Livelihood

Displacement Economies in Africa : Paradoxes of Crisis and Creativity

Medarbetare:	Hammar, Amanda
Utgivare:	London : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År:	2014
Ämnesord:	Africa South of Sahara, Development strategy, economics, politics, Displaced persons, Refugess, Labour mobility, Forced migration, Social conflicts, case studies, Regional security, Livelihood

Large-scale displacement - whether caused by war, state-related political or development projects, different forms of political violence, structural crisis, or even natural disasters - evokes many stereotyped assumptions about those forcibly displaced or emplaced. At the same time there is a problematic lack of attention paid to the diversity of actors, strategies and practices that reshape the world in the face (and chronic aftermath) of dramatic moments of violent dislocation. In this highly original volume, based on empirical case studies from across sub-Saharan Africa, the authors reveal the paradoxical effects, both intended and unexpected, that displacement produces, and that manifest themselves in displacement economies.

The Role of Food Banks in Food Security in Uganda : the Case of the Hunger Project Food Bank, Mbale Epicentre

Upphovsperson:	Watuleke, Joseph
Utgivare:	Uppsala
År:	2015
Ämnesord:	Food security, Food supply, Smallholders, Farming, Agricultural production, Food storage, Livelihood, Sustainable development, Uganda

This study addresses the role the food bank plays in food security, sustainable livelihoods and building resilience to climate change among smallholder farmers in Uganda, and in particular eastern Uganda. Currently, it is difficult to measure the socioeconomic impact of the food bank on smallholder farmers in eastern Uganda due to the difficulty of isolating its contribution from that of interrelated programmes and farmer activities. It is, however, evident that the food bank plays a significant role in improving the smallholder farmers’ food production and incomes. The food bank is actively engaged in training smallholder farmers in modern farming methods, providing improved seeds and safe storage facilities for farmers’ produce, helping farmers to diversify their livelihood sources and providing climate-related information. Prolonged drought and lack of access to sufficient seeds of good quality are the main sources of food insecurity among smallholder farmers. Distance from the food bank and lack of access to information are among the other factors that affected many farmers’ ability to participate in food bank activities. Community ownership of the food bank is still lacking, and this is a long term threat to the sustainability of the project. There is therefore an urgent need to establish community-managed food banks at lower levels that ensure community ownership; equitably distribute benefits among target farmers; encourage seed-saving among farmers; initiate community-supported agriculture programmes to improve access to farm credit; and invest in rainwater harvesting for irrigation.

Favouring a Demonised Plant : Khat and Ethiopian smallholder enterprises

Upphovsperson:	Gessesse, Dessie
Utgivare:	Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Agrarian Change, Property and Resources | Uppsala, Sweden
År:	2013
Ämnesord:	Ethiopia, Plant production, Drugs of abuse, Khat, Commercial farming, Small farms, Smallholders, Income, Livelihood

Khat is a plant native to Ethiopia that has been consumed over several centuries as a mental and physical stimulant. This report outlines khat’s role as a source of livelihood. Khat, dubbed a social ill by many, is at the same time part and parcel of the livelihoods of many others. With consumption of the stimulant spreading to many parts of Africa, Europe, North America, Asia and Australia, khat production has become a controversial global issue. In most European and North American countries khat is illegal. The debates so far focus on the consumption of khat and its allegedly harmful health ,economic and social effects. The argument here is that expanded khat production, driven by growing demand for the stimulant, is made possible through multidimensional links between producers, sellers and others. Today, khat production is part of the wider agro-silvi-pasture complex that characterises Ethiopian rural landscapes. At the farm level, khat shares space with food and tree crops and contributes cash to the household economy. The fact that its production is a smallholder venture andis expanding through a variety of farming systems indicates its importance to cultivators and their use of land. This paper is not exhaustive, but makes an exploratory attempt to highlight khat-related livelihood issues and seeks to contribute to the ongoing debates on the stimulant and to prompt further research.

