In many ways, coastal marine resources have provided an important source of protein, income and even employment for coastal rural Solomon Islands communities. Fishing, for instance, has always played a very important role in these communities' culture and tradition. Subsistence fishing is traditional in most rural coastal communities. Small-scale fishing is also wide-spread. Traditionally marine areas and resources were managed by the custodians of the adjacent land and the traditional leaders in some local communities. While small-scale fisheries are managed by the Government, much of the enforcement responsibility is in the hands of the community leaders, given the realities of what that Government can provide. This research has explored the interaction between rural coastal livelihoods and marine resource management under Customary Marine Tenure (CMT) in one area of Temotu Province, Solomon Islands. Specifically the research seeks to explore, explain and describe how the livelihoods of the rural coastal villagers influence the use, access and management of marine resources and vice versa. Particular attention has been given to: first exploring the traditional marine resource management under CMT and livelihoods in the three villages; second, how the changes in the villagers' livelihoods system affects the customary marine resource management in the three case study villages; third, how changes in customary marine resource management influences the livelihoods of the villagers and finally the nature of the relationship between livelihoods and customary marine resource management is described for the first time for this part of the Solomon Islands. The research results showed that villagers' livelihoods have changed over the past decade and much of these changes have affected the customary marine resource management in the three case study villages. Consequently, customary marine resource management under CMT is no longer effective. The changes in customary marine resource also have implications on the villagers' livelihoods. For this reason the study argues that when trying to understand the factors affecting customary marine resource, the entire livelihoods system of the people should be considered. The study states that the nature of the interactions between livelihoods and customary marine resource management is a two-way relationship, dynamic and very complex. Should there be further marine resource development, the study suggests that understanding the livelihoods of the people concerned is important for better management.

The purpose of this study was to examine conservation, livelihoods, and the role of tourism. The village of Sukau in the Kinabatangan District of Sabah, Malaysia, served as a case study. The vital importance of the Lower Kinabatangan in wildlife conservation, coupled with the tourism potential of the region, underpinned the creation of the Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary in 2005. The 26,000 hectare sanctuary is fragmented in nature and surrounded by palm oil plantations. Still, with the protection of these fragmented forested areas, Sukau has evolved into the ‘hub’ of tourism in the Lower Kinabatangan. The majority of visitors come to Sukau for the opportunity to view the flagship species of the Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary (orang-utan, Bornean pygmy elephant, proboscis monkey, and hornbills) in the wild. Many of the local villagers own land which is still forested and serves as important ecological links between the fragmented protected areas. However many of the villagers plan to use their lands for smallholder palm oil farming in the future. This will further fragment the forested areas of the Wildlife Sanctuary, and will have severe implications for nature conservation and tourism in Sukau. The Sabah Tourism Master Plan (1996) stresses that for the tourism-conservation linkage to be effective in Sukau, the local community must benefit from tourism. If the locals of Sukau are able to depend on tourism as a livelihood option, then perhaps the forested areas of the Wildlife Sanctuary will not be further fragmented in the near future. This study will attempt to answer whether tourism is an effective alternative livelihood source for the locals of Sukau. Predominantly qualitative research methods were used for this study. These included semi-structured interviews with the local villagers of Sukau, and informal interviews with key informants in the area. Structured questionnaires and interviews were also undertaken with lodges in and near the village. The information gathered from these sources was further strengthened by my own personal and participatory observations. In 2006, 10 per cent of the population of Sukau, and 23 per cent of the estimated total workforce were directly employed in tourism. Results indicate that having tourism as a livelihood option has made the villagers more motivated to protect their environment. Yet the locals of Sukau disagree that their community benefits sufficiently from tourism, and smallholder palm oil farming is viewed as the more lucrative livelihood option. The current financial crisis (2008-9) has complicated the likely contribution of tourism to livelihoods and conservation in the future. Nevertheless it is likely that both the palm oil and tourism industries will recover from the economic downturn, and consequently they will both continue to be future livelihood options for the villagers of Sukau. Therefore steps should be made to improve both industries for the benefit of livelihoods and nature conservation in Sukau. There are a number of potential ways in which tourism could be improved in Sukau to bring more benefits to the locals. If these suggested improvements occur, then the effectiveness of tourism as an alternative livelihood source for the locals of Sukau will be enhanced.

