Este estudo visa compreender quais são os fatores de vulnerabilidade que impactam sobre as capacitações e os meios de vida das populações rurais. Nesse sentido, o estudo versou sobre o tema da vulnerabilidade desde uma perspectiva multidimensional, procurando dar ênfase na compreensão dos múltiplos fatores que provocam situações de vulnerabilidade na pecuária de corte, fragilizando os meios de vida dos pecuaristas e limitando o exercício das capacitações, verificando, com isso, como os pecuaristas de corte têm enfrentado ou se adaptado às situações causadas pelos múltiplos fatores de vulnerabilidade que estão expostos. De tal forma, o objetivo do trabalho consiste em compreender como a vulnerabilidade age sobre as capacitações e meios de vida dos pecuaristas de corte da Campanha Meridional e Serra do Sudeste do Rio Grande do Sul, e como esses criam estratégias de enfrentamento ou adaptação aos efeitos das situações de vulnerabilidade que estão expostos. Assim, três hipóteses orientarão a pesquisa. A primeira afirma que o meio de vida da pecuária de corte é formado por um portfólio de ativos, composto por fatores internos e externos ao estabelecimento. A segunda sustenta que a vulnerabilidade está relacionada tanto a fatores externos como a fatores internos aos estabelecimentos de pecuária de corte, e os impactos desses fatores provém de suas combinações e atuação conjunta, porém, afetam primeiramente os meios de vida dos pecuaristas comprometendo o exercício das capacitações. A terceira hipótese afirma que as estratégias envolvendo o enfrentamento às situações de vulnerabilidade são estratégias de reação que estão relacionadas à maior (e não total) restrição ao acesso e a mobilização de ativos que compõem o meio de vida e, por conta disso, limitam os pecuaristas a exercerem suas capacitações e seu meio de vida. Já as estratégias de adaptação são estratégias reativas que estão relacionadas à maior (e não total) disponibilidade e acesso de ativos, o que permite aos pecuaristas anteciparem a sua capacidade de escolha para construir soluções de adaptação às situações de vulnerabilidade. Portanto, são as estratégias de adaptação que permitem ampliar a expansão dos intitulamentos criando as condições para a própria realização das capacitações e dos meios de vida. A amplitude desse estudo mereceu a utilização de entrevista semiestruturada como principal técnica de pesquisa, com um roteiro de questões abertas, fechadas e de múltipla escolha, de caráter qualitativo e quantitativo. Assim, foram aplicadas 60 entrevistas com pecuaristas de corte dos municípios de Bagé e Dom Pedrito localizados na microrregião Campanha Meridional, e Piratini e Pinheiro Machado situados na microrregião Serra do Sudeste, no Rio Grande do Sul. De modo geral, os resultados dessa pesquisa confirmam as hipóteses iniciais. Nesse sentido, foi identificado que a vulnerabilidade para os pecuaristas de corte consiste em uma situação de ausência de liberdade de escolha, causada por uma carência no acesso a alguns ativos, limitando, assim, o exercício das capacitações e provocando situações de incerteza quanto aos seus meios de vida. Sendo assim, os principais fatores de vulnerabilidade identificados são: período de verão (98%), problemas sanitários da pecuária (87%), período de inverno (83%), expansão da silvicultura (82%), dificuldade de contratação de mão de obra (78%) e ausência de sucessor (77%). Desse modo, a liberdade para escolher a melhor estratégia para enfrentar ou se adaptar às situações de vulnerabilidade fica restrita aos meios de vida de cada família, pois é a disponibilidade de ativos que vai possibilitar aos indivíduos expandir ou restringir suas capacitações individuais. / This study aimed at understanding, what are the vulnerability factors that impact on the capabilities and the livelihoods of rural populations. In this sense, the study was about the issue of vulnerability from a multidimensional perspective, emphasizing the understanding the multiple factors that cause situations of vulnerability in beef cattle, weakening the livelihoods of farmers and limiting the exercise of training, checking, with it, such as beef cattle farmers have faced or are adapted to situations caused by multiple factors of vulnerability they are exposed. As such, the objective of this study is to understand how the vulnerability acts on the skills and livelihoods of beef cattle farm ranchers of the Campanha Meridional and Serra do Sudeste of Rio Grande do Sul, and how these create strategies or adapt to the effects of situations of vulnerability to which they are exposed. Thus, three hypotheses guided the research. The first states that the livelihood of beef cattle consists of a portfolio of assets, consisting of internal and external factors to the establishment. The second holds that the vulnerability is related to both external factors such as internal factors to the establishments of beef cattle, and the impacts of these factors come from their combinations and joint action, however, primarily affect the livelihoods of farmers commiting the exercise of capabilities. The