Hanging in, stepping up and stepping out: livelihood aspirations and strategies of the poor

Abstract

In recent years understanding of poverty and of ways in which people escape from or fall into poverty has become more holistic. This should improve the capabilities of policy analysts and others working to reduce poverty, but it also makes analysis more complex. This article describes a simple schema which integrates multi-dimensional, multi-level, and dynamic understandings of poverty, of poor people's livelihoods, and of changing roles of agricultural systems. The article suggests three broad types of strategy pursued by poor people: ‘hanging in’, ‘stepping up’, and ‘stepping out’. This simple schema explicitly recognises the dynamic aspirations of poor people, diversity among them, and livelihood diversification. It also brings together aspirations of poor people with wider sectoral, inter-sectoral, and macro-economic questions about policies necessary for the realisation of those aspirations.

Keywords:

• Aid
• Labour and livelihoods
• Methods

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge support by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) for project R7823 of the Livestock Production Programme, under which the ideas in this article were developed. They would also like to thank research field staff and members of the communities working with the project in Mexico and Bolivia. Nevertheless, any errors or omissions are the responsibility of the authors. Colin Poulton provided helpful comments on an earlier draft.

Notes

See Dorward et al. 2001 for more detailed explanation of asset functions and livelihoods.

Our description of both stepping-up and stepping-out strategies has assumed that these are strategies which take advantage of opportunities – or, to use the language of livelihood diversification, are encouraged by ‘pull factors’ (Ellis 2000: 289–302). However, increasing investments in and reliance on one particular activity or even a launch into a new activity may also be associated with ‘push factors’ if declining benefits from the current portfolio of activities lead to increasingly restricted options – in which case, livelihood changes which might appear to be ‘stepping up’ or ‘stepping out’ might more accurately be described in terms of ‘hanging in’.

We note from fieldwork with poor livestock keepers in Mexico that, although poor people may often aspire to some degree of ‘stepping up’ and/or ‘stepping out’ in their livelihood activities, they may in practice often be forced to concentrate on ‘hanging in’. Thus small stock keeping may be embarked upon with the stated intention of production and ‘stepping up’, but subsequently used more as a means of saving or buffering for ‘hanging in’.

Even where local markets are growing, however, there will still often be a ‘pull’ towards urban areas, particularly among the young, with perceived opportunities for a wider range of opportunities and lifestyles. Similarly, improved access to casual employment opportunities or to micro-finance services, for example, may reduce dependence on small livestock keeping for petty income, buffering, and insurance – but conversely if male migration increases and these new opportunities are not open to women, this may increase the importance of small livestock keeping for women.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Andrew Dorward

Andrew Dorward has worked for a number of years in professional training, research, and policy analysis in agricultural and rural livelihoods, markets, and development and is Professor and Honorary Research Fellow at the Centre for Development, Environment and Policy

Simon Anderson

Simon Anderson has 25 years' experience working in international development mainly related to natural-resources management and poverty. As Principal Researcher in the Climate Change Group at IIED, he is currently working on climate-change adaptation and development issues, concentrating on least developed countries.

Yolanda Nava Bernal

Yolanda Nava Bernal is a social anthropologist who has been working with NGOs and local communities in Mexico.

Ernesto Sánchez Vera

Ernesto Sánchez Vera is currently Senior Researcher at the Centro de Investigación en Ciencias Agropecuarias of the Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México. He also lectures and leads the Academic and Research Group on Campesino Animal Production. He has worked for a number of years in appropriate technology and farming systems research, much of this with small-scale producers and NGOs.

Jonathan Rushton

Jonathan Rushton is a livestock economist who has worked for 20 years on livestock and rural development in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Europe. He is currently working on Avian Influenza at the FAO.

James Pattison

James Pattison has worked on the roles of livestock in the livelihoods of the rural poor in Latin America and Africa. He is currently completing a PhD on pastoral livelihoods in East Africa.

Rodrigo Paz

Rodrigo Paz has 12 years' experience of working in rural development. As the National Co-ordinator of the Outcomes and Impact Evaluation Unit in the Andean Change Programme for CIP (International Potato Center) and CIAT (International Center for Tropical Agriculture), he is currently focusing on the evaluation of outcomes and impact of participatory methods on agricultural innovation processes and on the livelihoods of the poor.