sustainable livelihoods – a case study of the evolution of dfid policy

8/12/2019 Sustainable Livelihoods A Case Study of the Evolution of DFID Policy

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SUSTAINABLE

LIVELIHOODS

A CASE STUDY OF THEEVOLUTION OF DFID

POLICY

MDP 625: Sustainable Livelihood

WILLIAM SOLESBURYJUNE 2003


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CONTENTCONTRIBUTOR

Introduction RUPAMCHAKMA

The Development of the SULEIMANBAYOSustainable Livelihoods Approach (2.1~2.5) The Development of the ARAFAT

HASSANSustainable Livelihoods Approach (2.6~2.10) The Key Research/Policy/PracticeRYOMA K ATO


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Introduction

This paper is a case study of the influence of research on aparticular shift in Department for International Development(DFID) policy. The policy in question is known as the SustainableLivelihood Approach (SLA).

A sustainable livelihood is commonly accepted as comprising: The capabilities, assets (including both material and socialresources) for a means of living. A livelihood is sustainable when

it can cope with and recover from stresses and shocks andmaintain or enhance its capabilities and assets both now and inthe future, while not undermining the natural resource base(DFID, 1999a).


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The study approach has been

1) To construct a chronology of SLA policy, practiceand research over the last two decades.

2) To characterize the key interactions of practice,policy and research in the narrative through documentreview and contacts with key players.

3) To analyze these interactions in terms of the context/networks / evidence framework of influence devisedas a working hypothesis for the Bridging Research andPolicy project.


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The Development of theSustainable Livelihood

Approach


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THE BRUNDTLAND COMMISSION ANDTHE FIRST UNDP HUMANDEVELOPMENT REPORT.This report in 1987 was the first to conceptualize what was laterreferred to as SLA. It gave a definition to sustainable development asdevelopment that meets the needs of the present without comprisingthe ability of future generation to meet their own needs.

It also highlighted the requirement for a sustainable development.

A political system that encourage full partisan politics.

An economic system that generates surplus and technicalknowledge on a self reliant and sustained basis.

A social system that creates social order for development.

A production system that respect the obligation to preserve theecological basis for development.

A flexible administration system that has the capacity for self

correction.


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DONOR PRA CTICES IN THE EA RLY1990s

By the early 1990s certain donor agencies had seensufficient merit in sustainable Livelihood to beginemploying SLA in their work.

1993 Koos Neefyes in Oxfarm was promotingsustainable livelihood as a component in formulating itoverall aim.1994 CARE international adopted household livelihoodssecurity as a programmeframework in its relief and development work.In 1995, following the World Summit for SocialDevelopment, the UNDP adopted the

promotion of sustainable livelihoods as one of its fivemandates.


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EMPIRICA L SUSTA INA B L E LIVELIHOODRESEA RCH L EA DING TO THE 1996 ODASLA PROGRAMME.

Sustainable livelihoods research was alsoundertaken by John Farrington, Diana Carneyand

Caroline Ashley at the Overseas Development.The international institute for environment anddevelopment continued work in its sustainableagriculture and rural livelihood programmeestablished 1986.IDS Contained work on sustainable livelihoodthrough the 1990s, both through individual and

group project.


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The 1997 White Paper

The November 1997 white paper DFID 1997 made the elimination ofpoverty in poorer countries the over-riding aim of UK policy forinternational development.

All people have the same basic needs

Poor peoples assets are their own skills, social institutions, valuesand cultures and knowledge of their own environment .

The poor can be the means as well as the beneficiaries ofsustainable development.

To benefit and promote the participation of the poor, economicgrowth must incorporate a sound and open macro-economic thatincludes poor people.

The State must also provide a framework of law and regulationwithin which people can exercise their rights.

In the White Paper, a sustainable livelihood was presented as apolicy objective rather than a specific programme.


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SLA Framework and InteragencyWorking

The Susta inable Rural Livel ihoo ds Framew ork wasintroduced in an IDS working paper in 1998 with ananalytical framework and a diagram.

Natural Resources Departments SLA Initiative is theresult of a consultation initiated by the former NaturalResources Policy & Advisory Department (NRPAD) ofDFID. The papers were presented in a Conference in

July 1998.

In te r-agenc y wo rking is a commitment made in the1997 White Paper to collaborate with other agencies &

developing countries for achieving International


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Research & the White Paper

Late 1990s research co nn ect ing th e m acro andm i c r oDuring this period researchers explored prevailinginterconnections as they identified a significant gapbetween bottom-up and top-down policy analysis.

