New Connections – New Dependencies: Spatial and Digital Flows in Sub-Saharan African Livelihoods

Steel, Griet; Cottyn, Ine; Lindert, Paul van

doi:10.1163/9789004347182_008

Cited by 9 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…Gaspard's household is an example of this, as illustrated above. Such households often organise themselves in such a way as to benefit from opportunities that are available in different locations along the rural-urban continuum, pooling their income, as I addressed in previous publications on rural livelihoods and mobility in Rwanda [28,29]. As the story of Gaspard suggests, several households had expanded their areas of operation by engaging in livelihood activities and social relations outside of their places of residence.…”

Section: "You May Not Have Money But You Have Legs To Move"mentioning

confidence: 99%

Livelihood Trajectories in a Context of Repeated Displacement: Empirical Evidence from Rwanda

Cottyn

2018

Sustainability

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Displacement, forced migration, and resettlement in Africa have been attributed to a variety of causes and is disrupting all aspects of people’s lives, breaking social, cultural and economic networks that are critical to sustaining livelihoods. Rwanda is one of the countries in Africa with a long history of multiple displacements, and the life trajectories of many Rwandans are characterised by multiple experiences of displacement, and involuntary migration. Although many have researched the effects of displacement on people’s livelihoods from both an academic, as well as a practitioner’s viewpoint, less is known about the effects of multiple and repeated displacements over time on people’s livelihood. Instead of treating each displacement separately, this article aims to analyse the effects of repeated displacement the livelihoods and adaptive capacity of households in Rwanda. To this purpose, six months of fieldwork were conducted in the north-western region of Rwanda, collecting data from a household livelihood survey, household livelihood and mobility histories, and focus group discussions. The research highlights the importance of social and human capital as crucial to people’s resilience. However, the successive loss of natural capital in combination with changing social and economic conditions diminishes the ability of many households to keep employing these capitals to reconstruct a sustainable livelihood. Forced to become increasingly creative and flexible in their coping strategies, many households employ mobility as a survival mechanism to spread risks.

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Section: "You May Not Have Money But You Have Legs To Move"mentioning

confidence: 99%

Livelihood Trajectories in a Context of Repeated Displacement: Empirical Evidence from Rwanda

Cottyn

2018

Sustainability

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“…Many factors influence (young) people's decisions to move, from economic fluctuations and instability, and high unemployment and underemployment rates (particularly among the youth) to the search for higher education, land scarcity, and climate change [5,6]. Improved transportation, the spread of mass media, and advances in communication technologies and remittance mechanisms promise easier travel while enabling migrants to retain strong economic, social, and political ties with 'home' [10]. This makes transcontinental migration to Europe -but also increasingly to Asia and the Americas-a real or imagined possibility for a number of West African youth.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Migration, Youth, and Land in West Africa: Making the Connections Work for Inclusive Development

Kaag

Baltissen

Steel

et al. 2019

Land

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This paper presents the results of a short-term research project conducted in 2017/2018 on the various ways in which migration and land dynamics in West Africa are intertwined. Contrary to much conventional (policy) thinking in the European Union (EU) today, our point of departure is not that migration is the problem to be solved – nor that (access to) land is the straightforward means to discouraging migration. Drawing on local case studies in four West African countries, this research aims to shed light on the various relationships between migration and land, and to analyze to what extent they may contribute to or obstruct (local) inclusive and sustainable development in Mali, Senegal, Burkina Faso, and Benin. In doing so, we aim to offer food for thought concerning possible ways for making the connection between migration and land more fruitful and productive for as many people as possible, especially in relation to the opportunities and constraints facing different categories of West African youth.

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Translocal Livelihoods in Sub-Saharan Africa

Steinbrink

Niedenführ

2019

Springer Geography

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New Connections – New Dependencies: Spatial and Digital Flows in Sub-Saharan African Livelihoods

Cited by 9 publications

References 0 publications

Livelihood Trajectories in a Context of Repeated Displacement: Empirical Evidence from Rwanda

Livelihood Trajectories in a Context of Repeated Displacement: Empirical Evidence from Rwanda

Migration, Youth, and Land in West Africa: Making the Connections Work for Inclusive Development

Translocal Livelihoods in Sub-Saharan Africa

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