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Use
of Sustainable Livelihoods Approaches
DFID-funded research by ITDG to develop analytical tools that
help development practitioners understand livelihoods involving
micro / small-scale enterprise (MSE). The research concerned
the roles which:
- private-sector
markets play in livelihoods of micro-entrepreneurs and small-scale
producers
- technological
change (including poor peoples own adaptability) has on
livelihood opportunities and outcomes
Millions
of poor people depend to a significant degree on earnings
from MSEs – whether as business owners, employees or
self-employed. Processes of technological change and market
development are often highly significant factors in their
livelihoods. However, weak analysis of these factors’
influence within SL approaches means that opportunities to
enhance poor people’s livelihoods may be over-looked.
Also, the pro-poor influence which SL advocates seek to have
on the objectives and priorities of development programmes
may be diminished.
The
study focuses on two methodological tools which may be particularly
useful to understand livelihoods that involve micro / small-scale
enterprise:
- The
concept of technological capabilities - a bundle of specific
organisational skills and linkages that help determine people’s
ability to generate and manage processes of technological
change.
- The
systems tool known subsector analysis – which models
enterprise inter-relations, market channels and linkages
in order to create a map of the institutional / market landscape
for MSEs.
The
study report includes suggestions for revisions to SL frameworks
for livelihoods that involve micro-enterprise.
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