• Some of these goals and values are influenced by
  cultural norms. Therefore, it is relevant to
  consider the cultural context of how people in a
  society structure their livelihoods.

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Why Livelihood?

• A livelihoods perspective encourages a broader
  understanding and examination of factors,
  institutions and processes that can explain the
  differing success with which rural households
  make a living.
• Consequently, permits a bringing together of more
  sectoral approaches which tend to focus on a
  single aspect of rural livelihood systems, to
  create a more holistic understanding of the
  options and trade-offs facing different groups in
  the face of climate change.

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Methodology

• Define or Adopt a framework
• Rapid rural reconnaissance
• Identify livelihood systems
• Identify stakeholders
• Participatory rural workshops and data collection
• Scenario and model development
• Evaluate adaptation strategies

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The Sustainable Livelihood Framework (1)

• Is simply a tool to help
• plan new development/adaptation initiatives
• assess the contribution to livelihood
  sustainability made by existing activities
• It
• provides a checklist of relevant issues
• highlights what influences what
• emphasizes the multiple interactions that affect
  peoples livelihoods

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The Sustainable Livelihood Framework (2)

• Helps us think holistically about
• The things that poor rural households might be
  very vulnerable to
• The assets and resources that help them thrive
  and survive
• The policies and institutions that impact on
  their livelihoods
• How they respond to threats of climate change
• What sort of adaptation strategies are open to
  them

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The SL Framework

• Livelihood Outcomes
• Sustainable use of NR base
• Income
• Well-being
• - Vulnerability
• Food security

• Policies Institutions
• Government
• Socio-Cultural

Livelihood Strategies

• Vulnerability Context

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The SL Framework

• Livelihood Outcomes
• Sustainable use of NR base
• Income
• Well-being
• - Vulnerability
• Food security

Livelihood Systems

• Policies Institutions
• Government
• Socio-Cultural

Livelihood Strategies

• Vulnerability Context

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Reconnaissance Survey

• Familiarize with project Area
• Identify candidate project sites
• Identify logistics that we may need for effective
  research implementation
• Identify potential stakeholders

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Study Region
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Livelihood Systems

• Rural livelihood structures in the Sahel are
  heavily reliant on the natural resource base.
• Formal
• Agriculture
• Non-Agricultural
• Informal
• Wildlife
• Fuel wood gathering
• Tourism?

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Formal Livelihood

• Agriculture
• Arable farming
• Rain fed
• Irrigation/Fadama
• Pastoralism
• Commercial
• Domestic
• Fishing
• Non-Agriculture
• Handicrafts
• Small scale manufacturing and processing

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Agriculture

• Main stay of Nigerias economy, employing over
  70 of active labour and accounting for over 90
  of non-oil export earnings.
• Over 90 of agricultural production comes from
  rural areas.

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Pastoralism

• In the Sahel, pastoralism is the dominant
  livelihood. The Sahel of Nigeria is estimated to
  support about
• 15 million cattle
• 10 million sheep
• 18 million goats
• All the donkeys in Nigeria, etc
• Here, nomadic herdsmen graze their livestock and
  are constantly in search of suitable pasture.
• Two major pastoral corridors in Nigeria The
  Northwest and Northeast.
• 3 million hectares of wetlands dot these
  corridors, with an average livestock density of
  13/ha, well above the carrying capacity.

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Livestock in Mali 1960-1992
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Pastoralism
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Fishing
A dry river valley in the dry season, a major
source of fish in the rainy season
Fishing in a pond in Arid Northern Nigeria
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Informal Sector
Utensil makers
Mat makers
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Anticipated Problems

• Deciding on what livelihood systems to include or
  exclude
• Scale of analysis
• Integrating local knowledge with western
  scientific knowledge in model specification
• Coordinating the project across two countries
  with very different languages