Rural Livelihoods and Poverty Reduction Strategies in Four African Countries

Abstract

This paper compares and contrasts rural livelihoods in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and Malawi, with a view to informing rural poverty reduction policies within Poverty Reduction Strategy Plans (PRSPs). Low household incomes in rural areas of all countries are associated with low land and livestock holdings, high reliance on food crop agriculture, and low monetisation of the rural economy. These adverse factors are in some instances made more difficult by land sub-division at inheritance, declining civil security in rural areas, deteriorating access to proper agronomic advice and inputs, and predatory taxation by decentralised district councils. Better off households are distinguished by virtuous spirals of accumulation typically involving diverse livestock ownership, engagement in non-farm self-employment, and diversity of on-farm and non-farm income sources. Lessons for PRSPs centre on the creation of a facilitating, rather than blocking, public sector environment for the multiplication of non-farm enterprises; seeking creative solutions to the spread of technical advice to farmers; and examining critically the necessity for, and impact of, tax revenue collection by district councils on rural incomes and enterprise.

Poverty in maize growing rural communities of southern Africa

“…Earlier studies have also reported similar results that better-off households are characterized by asset accumulation involving livestock and off-farm income sources (Benson, Chamberlin, and Rhinehart 2005;Ellis and Ade Freeman 2004;Mussa and Pauw 2011). On the other hand, the number of farm plots was found to be negatively related to the well-being of the households (Table 7).…”

“…The importance of asset wealth in positively enhancing the well-being of rural households has been reported by other studies in the region (Benson, Chamberlin, and Rhinehart 2005;Bokosi 2006;Ellis and Ade Freeman 2004;Mukherjee and Benson 2003;Mussa and Pauw 2011). Generally, education and asset accumulation are crucially important in determining the well-being of the households in the rural communities of the study countries.…”

“…The findings justify the need for focused and pro-poor maize technology development for and dissemination into these communities. Despite the strong argument that in many rural areas poverty is essentially a result of heavy reliance on food crop agriculture and low commercialization of the economy (Ellis and Ade Freeman 2004), it is important to rural households that they achieve their primary objective, that is, producing enough food for the family.…”

Livelihood diversification as an adaptation approach to change in the pastoral Hindu-Kush Himalayan region

“…Livelihood diversification is an adaptation process by which pastoral households construct an increasingly diverse portfolio of activities and assets in order to survive and improve their standard of living (Scoones 1998;Ellis 2000;Ellis and Freeman 2004;Ellis 2007). Generally speaking, in the Hindu Kush Himalayan region wealthier herders are more likely to seek diversification to promote economic growth, while poorer herders are more likely to seek diversification in order to survive in the harsh and erratic climate in high altitude areas.…”

“…The possibilities differ sharply in terms of the degree of freedom of choice (to diversify or not), and the reversibility of the outcome (Ellis 2000;Eneyew 2012). However, the causes of pastoral diversification are multi-faceted and resistant to simplistic explanations.…”