third hypothesis states that the strategies involving facing situations of vulnerability are response strategies that are related to more (but not total) restriction of access and mobilization of assets that comprise the means of life, and therefore, limiting ranchers to exercise their skills and their livelihood. But, adaptation strategies are reactive strategies that are related to more (but not total) asset availability and access, which allows farmers to anticipate their choice to build solutions to adapt to situations of vulnerability. Therefore, the adaptation strategies allow you to extend the expansion of entitlements creating the conditions for the realization of their own capabilities and livelihoods. The amplitude of this study merited the use of semi-structured interview as the main research technique, with a schedule of open questions, multiple choices and closed, of qualitative and quantitative character. Thus, 60 interviews were applied to beef cattle farmers in the municipalities of Bagé and Dom Pedrito located in the Campanha Meridional micro-region, and Piratini and Pinheiro Machado located in the Serra do Sudeste micro-region, Rio Grande do Sul. Altogether, the results of this research confirm the initial hypotheses. In this sense, the vulnerability was identified for beef cattle ranchers situation in the lack of freedom of choice, caused by a lack of access to certain assets, thus limiting the exercise of skills and situations causing uncertainty in relation to their livelihoods. Thus, the main factors of vulnerability identified are: summer period (98%), livestock health problems (87%), winter period (83%), expansion of forestry (82%), difficulty of hiring labor (78%) and the lack of a successor (77%). Thus, the freedom to choose the best strategy to cope with or adapt to situations of vulnerability, is limited to the livelihoods of each family, as is the availability of assets that will enable individuals to expand or restrict their individual capacities.

O plano de intervenção planejada dirigido ao Projeto Jaíba (PJ) e elaborado pelas agências de desenvolvimento atendeu à recomendação de mudança de beneficiários determinada pelo Banco Mundial. A pretensão inicial das agências era acolher empresários rurais e, a partir da atividade desses, gerar empregos às famílias rurais locais, para, sob a responsabilidade da CODEVASF e RURALMINAS, assentar aqueles que seriam empregados e transformá-los em empresários rurais sob o estilo de agricultura irrigada. O Projeto Jaíba apresenta contexto favorável à pesquisa, pois foi contemplado com estruturas similares e esperavam, seus idealizadores, acolherem respostas similares dos envolvidos ao processo de intervenção planejada. Além de sua população, está sendo afetado por mais de 25 anos por duas políticas públicas: a constituição de um perímetro de irrigação com o intuito de modernização da agricultura e outra de assentamento rural. O interesse da pesquisa deu-se em compreender por que os Colonos Irrigantes (CIs) adotam estratégias de diversificação mesmo quando submetidos a uma forte pressão por homogeneização dos seus meios de sustento. Para responder ao questionamento, foi realizada pesquisa de campo, tendo como aporte teórico a Perspectiva Orientada aos Atores – POA. A alquimia entre o aporte teórico e os dados recolhidos por meio de questionário semiestruturado, entrevista em profundidade, observação não participante e análise documental permitiu compreender a organização do PJ não como um plano físico ou um plano de ação controlada pelos idealizadores que determinariam o seu funcionamento, e sim como arranjos sociais compostos pelas partes envolvidas, estando presentes os Colonos Irrigantes, Mediadores Institucionais (MIs) e as organizações locais e a distância. Também, permitiu averiguar a ocorrência de lutas e negociações entre atores com diferentes visões, interesses sociais, estratégias, interface de conhecimento e experiência, estabelecendo espaço de manobra, rompendo-se com a possibilidade de antecipar em um plano o jogo e seus resultados. Concluiu-se que o plano idealizado não se realizou de forma linear e executado por indivíduos vazios, ao contrário, os Colonos Irrigantes transformaram o plano em processo dinâmico e negociado socialmente. Deste modo, mesmo diante de intervenção planejada com estabelecimento de resultados prévios, os Colonos Irrigantes do PJ ampliaram a heterogeneidade dos seus meios de sustento e, em muitos momentos, fizeram diferente e fizeram a diferença. Assim, após mais de 25 anos de intensa intervenção planejada e com forte direcionamento em conformar os meios de sustento dos CIs em um sistema homogêneo e mercantilizado, direcionado principalmente à fruticultura, observa-se a diversificação tanto nos estilos de produzir quanto nas estratégias de inserção no mercado e modos de viver. Extraem-se como proposições que as agências de desenvolvimento deveriam afastar-se de estratégias de replicar experiências identificadas e avaliadas como exitosas, transformando-as em plano ou receituário indicativo de ser generalizado em outros territórios. / The