Suchergebnisse

Citing recent case study evidence from various parts of Africa, this article argues that the income diversification efforts of most rural dwellers over the past decade have been directed at meeting daily needs amidst declining returns to commercial agriculture. Individuals and households have experimented with new forms of livelihood, expanding their
non-agricultural income sources, while retaining their base in subsistence farming. Various livelihood patterns are emerging, depending on historical, geographical and agro-ecological factors at local and national levels. Livelihood experimentation has catalysed overlapping arenas of dynamic change, notably disequilibria between households and individual members, tensions between generations, the recalibration of gender power balances, and a search for new social networks. So far this surge of livelihood 'multiplexity' has not generated adequate overall levels of gainful employment, technical innovation, purchasing power or welfare improvement. Thus, probing the complex interplay of economic, social, cultural and political dynamics in rural Africa becomes all the more essential for effective policy formulation.

Das Papier fasst die Ergebnisse des Forschungsprogramms des African Studies Centre der Universität Leiden zu "De-Agrarianisation and Rural Employment" (DARE) zusammen, die in Fallstudien zu sieben afrikanischen Ländern gewonnen wurden: In den letzten 20 Jahren des 20. Jahrhunderts haben sich die Möglichkeiten für die ländliche Bevölkerung, ihren Lebensunterhalt zu sichern, im Zuge der Strukturanpassungsanstrengungen erheblich verändert. Die materielle Unsicherheit hat zugenommen, die ländliche Bevölkerung ist Risiken stärker ausgesetzt, hat aber auch mehr Chancen. Viele Menschen versuchen sich Verdienstmöglichkeiten außerhalb der Landwirtschaft zu erschließen, die Mobilität (insbesondere junger Männer) ist gewachsen: Der traditionelle Familienverband hat sich gelockert, ebenso die Wertestrukturen. Auf die Diversifizierung der Möglichkeiten, sich den Lebensunterhalt zu verdienen, sollte die Politik reagieren mit Humankapitalinvestitionen, damit die Menschen die notwendigen Fertigkeiten erlangen, um in ihren neuen Umgebungen zu arbeiten und sie sollte weiterhin nach kostengünstigen Möglichkeiten zu suchen, die landwirtschaftliche Produktivität erhöhen. (DÜI-Sbd)

Metadata only record ; This chapter provides historical background to the pre-colonial period. It then traces the emergence of African peasantries under European colonialism, their consolidation amidst decolonization and early independent government, and finally the circumstances undermining their existence form the mid-1970s onwards.

The implementation of SAP and economic liberalisation throughout sub‐Saharan Africa during the last fifteen years has coincided with the rapid expansion of rural income diversification. Many analysts see income diversification as a vital coping strategy for the rural poor, while recognising that its growing incidence amongst all sections of the African rural population can serve as a mechanism for increasing wealth differentiation. The current income diversification and livelihoods literature primarily restricts itself to situational analysis underpinned by assumptions of economic optimization on the part of decision‐making households, while ignoring the broader process of depeasantization. Early agrarian change took the form of urban migration, funnelling labour from rural areas and creating an array of stimuli that acted indirectly upon village life. Rural income diversification adds a new, more immediate dimension. Villagers are now actively part of in situoccupational change that has far‐reaching implications for the social coherence of rural households and the political balance of local communities and nation‐states. Such profound transformation calls into question the 'sustainability' of rural livelihood strategies now being advocated by donor agencies as well as the relevance of delineating formal, informal and peasant sectors of the national economy.

Metadata only record ; The implementation of SAP and economic liberalization throughout sub-Saharan Africa during the last fifteen years has coincided with the rapid expansion of rural income diversification. Many analysts see income diversification as a vital coping strategy for the rural people, while recognizing that its growing incidence amongst all sections of the African rural population can serve as a mechanism for increasing wealth differentiation. The current income diversification and livelihoods literature primarily restricts itself to situational analysis underpinned by assumptions of economic optimization on the part of decision-making households, while ignoring the broader process of depeasantization. Early agrarian change took the form of urban migration, funneling labour from rural areas and creating an array of stimuli that acted indirectly upon village life. Rural income diversification adds a new, more immediate dimension. Villagers are now actively part of in situ occupational change that has far-reaching implications for the coherence of rural households and the political balance of local communities and nation-states. Such profound transformation calls into question the "sustainability" of rural livelihood strategies now being advocated by donor agencies as well as the relevance of delineating formal, informal, and peasant sectors of the national economy.