Ricefield based fish seed production (RBFSP) in irrigated spring (boro) ricefields after initial introductions by external promoters has spread among farmers in parts of Northwest Bangladesh. This approach to producing juvenile fish, rather than by specialised geographically clustered hatchery and nursery enterprises, has been recognised as a strategy for decentralised production that makes large high quality seed available locally and supports food fish production. RBFSP has been promoted by the international NGO CARE as part of a process to improve rice-based livelihoods of farming households using a farmer field school (FFS) approach in two consecutive projects between 1993 and 2005. The approach is technically simple and is based on the stocking of common carp (Cyprinus carpio) eggs and Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) broodfish in ricefields. As a new approach to farmer level fish seed production, its livelihood impacts on the farming households as well as associated actors; its adoption, adaptation and rejection process in farming households; and its cost-effectives for dissemination at farmer level were not well understood. This thesis mainly applies the concept of the sustainable livelihood approach (SLA) using tools and processes of the growing family of participatory research. A systems approach was used to ensure that the key stakeholders including households, community and extension organizations were included. The study was initiated with a well-being analysis of community households to identify poorer households before exploring impacts of RBFSP on poorer producing households (RF) compared to non-producing (NRF) households based on one-off and longitudinal surveys. Livelihoods impacts on other actors linked directly and indirectly with RBFSP were also investigated. The adoption process of RBFSP at the household level and the cost-effectiveness of its promotion were assessed. Impact studies at the household level showed that RF households were significantly larger and had lower levels of formal education than NRF. Adoption of RBFSP had improved practical skills and hence substantially improved human capital in RF households. RF households tended to have more of their ricefish plots located adjacent to their households. Poor and intermediate adopters had smaller riceplots than better-off households but higher seed production efficiencies (poor-315.1 kg fingerlings/ha; intermediate-419.1 kg fingerlings/ha) than better-off households (294.6 kg fingerlings/ha). In addition to direct consumption of large fingerlings, RF households restocked them for further growth in their household ponds in doing so increasing yields by 60%. Fish consumption increased substantially in RF households based on their own production reducing their dependency on purchase from markets. The year round longitudinal survey revealed that activities for RBFSP were compatible with their existing rice-based agriculture activities for household members including men, women and children. The relatively limited income from fingerling production improved cash flow in the low income months. Consumption of large size fingerlings from ricefields provided nutrient dense food in the ‘hungry gap’ months when supplies of wild fish were poor, smoothing consumption. Apart from RF households, RBFSP extended its livelihoods impacts to a wide range of actors in and around the seed producing community. Poor fry traders were found to be key actors in the spread and support of RBFSP. On average fry traders supplied fingerlings to 35 foodfish producers within a mean distance of 5 Km from producing households in a community where RBFSP was well established. The end users (foodfish producers) included households with their own ponds, ponds with multiple ownership and larger waterbodies leased by small groups. Locally available RFBSP juveniles were attractive to each of these groups, supplementing hatchery derived seed. A large number of complex socio-cultural and technical factors were related to household level adoption of RBFSP. The major factors included use of cash generated to prevent distress sales of rice; lack of requirement to use pesticide in ricefields; meeting the household consumption demand; capacity to restock fingerlings in ponds; lack of any negative effects on rice production; increased non-stocked fish production in riceplots; simplicity of the technology; ease of fish harvest from riceplots; increased ability to gift fingerlings/foodfish to relatives and neighbours; more efficient use of both riceplot and irrigation pumps. The most important reasons for households not attempting or quickly rejecting RBFSP were labour conflicts with other activities. However, lost access to the riceplots through changes in tenure was the most common cause of late rejection by households who had practiced RBFSP for several years after withdrawal of CARE support. Location of fish seed producing plots close to the homesteads facilitated household women to contribute to seed production activities through feeding and looking after fish. Women were able to decide and control resources generated from fingerling sales as well as choosing to gift fingerlings to their relatives. Informal transfer of fingerlings in this way stimulated spread of RBFSP. Decentralised fish seed production was promoted through FFS very cost effectively. The introduction of an improved strain of Nile tilapia (GIFT) broodfish greatly enhanced the returns from decentralised seed production based on common carp alone. High levels of secondary adoption improved benefits from promoting RBFSP. The major benefit derived from the improved returns to food fish farmers using locally produced seed. Higher levels of net present value (NPV) and benefit cost ratio (BCR) were achieved based on promotion of mixed-sex tilapia in RBFSP than mono-sex tilapia produced in a large scale central hatchery. Cost-effectiveness in terms of multiplier development impacts on ramification of secondary adopters and, income of fry traders and foodfish producers, RBFSP also showed better performance than a mono-sex tilapia hatchery.