planned intervention plan designed for the Jaíba Project prepared by development agencies met the recommended changes of beneficiaries determined by the World Bank. The initial intention of these agencies was to welcome rural entrepreneurs and generate jobs for local rural families in their activities for, under the responsibility of CODEVASF and RURALMINAS, settle those who would become employees and turn them into rural entrepreneurs working with irrigated agriculture. The Jaíba Project presents a favorable scenario for research, since it was contemplated with similar structures and its creators wished to receive similar responses from those involved in the process of planned intervention. Besides its population, [the project] has been affected for more than 25 years by two public policies: the establishment of an irrigation perimeter in order to modernize agriculture and another for rural settlements. The interest of the research was to understand why the Irrigation Settlers adopt agricultural diversification strategies even when subjected to a strong pressure for homogenization of their livelihoods. To this end, it was conducted a field research, having as theoretical foundation the Actor-Oriented Approach. The alchemy between the theoretical framework and the data collected through semi-structured questionnaire, in-depth interviews, non-participant observation and document analysis allowed us to understand the organization of the Jaíba Project not as a physical plan or a plan of action controlled by the developers that would determine its operation, but as social arrangements made by the involved parties, being present the Irrigation Settlers, Institutional Mediators and local and distant organizations. It also allowed to verify the occurrence of struggles and negotiations between actors with different views, social interests, strategies, interface between knowledge and expertise, establishing a leeway and breaking with the possibility of advancing in the plan all the game and its results. It was concluded that the designed plan was not realized linearly nor run by empty individuals, on the contrary - the Irrigation Settlers transformed the plan into a dynamic and socially negotiated process. Thus, even before the planned intervention with previously established results, the Irrigation Settlers of the Jaíba Project widened the heterogeneity of their livelihoods and in many different times they made the difference. Thus, after more than twenty-five years of intensive planned intervention with a strong orientation to conform the livelihoods of the Irrigation Settlers in a homogeneous, commodified system directed mainly at fruit production, diversification is observed both in kinds of production and in strategies for entering the market and ways of living. As propositions, it is noticed that development agencies should move away from strategies that merely replicate experiments identified and evaluated as successful, transforming them into prescription plans recommended for being generalized in other territories.

Le mode de vie et les moyens d’existence des Maasaï ont été marqués par différents changements mais le pastoralisme est resté le cœur de leur activité. La situation actuelle est différente. Les Maasaï ne sont plus en mesure de compter seulement sur le pastoralisme en tant qu’activité principale et certains ont même quitté le pastoralisme et opté pour d’autres activités.Parmi les forces qui exercent des changements dans le pastoralisme on trouve les politiques foncières et les mesures d’utilisation des sols, qui ont été mises en œuvre par les gouvernements (coloniaux et postcoloniaux) à différents moments. Kuney (1994) rapporte que 60% environ de la terre appartenant autrefois aux Maasaï a été placée sous une production agricole intensive. L’éducation et l’exposition à d’autres modes de vie (qui sont principalement des produits de la globalisation, de la culture technologique et de l’interaction avec d’autres sociétés) ont créé des glissements idéologiques les jeunes en regard de la pertinence, la logique, la durabilité et la faisabilité du pastoralisme comme activité source de revenus et moyen d’existence dans le contexte actuel. / Maasai lifestyles and livelihoods have been undergoing various changes like other persons but pastoralism has remained their core livelihood activity. However, the current situation is different. They are no longer able to relay solemnly on pastoralism as their main livelihood activity and others have exited pastoralism and opted for other livelihoodAmong the forces exerting changes in pastoralism are policies on land tenure and land uses which were created and implemented by governments at different times. Kuney (1994) report that about 60% of the former Maasai grazing land in Tanzania has been put under intensive agricultural production. Attainment of education increased exposure to other livelihoods styles created ideological shifts especially among the youths with regard to relevance, rationale, sustainability, and feasibility of pastoralism as a livelihood activity in the current context.

Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) is considered as important tool to empower rural people with the ability to communicate instantaneously facilitating rural development process and information needs. In developing countries potential of ICT4D still not understood, what ICTs can do in rural people life and how ICTs are used by rural people, so it has become area of discussion.The study was conducted in rural Nangi village of Ramche VDC at Myagdi district of Nepal which is located at the height of 2300 m in western part of Himalayan region. Qualitative case study research design was adopted for the study. Research study manages structured interview with hundred fifty five users and non-users of ICTs. To provide supplementary information for data collected from individual interviews, four FGD (four focus group discussion) were conducted including both ICTs user and non-user of Nangi village of Ramche VDC. Semi-structured interview was conducted with two telecenter operator, two health workers and one NWNP project responsible person to know in depth of ICTs use and its effect on life of rural people. Majority of ICTs users were male having higher secondary education (Grade 11 & 12) while minorities were female in study area.Telecenter have failed to consider underrepresented groups in the provision of ICTs services in study area. Necessary conditions to access ICTs exist while sufficient conditions such as ICTs skill, and awareness still lacking. In Nangi village of Ramche VDC, technologies do not support socio-economic development totally but have some effect on various aspects of livelihoods. Socially, technologies help for better communication, and knowledge sharing. Economically, technologies help for better income generation, savings and technologies facilitate for better access to information, and ICTs literacy as human capital. Language problem (illiteracy), lack of ICTs skill, lack of time, lack of electricity supply, low bandwidth of internet with timely disconnection, terrible road and poor infrastructure were found significant obstacles for effective use of ICTs in telecenter.The study recommends NWNP project leader and telecenter operator should do regular information need assessment of poor, disadvantaged and underrepresented groups to redesign or restructure the program to bring them in provision of ICTs service instead of looking them as passive users of ICTs services. There should be collaboration between telecenter program and LDC (local development committee) to develop localized application for rural people. The developed localized ICTs application should meet needs of rural people to serve them efficiently and effectively.

Magister Artium (Development Studies) - MA(DVS) / Across the globe, land reform has become a key strategy for improving people’s livelihoods aimed at reducing poverty and increasing food security for resilient livelihoods. In sub-Saharan Africa, redistributive land reform has been implemented since the post-colonial period as a developmental approach. Since independence, Zimbabwe implemented two forms of land reform programmes which are the Land Reform and Resettlement Programme (LRRP) (1980-1997) and the Fast Track Land Reform Programme (FTLRP) (2000). The LRRP was based on the willing buyer willing seller approach with the state buying land for redistribution, while the FTLRP emerged from the chaotic and sporadic invasion of white owned commercial farms led by liberation war veterans and other politically affiliated people. In this thesis, I will focus on the LRRP which provided small farming land to many beneficiaries to ensure sustainable livelihoods. Land is an important livelihood source for the people of Zimbabwe, but on its own it cannot sustain the living standards of resettled farmers. Contemporary literature shows the catastrophic failure of land reform in Zimbabwe. Despite all the problems, land still remains the spring board of livelihoods in Zimbabwe. There is, however, less empirical research undertaken to assess how the LRRP has benefited and enhanced livelihoods of resettled farmers. This research will assess how the LRRP improved the livelihoods of Nyahukwe resettled farmers in Rusape, Zimbabwe. The study’s investigation will focus and add literature on how LRRP has been successful in empowering resettled farmers to enhance their livelihoods, to be more food secure as well as to improve their well-being. Using qualitative research methods, the research aimed to assess the livelihoods of farmers since they resettled. In particular, assessing the assets and capital available and how the farmers have been able to cope, strategies implemented to diversify their livelihoods and the outcomes achieved. The Sustainable livelihoods approach (SLA) was used as a theoretical framework to assess the new livelihoods patterns established after resettlement. Purposive non-random sampling was employed to interview 3 Nyahukwe government officials such as the extension managers, Environmental health officer and Veterinary officer. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data from 30 participants from Village F. A focus group 10 - 15 purposefully selected farmers was conducted. Data analysis was performed on the narrative and information from interviews, focus groups and questionnaires conducted during data collection. The findings show that land reform has enhanced the livelihoods of farmers since they were resettled as they reckon food selfsufficiency and better well-being. The research findings also illustrate that land remain the livelihood base of Nyahukwe farmers although they have adopted coping strategies to expand income generation. Coping strategies are farm and off farm activities that have diversified the farmers’ livelihoods through the interaction of assets. Land as a natural asset has been used with human, physical, financial and social capital to sustain the farmers. The findings revealed positive livelihood outcomes by assessing the assets before and after resettlement and outcomes achieved after adopting strategies as all farmers have increased income, self-sufficiency and improved well-being.

In 1996, Guatemala achieved peace after 36 years of civil war which took root in the political and social oppression of the country’s vast indigenous population. To counter the country’s widespread poverty, inequality and ongoing political and social frustrations the Guatemalan government adopted a liberal peace building agenda by ‘globalizing’ its economy and by decentralizing the political and economic process. Through this process, Guatemala has achieved a democracy which is accepted by western standards as well as the classification of a middle income country. However, the vast, and predominately rural, indigenous population has been left behind in this progress; it is estimated that 7 out 10 indigenous Guatemalans today are facing more or less severe livelihood conditions below the poverty line, why Guatemala remains one of the most unequal countries in the world. The government now hopes to overcome the shortcomings in the rural sector by stimulating local agricultural projects and ideas which are anchored in the many and various territorially strengths and challenges throughout Guatemala’s countryside; the intention is, in other words, to encourage a stronger local control over the development process.This study explores the conditions for, and the relevance of, local ownership of development in terms of livelihood improvements in Yalambojoch, one indigenous agriculture community in one of the poorest and most war torn regions in Guatemala. An abductive field work with a holistic livelihood-approach has been necessary in order to localize more or less obvious factors that are trapping the village in poverty, and to understand to what degree poverty is determined by the village’s level of autonomy, or ownership, over its development process. The results shows that the village's low livelihood level is determined by agricultural insufficiency, poor access to crucial services and political and socio economic isolation. The village's empowerment is restricted to protection of territory, which reproduces a context in which a more participant autonomy in a wider societal setting is thwarted, where external development projects are often reluctantly rejected due to local mistrust, frustration and discontentment with governmental as well as private agencies and where the livelihood situation consequently remains essentially static.

Mozambique remains one of the poorest countries in the world and has one of the least functional basic education systems. Despite a rapid expansion in access to basic education, the vast majority of pupils fail to complete a full seven year cycle of primary school. This research aims to better understand the characteristics, causes and consequences of children dropping out of primary school among low income families in rural areas. The research is based upon a qualitative fieldwork study in Ribáué, a rural district in the northern province of Nampula. Theoretically orientated by the Capabilities Approach, giving a holistic conception of education and development, this research will analyse the findings using the Sustainable Rural Livelihoods (SRL) framework. Such a model enables the analysis to incorporate a diverse range of household, societal and exogenous aspects to give a rich interpretation of the situation. Given education’s prominence in many development discourses, particularly in relation to the Millennium Development Goals and the forthcoming post-2015 agenda, this research aims to contribute a deeper understanding of the role of education in such situations, what factors influence the dropout phenomenon, and the consequences of children failing to finish primary school. The results indicate that dropouts are characterised by situations of extreme income poverty interacting with exogenous factors which create vulnerable livelihoods and where the quality of education is considered low. The causes of dropouts generally relate to families’ lack of resilience to cope with socio-economic shocks and the paucity of post-school opportunities. The consequences are severe for the individuals, their families and Mozambique, resulting in limited capacity to create sustainable livelihoods. There is also a likely transgenerational effect, with future generations afflicted by persistent vulnerability due to a lack of capabilities and opportunities from not completing school.