From Global Land Grabbing for Biofuels to Acquisitions of African Water for Commercial Agriculture

Upphovsperson:	Olanya, David Ross
Utgivare:	Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Agrarian Change, Property and Resources | Uppsala, Sweden
År:	2012
Ämnesord:	Africa, Land acquisition, Biomass energy, Fuel Water resources, Agricultural production, Commercial farming, Foreign investment, Property rights, Livelihood, Environmental aspects, Government policy

Expansion of biofuel investment in Africa has been supported by indebted poor governments because of perceived potential benefits such as sustainable energy development, support to poor farmers, development of rural economies and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. However, the intensity of the biofuels political economy in poor countries worsens inequality for the vulnerable poor. This is evidenced by large-scale land acquisitions in Africa for biofuel and crop production primarily for foreign consumption – food, animal feeds and energy crops. The search for land in African countrieshas been triggered by growing concerns over food and energy security in developed countries following the global food crisis of 2008. Moreover, these recent developments in large-scale land acquisitions in Africa are not a new phenomenon, but represent the renewal of old practices incommercial agriculture, which is either conducted through purchases or long-term leases. In addition to biofuel expansion, this study notes that current large-scale land acquisitions in sub-Saharan Africa have been further driven by demands to access water resources for other commercial agricultural crops. The land purchases or leases automatically guarantee access to African water. This demand for water is a response to climate change: most industrialists believe that acquiring land near a main water reservoir will guarantee future agricultural potential. Few analyses have been done on the land-water access nexus. This article considers recent developments in large-scaleland acquisitions in Africa in terms of water security for commercial agriculture to safeguard the production of agricultural crops with a large water footprint. Using political economy analysis, this article examines national policy on these acquisitions, the rights accorded to foreign investors and how land acquisitions undermine indigenous rights to the common resources that have been the mainsource of livelihood in sub-Saharan Africa.

Child Migration in Africa

Upphovspersoner:	Thorsen, Dorte | Hashim, Iman
Utgivare:	Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | London, Uppsala : Zed Books, Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År:	2011
Ämnesord:	Rural-urban migration, Labour migration, Labour mobility, Migrants, youth, children, Childhood, Living conditions, Social environment, cultural identity, Livelihood, Interviews, West Africa, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Ethnography, Etnografi

Child Migration in Africa explores the mobility of children without their parents within West Africa. Drawing on the experiences of children from rural Burkina Faso and Ghana, the book provides rich material on the circumstances of children's voluntary migration and their experiences of it. Their accounts challenge the normative ideals of what a 'good' childhood is, which often underlie public debates about children's migration, education and work in developing countries. The comparative study of Burkina Faso and Ghana highlights that social networks operate in ways that can be both enabling and constraining for young migrants, as can cultural views on age- and gender-appropriate behaviour. The book questions easily made assumptions regarding children's experiences when migrating independently of their parents and, by drawing parallels with children's migration in Latin America and Asia, contributes to analytical and cross-cultural understandings of childhood. Part of the groundbreaking Africa Now series, Child Migration in Africa is an important and timely contribution to an under-researched area.

Africa's informal workers : Collective agency, alliances and transnational organizing in urban Africa

Medarbetare:	Lindell, Ilda
Utgivare:	London ; Uppsala : Zed Books ; Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År:	2010
Ämnesord:	Africa South of Sahara, Urban areas, Economic conditions, Social change, Informal sector, Social movements, Trade unionism, Hidden economy, Livelihood, Survival strategies, case studies, Sociology, Sociologi

Part of the groundbreaking Africa Now series, Africa’s Informal Workers explores the deepening processes of informalization and casualization of work that are changing livelihood opportunities and conditions in Africa and beyond. In doing so, the book addresses the collectively organized responses to these changes, presenting them as an important dimension of the contemporary politics of informality in Africa. It goes beyond the usual focus on household ‘coping strategies’ and individual forms of agency, by addressing the growing number of collective organizations through which informal ‘workers’ make themselves visible and articulate their demands and interests. The emerging picture is that of a highly diverse landscape of organised actors, reflecting the great diversity of interests in the informal economy. This provides grounds for tensions but also opportunities for alliance. The book also explores the novel trend of transnational organizing by informal workers, gathering case studies from nine countries and cities across Sub-Saharan Africa, and from sectors ranging from urban informal vending and service delivery, to informal manufacturing, casual port work and cross-border trade. Africa’s Informal Workers is a vigorous and timely examination of the changes in African livelihoods caused by deep and ongoing economic, political and social  transformations.