The history of the mining industry indicates a lack of understanding among the decision-makers of the impact the closure of mines has on the industry and the associated effects on the society and surrounding environment. The policies of the mining industry do make provision for a planned mine closure, but not for an unexpected closure. This detrimental aspect of closures in the mining industry is highlighted in the present study. The present study investigates how mineworkers’ dependency on their employment at a mine affects their ability to sustain their livelihoods. Vulnerable livelihoods leave the community at a greater risk to be affected by a disaster, than the livelihoods of a community that is resilient and has sustainable resources. Even though mineworkers are not considered as poor at the time of their employment, a mine closure could render them into a status called ‘transitional poverty’. This study also highlights that mineworkers who are skilled for mining operations only do not overcome the status of ‘transitional poverty’ and hence enter a phase called ‘chronic poverty’. This stage constitutes their inability to negotiate livelihood strategies and livelihood outcomes that could sustain a household. Thus humanitarian assistance would be needed from outside sources. Planning for unexpected mine closures should also be on the agenda of the mining industry due to the extreme consequences such an event holds for the mining community experiencing the event. In the case under investigation, the unexpected mine closures occurred in the Grootvlei mine in Springs and the Orkney mine owned by the Aurora Empowerment Systems Ltd. at the time of this study. These closures left the surrounding communities in need of food, shelter and clean water. The inhabitants gradually lost their livelihood assets. A contingency planning model is proposed at the end of this study to address the short-term and long-term consequences of an unexpected mine closure. / M Development and Management, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Conventionally environmental assessments (EAs) have been carried out to enhance the understanding of the environment and for the purpose of developing appropriate environmental management and protection strategies. There are, however, limitations to the application of traditional EA approaches, particularly in rural communities in the developing world, where livelihood is dependent on common pool resources (CPRs), and baseline data are inadequate or unavailable. Eco-livelihood assessment (EcLA) is an adaptive approach that integrates a people focused sustainable livelihood approach with ecological assessment, as well as exploring traditional eco-livelihood knowledge (TELK). EcLA is identified as a promising EA tool that could help environmental professionals in planning for equitable development. This approach has been used in the Kolo and Otuoke Creeks, Niger Delta, Nigeria to investigate the ecological impact of dredging that may impact on livelihoods in such a rural setting. Ecological and social surveys have been carried out in four communities in the Study Area; two Test communities and two Reference communities (two communities from each study creek). The information collected from the social survey includes TELK, and has been used to build up a baseline scenario of the Study Area. Abundance and diversity of fish are good indicators of the eco-livelihood impacts of inland river dredging. The research shows that livelihood characteristics, river use profile, fish species diversity and abundance are very similar among all four sample communities. In addition, all sample communities have been associated with similar natural and human induced environmental consequences except that the Test communities have had river sections dredged for the purpose of land reclamation representing the baseline scenario. The analysis of the results of the ecological survey shows a difference in fish catch per unit effort, catch per unit hour, and species diversity between the Test and Reference communities, this have been attributed to the impacts of inland river dredging. The study shows that TELK has a place in environmental assessment, and that eco-livelihood assessment is one promising environmental assessment approach that could be used in areas where livelihood is strongly dependent on common pool resources.

