The Politics of Livelihood Opportunity

This brief article draws together some of the conclusions of the Sustainable Livelihoods in Southern Africa program. This research has sought to move beyond simple technical/managerial "good governance" solutions to sketch the contours of a realistic, but politically sophisticated, sustainable livelihoods approach. The key policy challenges include instituting real redistributive reforms, particularly of land; redressing imbalances in market entry & engagement; making decentralization really work to poor people's advantage; & realizing rights increasingly enshrined in progressive legislative frameworks. These face formidable obstacles -- & a sustainable livelihoods approach must be rooted in an understanding of the historical legacies & contemporary political/administrative & economic contexts in southern Africa. Such an endeavor would, for example, support mobilization, lobbying, civic organization, & new alliances around a pluralist & activist politics for livelihood improvement & create links to party-based democratic politics; build on & transform forms of patrimonialism & establish strategic linkages between elites & the poor; & abandon the artificial & misleading separation of public/private, state/nonstate in both analysis & prescription. Adapted from the source document.