Food security research with resettled refugees in the United States and other Global North countries has found alarmingly high rates of food insecurity, up to 85% of surveyed households. This is well above the current US average of 12.7%. However, the most common survey tool used to measure food security status in the US, the US Household Food Security Survey Module (HFSSM), has not been sufficiently validated for resettled refugee populations, leading to the risk that the HFSSM may actually be underestimating the prevalence of food insecurity among resettled refugees in the US. Though research has attempted to establish validity of the HFSSM for resettled refugees through statistical associations with other risk factors for food insecurity, no efforts have been made to first explore and establish the content validity of the HFSSM for measuring food security among resettled refugees. Content validity is an essential component of construct validity. It first requires a qualitative theoretical foundation for demonstrating the relationships of the test contents to the underlying construct (ie food security) that the test intends to measure. Our research explores these theoretical relationships through a qualitative grounded study of food insecurity and food management experiences described by resettled refugees living in Vermont. Dr. Linda Berlin and I conducted 5 semi-structured focus groups in the summer and fall of 2015 with Bhutanese (2 groups), Somali Bantu (1 group), and Iraqi (2 groups) resettled refugees. During the focus groups, we inquired about food management practices under typical circumstances and under circumstances of limited household resources, as well as difficulties participants have faced in these processes. Additionally, I conducted 18 semi-structured interviews and 1 focus group in the same time frame with service providers who have worked with resettled refugees in capacities primarily related to food, health, and household resources. These interviews provided additional data about context, household food management practices among clients, and triangulating data for the focus groups. A Grounded Theory analysis of the focus group data yielded 5 major emergent themes: 1) Past food insecurity experiences of resettled refugee participants exerted significant influence on the subjective perception of current food insecurity. 2) Barriers other than just financial resources restricted participants’ food security, especially for recently resettled refugees. 3) Preferred foods differed significantly between generations within households. 4) Common elements of quality and quantity included in the definition and measurement of food security did not translate into the languages or experiences of food insecurity among participants. 5) Strategic and adaptive food management practices prevailed among participants, highlighting the temporality and ambiguity of food security concepts. These themes present potential problems of content validity for every HFSSM question. They also reveal the importance of food security concepts that are not covered by the HFSSM, including elements of nutritional adequacy of food, food safety, social acceptability of food and of means of acquiring food, short and long term certainty of food access, and food utilization. I conclude by discussing implications of our findings for service providers and local governments in Vermont who seek to better serve resettled refugee and other New American populations.

Cette étude est fondée sur le fait que la croissance urbaine a accru les niveaux d'interaction entre le rural et l'urbain dans les pays en voie de développement. Ces interactions jouent un rôle significatif dans l'amélioration des moyens d'existence, en particulier pour les banlieusards. L'objectif général de cette étude est d'analyser cet état de fait. L'étude contribue à la compréhension des moyens d'exitence à travaers les frontières spatiales et sectorielles. L'étude examine les formes d'activités, cherchant à définir l'influence des facteurs politiques et des stratégies des ménages. L'étude a été menée dans la région de Bugisu à l'est de l'Ouganda et couvre cinq districts du "grand" Mbale : Mbale, Manafa, Budduda et Sironko. L'étude a mobilisé des méthodes de collecte d'information et d'analyse à la fois qualitative et quantitative. Parmi les principales conclusions, on constate que le Bugisu rural a des liens plus importants avec les centres urbains. La ville de Mbale, une des plus vieilles villes de la région, sert de hub au Bugisu concentrant 69% des activités de navette, qui dans la région, sont fortement influencées par la pression sur la terre, les conditions du marché, les relations de voisinage, la capacité des ménages et les différents moyens accessibles aux banlieusards, ainsi que l'augmentation de la pauvreté dans les zones rurales. Une politique délibérée devrait être mise en place pour soutenir les conditions d'existence des populations et réduire le coût du business. / This study is premised on the understanding that rising trends of urbanisation have led to increasing levels of interactionsbetween rural and urban settings and vice versa