The study investigates the extent of distributional impacts of labour-intensive road projects using a geographical approach. The aim is to evaluate infrastructural effectiveness. The central premise is that the interface between road investment and economic development has broad implications that are beyond transportation’s basic purpose of providing access and mobility. Communities are motivated by the outcomes and impacts of road infrastructure development in improving the productiveness of the economy, in line with socio-economic development and other multiplying effects. The objective was to describe the nature and delivery mechanisms of labourintensive road projects, evaluate the impact thereof on the project participants and their communities and explore the constraints and challenges experienced by these initiatives. The impact of the Gundo Lashu programme was measured, based on an assessment of programme outputs, outcomes and impacts, to determine whether the project had the desired effects on individual participants and their households. A matched control case study design, using a combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches was adopted. The study found that the Gundo Lashu programme had achieved the expected outputs in terms of the total number of jobs created, total road length constructed and maintained. However, the communities’ socioeconomic outcomes and the impacts of the programme on poverty and sustainable livelihoods were mixed. These conclusions re-affirm the notion that the development of rural road infrastructure alone by labour-intensive construction methods, is not sufficient in tackling poverty. While government is focusing on addressing unemployment and skills development through labourintensive road construction programmes, there is a need to ensure proper integration of government services to make a significant impact. Huge deficiencies exist in the inter-linkages between the programme planning process and the municipal planning system and that there are a number of management and planning, structural and functional, human resources and funding barriers to proper planning, implementation and monitoring of projects within the Gundo Lashu programme. Various challenges and barriers emanates from lack of coordination, political interferences and lack of strategic direction. Key recommendations include comprehensive road planning, better project targeting mechanisms, development of guidelines for future maintenance, skills training and capacity development, and resultsbased monitoring. / Geography / D. Phil. (Geography)

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), by 2012 there were 15.4 million refugees and 28.8 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) forced to flee their homes due to war or violent conflict across the globe. Upon arrival in their host settings, forced migrants struggle with acute health and material needs, as well as issues related to identity, politics, power and place. The Karen ethnic minority of Burma (also known as Myanmar) has been involved in a prolonged civil conflict with the Burmese military government for nearly six decades. This fighting has resulted in massive internal displacement and refugee flight, and although a ceasefire was signed in 2012, continued violence has been reported. This study among the displaced Karen population along the Thai-Burma border examines the relationships between traditional – or indigenous – medicine, the population's health needs, and the broader social and political context. Research was conducted using an ethnographic case-study approach among 170 participants along the Thai-Burma border between 2003 and 2011. Research findings document the rapid evolution and formalisation of the Karen traditional medical system. Findings show how the evolutionary process was influenced by social needs, an existing base medical knowledge among traditional health practitioners, and a dynamic social and political environment. Evidence suggests that that Karen traditional medicine practitioners, under the leadership of the Karen National Union (KNU) Department of Health and Welfare, are serving neglected and culturally-specific health needs among border populations. Moreover, this research also provides evidence that Karen authorities are revitalising their traditional medicine, as part of a larger effort to strengthen their social infrastructure including the Karen self-determination movement. In particular, these Karen authorities are focused on building a sustainable health infrastructure that can serve Karen State in the long term. From the perspectives of both refugee health and development studies, the revival of Karen traditional medicine within a refugee and IDP setting represents an adaptive response by otherwise medically under-served populations. This case offers a model of healthcare self-sufficiency that breaks with the dependency relationships characteristic of most conventional refugee and IDP health services. And, through the mobilisation of tradition for contemporary needs, it offers a dimension of cultural continuity in a context where discontinuity and loss of culture are hallmarks of the forced migration experience.