Contexts of migration

Upphovspersoner:	Thorsen, Dorte | Hashim, Iman
Utgivare:	Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | London; Uppsala : Zed Books; Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År:	2011
Ämnesord:	Rural-urban migration, Labour migration, Labour mobility, Migrants, youth, children, Childhood, Living conditions, Social environment, cultural identity, Livelihood, Interviews, West Africa, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Ethnography, Etnografi

Child Migration in Africa explores the mobility of children without their parents within West Africa. Drawing on the experiences of children from rural Burkina Faso and Ghana, the book provides rich material on the circumstances of children's voluntary migration and their experiences of it. Their accounts challenge the normative ideals of what a 'good' childhood is, which often underlie public debates about children's migration, education and work in developing countries. The comparative study of Burkina Faso and Ghana highlights that social networks operate in ways that can be both enabling and constraining for young migrants, as can cultural views on age- and gender-appropriate behaviour. The book questions easily made assumptions regarding children's experiences when migrating independently of their parents and, by drawing parallels with children's migration in Latin America and Asia, contributes to analytical and cross-cultural understandings of childhood. Part of the groundbreaking Africa Now series, Child Migration in Africa is an important and timely contribution to an under-researched area.

How do you survive as a young person in Freetown?

Upphovspersoner:	Utas, Mats | James, Brian
Utgivare:	Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År:	2010
Ämnesord:	Freetown, Sierra Leone, youth, Urban population, Social environment, Survival strategies, Livelihood, Authors, Video recordings, Social anthropology/ethnography, Socialantrolopologi/etnografi

After ten years of civil war young people throng Sierra Leone’s capital. Brian James and Mats Utas talk about how to survive.

The World Cup 2010 and the urban poor : ‘World class cities’ for all?

Upphovspersoner:	Lindell, Ilda | Hedman, Maria | Nathan-Verboomen, Kyle
Utgivare:	Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Urban Dynamics | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År:	2010
Ämnesord:	Street vendors, Marketplaces, Informal sector, Urban population, Livelihood, Disadvantaged groups, Soccer, South Africa, Human geography, economic geography, Kulturgeografi, ekonomisk geografi

South Africa was expecting to benefit by hosting the World Cup 2010. For urban disadvantaged groups, however, the reality proved very different. Street vendors and marketers were among the excluded. Evictions caused many of them to lose their livelihoods, and strict regulations made it difficult for them to derive economic benefit from the mega-event. This Policy Note explores their predicament, as well as the responses of grassroots organizations. Finally, lessons are drawn for cities aspiring to host similar events in the future.

Reconsidering informality : perspectives from urban Africa

Upphovspersoner:	Hansen, Karen Tranberg | Vaa, Mariken
Utgivare:	Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År:	2004
Ämnesord:	Informal sector, Hidden economy, Employment, Land use, Livelihood, Urban areas, Urban planning, Urban housing, Congo-Brazzaville, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Social anthropology, Socialantropologi

This book brings together two bodies of research on urban Africa that have tended to be separate: Studies of urban land use and housing, and studies of work and livelihoods. Africa’s future will be to an increasing extent urban. Nevertheless, the inherited legal, institutional and financial arrangements for managing urban development are inadequate. The recent decades of neo-liberal political and economic reforms have increased social inequality across urban space. Access to employment, shelter and services is precarious for most urban residents. Extra-legal housing and unregistered economic activities proliferate. Basic urban services are increasingly provided informally. The result is the phenomenal growth of the informal city and extra-legal activities. How do urban residents see these activities? What do they accomplish through them? How can these “informal” cities be governed? The case studies are drawn from a diverse set of cities on the African continent. A central theme is how practices that from an official standpoint are illegal or extra-legal do not only work but are considered legitimate by the actors concerned. Another is how the informal city is not exclusively the domain of the poor, but also provides shelter and livelihoods for better-off segments of the urban population.