Leo de Haan

Livelihoods in Development

ABSTRACTToday three-quarters of the extreme poor live in middle-income countries. There is a clear link between growth and income inequality in large middle-income countries, making poverty and associated problems increasingly a distribution issue. Livelihood studies – through a holistic perspective on how poor people organise themselves a living – have made a significant contribution in the past two decades to our understanding of processes of inclusion and exclusion and thus of the root causes of poverty and marginalisation. The greatest challenge now is translating livelihood studies into social protection policies that countervail social exclusion.ABSTRACT Today three-quarters of the extreme poor live in middle-income countries. There is a clear link between growth and income inequality in large middle-income countries, making poverty and associated problems increasingly a distribution issue. Livelihood studies – through a holistic perspective on how poor people organise themselves a living – have made a significant contribution in the past two decades to our understanding of processes of inclusion and exclusion and thus of the root causes of poverty and marginalisation. The greatest challenge now is translating livelihood studies into social protection policies that countervail social exclusion.

Rural and urban livelihoods, social exclusion and social protection in sub-Saharan Africa

AbstractThis paper shows that with the decline of overall poverty, the concern for rising or persisting inequalities and the need for a transformative social protection, the capacity of countering social exclusion and promoting social justice also becomes increasingly relevant to urbanizing sub-Saharan Africa. It is argued that several parts of sub-Saharan Africa are likely to move towards pro-poor urbanization and show emerging changes in rural and urban livelihoods. Then, the practice of social protection programmes along the rural–urban continuum in sub-Saharan Africa is examined extensively in order to determine whether these practices align with emerging changes in livelihoods and tackle social exclusion in a transformative way. It is found that the livelihoods of the poor are enhanced and that social inclusion has increased. However, social protection’s adaptation to emerging changes in rural and urban livelihoods is still poor, and so is social protection’s capacity to tackle social exclusion in a ...Abstract This paper shows that with the decline of overall poverty, the concern for rising or persisting inequalities and the need for a transformative social protection, the capacity of countering social exclusion and promoting social justice also becomes increasingly relevant to urbanizing sub-Saharan Africa. It is argued that several parts of sub-Saharan Africa are likely to move towards pro-poor urbanization and show emerging changes in rural and urban livelihoods. Then, the practice of social protection programmes along the rural–urban continuum in sub-Saharan Africa is examined extensively in order to determine whether these practices align with emerging changes in livelihoods and tackle social exclusion in a transformative way. It is found that the livelihoods of the poor are enhanced and that social inclusion has increased. However, social protection’s adaptation to emerging changes in rural and urban livelihoods is still poor, and so is social protection’s capacity to tackle social exclusion in a transformative way. It is concluded that transformative social protection would require more structural interventions through empowering pressure on the state and innovative decentralization from the top.

Livelihoods and Development

This books further develops theory and practice of livelihood studies. It focuses on four contested thematic areas: power relations and impeding structures; livelihood trajectories and livelihood pathways: home and homeland in the context of violence; and mobility and immobility.