Urban and peri-urban agriculture is a strategy that can be adapted by low income households in Orange Farm to meet their food and nutritional requirements. The practice is a basis upon which poor families can enhance their incomes by producing part of their food needs, hence saving money for use on other livelihood obligations. This dissertation discusses the importance of urban and peri-urban agriculture as a method easily available to low income families residing in informal settlements to access food and incomes. Urban agriculture is examined in the context of poverty alleviation. A descriptive and quantitative assessment of the salient variables of the practice in the area is attempted in order to give an insight of the potential role the sector can play in eliminating poverty, enhancing incomes and creating employment. The study shows that participation in urban farming can impact significantly on poverty conditions and improve livelihoods. / MA (Development Studies)

Lo scopo della tesi di dottorato è comprendere gli effetti dell'adozione degli approcci agroecologici sul Sustainable Livelihood Framework dei piccoli agricoltori. Sono state adottate tre metodologie di ricerca, revisione della letteratura, meta-analisi e caso di studio, al fine di valutare i benefici derivanti dall'attuazione degli approcci agroecologici sul capitale umano, sociale, naturale, finanziario e fisico. I risultati della tesi hanno mostrato come l’adozione dei sistemi agroecologici possono migliorare i mezzi di sussistenza dei piccoli agricoltori, senza che si verifichino trade-off su una serie di indicatori socio-economici e ambientali selezionati. La tesi evidenzia come i metodi agroecologici possano essere considerati uno strumento praticabile ed efficace per promuovere l’Obiettivo di Sviluppo Sostenibile 1 "Porre fine ad ogni forma di povertà nel mondo" e l’Obiettivo di Sviluppo Sostenibile 2 "Porre fine alla fame, raggiungere la sicurezza alimentare, migliorare la nutrizione e promuovere un’agricoltura sostenibile", in particolare per i piccoli agricoltori con scarse risorse nei paesi in via di sviluppo. / The purpose of the PhD thesis is to understand the effects of the adoption of agroecological approaches, both systems and practices, on the Sustainable Livelihood Framework of smallholder farmers. Three research methodologies, literature review, meta-analysis and case study, have been adopted in order to assess the benefits derived from implementing agroecological approaches on human, social, natural, financial and physical capitals. The results of the thesis have contributed to building evidence which demonstrates that agroecological approaches can improve the livelihood of smallholders farmers, without any trade-offs occurring in a wide range of socio-economic and environmental indicators. The thesis highlights that agroecological methods can be considered as a viable and effective tool to promote SDG1 “End poverty in all its forms everywhere” and SDG2 “End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture”, especially for poor-resource farmers in developing countries.

Water stress is increasing globally, especially affecting arid regions of the world such as Egypt. Due to challenges related to intensifying effects of climate change and a rapidly growing population, the levels of and access to water is a continuous area of concern for the country – making it important to analyze how these water issues are managed. This study connects the hydrosocial cycle and commoning frameworks in analyzing how water is managed in a downstream, desert reclamation area in Fayoum, Egypt – and how this management, or lack thereof, affects the livelihoods of the people living there. In doing so, we examine how possible commoning practices are influenced by factors related to the hydrosocial cycle. Fieldwork has been conducted for this case study by holding participatory workshops, semi-structured interviews, and observations. Our findings imply that the hydrosocial cycle has shaped the management of water in our studied site, which has in turn affected the commoning practices that take place there. The low water levels and the saline quality of the water is what has created the prevalent forms of commoning that can be seen in the community.  The presence of a local agricultural association has also influenced the commoning practices. The quality and levels of water in the area are in part managed by neighbors borrowing irrigation minutes from each other, and by collective olive harvest. To a lesser extent there are also instances of neighbors helping each other with agricultural work throughout the year, and sharing reservoirs. There are indications that these commoning practices play a part in sustaining livelihoods in the community. The commoning practices found in the studied site have emerged in a relatively new social context and can be characterized as context specific patches of commoning, occurring on the peripheries of hybrid institutions – that have largely been shaped by hydrosocial forces. As the hydrosocial cycle is ever-changing, these commoning practices will likely also come to change.