across the developing world. It is also envisioned that, rural-urban interactions play a significant role in supporting livelihoods especially of commuters. The overall objective of the study was to analyse the role of rural-urban interactions in supporting livelihoods of the commuters in Bugisu region. The study contributes to the understanding of livelihoods across spatial and sectoral boundaries looking at the synergistic coexistencefound between rural and urban and urban and rural settings. The study examined patterns of interaction and commuting activities in Bugisu region, looking at the influence of policy factors on commuting activities and commuter livelihoods strategies. The key concern was to establish a “fit” between rural-urban interaction and their potential for sustainable livelihoods. This study was conducted in Bugisu region, eastern Uganda covering the five districts of the then greater Mbale namely; Mbale, Manafa, Budduda and Sironko. The study employed both qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection and analysis.In examining patterns of interaction and commuting activities in Bugisu, the studynotes that rural Bugisu relates more closely with its urban centres. Mbale town, one of the oldest towns in the region serves as the hub of Bugisu region with, 69% of commuting activities in the area centred in it.

Short Food Supply Chains (SFSC) can be understood as ‘alternatives’ to conventional, complex food chains that tend to dominate contemporary agri-food systems. They redefine producer-consumer relations through socially and physically ‘closer’, more transparent supply chains founded upon quality cues associated with provenance, whereby products become embedded with information about the spaces of production. It has been argued that SFSC can have significant socio-economic benefits for rural development, providing livelihoods for small-scale, independent food producers who would otherwise be marginalised from food markets. SFSC have received plenty of attention amongst ‘alternative’ agri-food scholars in recent years. However, empirical research has typically addressed SFSC in relation to a specific set of values, politics and traditions, examining a locale or region in relation to cultural structures ingrained in a particular context. This has resulted in vast amounts of agri-food literature with specific reference to the contexts of Europe, North America and other global North regions. Attention to countries from the global South has increased recently, but there are limited cross-cultural, comparative analyses between regions from the global North and South. This is surprising given that small-scale food producers the world over face similar obstacles associated with access to markets, adaptation to climate change, contradictory policies and development programmes and increased competition from imports. This research investigates how SFSC operate in context, drawing on evidence from case studies in rural regions of The Gambia, West Africa and East England; illustrative cases of the global North and South. This thesis adopts an inductive methodology, incorporating grounded theory and a range of qualitative methods and data analysis techniques. The regional food group Tastes of Anglia and social enterprise named ‘Gambia is Good’ served as gatekeepers and provided access to small-scale food producers in each case. The Sustainable (Rural) Livelihoods Framework as originally conceived by the Department for International Development (DFID) was used as a conceptual toolkit to guide data collection and analyses. This involved an amalgamation of the largely disparate ‘alternative’ agri-food literature with that of sustainable livelihoods, revealing the important role that horizontal embeddedness and vertical embeddedness have in the context of SFSC. This research has found that in The Gambia, limited access to capital assets, infrastructural constraints and a lack of social embeddedness between rural producers and customers in the high value tourist industry undermines SFSC as viable livelihood strategies. This is in contrast to the UK, where food producers have access to a wider set of resources and can also draw on established ‘quality’ cues associated with Product-Process-Place linkages to market their products. Results suggest this is due to the historical (agri)cultural trajectories of East Anglia and spatial-temporal synergies that enable products embedded with information to be differentiated in competitive marketplaces. The processes enabling this differentiation can be considered as a form of cultural capital. This cannot be as readily drawn upon in The Gambia given its different agricultural and political-economic histories, and comparatively weaker forms of vertical embeddedness. This raises questions about the relevance and transferability of SFSC models to contexts such as The Gambia and other ‘similar’ regions in sub-Saharan Africa and the global South. The broader implications of these findings are discussed and five future research agendas that explore the key processes of horizontal and vertical embeddedness in both the global North and South are presented.