According to them, the complexity of livelihoods werenot properly addressed.

The 2000 Wh ite Paper is a second White Paper oninternational development published on December2000. Implicitly raises the new challenge for SLA- whatmacro policies ensure sustainable livelihoods?


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The Key Research /Policy/PracticeInteractions

Emergence of the SL paradigm

SL has first been presented in the report of an agriculture advisorypanel of the Brundtland Commission

It was through the 1992 IDS paper that the concept gained

widespread currencyThe reason why Sustainable Livelihoods offered a fresh approachis:

Conceptually it drew on changing views of poverty, recognizing thediversity of aspirations, the importance of assets and communities

In practical terms it placed people as the focus of concern andaction; and emphasized that development must be participatory andimprovements must be sustainable

organizationally it had evolved within research institutes, NGOsand donor agencies and was not exclusive to one or the other


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The adoption of sustainable livelihoods in practice andresearch Staff at Oxfam, CARE and the UNDP were attracted bySL and adopted variations in their work SL quickly became an international focus for bothempirical and theoretical work- IIDS in Canada, Romebased SID, as well as UK at IIED, ODI, UEA and IDS Individuals in these organizations also sow the seed-Naresh Singh , Koos Neefjes, Tim Frankenberger, andSean Conlin


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Political Endorsement: the 1997 White Paper

Sustainable Livelihoods as an approach to meeting these targetswas discussed within DAC, and implementing the targets becamethe leitmotiv of the White Paper

Within the UK the process of White Paper preparation wasinclusive, and Oxfam, IIED and IDS all made submissions. Therewere also round-table meetings with ministers and officials

Sustainable Livelihoods was attractive for the White Paper authorsbecause:

Its value as a coherent organizing principle for bringing a range ofmulti sectoral actions

Politically of its emphasis on the asset base, because of its inherentdynamism and its support for self reliance.

Presentationally it sounded pro-active


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The operationalization of SLA within DFID in the late1990sMichael Scott the head of Natural Resources Policy sawSLA as an opportunity to make his teams work morepeople-centred and to move it into the mainstream ofDFID work.The SLSO was created as a separate entity to uncoupleSLA from natural resource interests alone, and to reachacross to all DFID programme areas and beyond themto the wider development assistance communityDFID took and adopt Sustainable LivelihoodsFramework with enthusiasm to find it a powerful tool inall DFIDs subsequent work.


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Testing the Context/ Network/ EvidenceFramework

The hypothesis is that a positive impact ofresearch on policy and/or practice is determinedby three factors:

The context of politics and institutions

The legitimacy and influence of actors andnetworks

The communication and credibility of evidence


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The context of politics and Institutions

From early 1980s to 1990s, shift in development thinkingtowards more people centered approach. Focus was moreon human well-being and sustainability then economicgrowth.

The 1997 UK election brought in a new administrationseeking new approaches that would deliver on goals forinternational development.

Favourable context to the development of SLA conceptthrough both research and practice and their interaction.

After the 1997 White Paper (DFID) the research andpractice were connected due to the need to operationalizeits commitment on SLA.


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The legitimacy and influence of actorsand networks

RESEARCH

UNDP, IISD, IIED

POLICY1997 White Paper

PRACTICEOpen ended

fieldwork


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The Communication and Credibility ofEvidence

The SLA could have an influence because itwas communicated many times in manydifferent ways, e.i multiple researches and

inputs from open-ended fieldwork. A body of evidence has grown that supportedthe SLA concept before it was transferred topolicy through the 1997 White Paper. SLA became a part of the policy discourse inthe mid 1990s.


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The SLA case is a remarkable story of research influencingpolicy.

A positive impact of research on policy and/or practice is

determined by three factors: context, networks andevidence.

Conclusion

1987BrundtlandCommissionreport

1997

WhitePaper

Guidingprinciple ofUKdevelopment policy

Intellectually attractive andempirically tested concept

as Evidence

Intimate Network of actors

including researchers andpractitioners

Context of practiceimperatives and research

opportunities


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Time and Chance two important factors in the SLA caseCauses of decade-long lapse of SLA development

waiting for the right conjunctions of context, actors andevidenceideas travel slowly (discard old ideas embrace newideas)progressive change in perceptions

Personal contact (interactive and individualized) isimportant in the transfer of knowledge between research,policy and practice.Necessary conditions for the successful impact of researchon policyA l i i h ffi i di i b

CONCLUSION

sustainable livelihoods – a case study of the evolution of dfid policy

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