Rural Livelihoods, Institutions and Vulnerability in North West Province, South Africa

Drawing on a case study from North West Province, this paper examines how, and why, rural livelihoods have changed in one of the former 'homelands' over the past four decades. It focuses on the nature and extent of processes of differentiation and the resources that have been critical in such processes. It examines the major risks different kinds of people face in their efforts to construct and reconstruct livelihoods and their responses to these risks. The sources of these risks include institutions governing resource access and contract enforcement, together with labour and commodity markets. Responses have often taken the form of livelihood diversification, between activities and across space, putting a premium on access to information and social networks, as well as to the state. Others have responded to risk by clustering around a person with a regular income. Policy interventions to promote poverty reduction must combine support for the generation of livelihoods with institutional reform to reduce vulnerability to risk.