Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
decline in well-being' (Rigg, 2007: 233). A household's resilience
to
recover from crisis
is also shaped by a range of social and cultural proc-
esses such as gender, local power relations and social capital (see
Chapter 5.2).
Despite transitions in the emphasis placed on different conceptual
and policy approaches to rural development, three main issues have
endured though time. First, it is difficult to talk about rural livelihoods
and poverty without thinking about the concept of sustainable develop-
ment,
which has framed environmental and development discourses
since the 1980s. Issues relating to the sustainability of resources and
eco-systems and the negative impacts of climate change on developing
countries are likely to continue to dominate international policy agen-
das throughout the twenty-first century.
Secondly, and most importantly, the agricultural sector not only con-
tinues to be an important source of national income for many nations,
but it plays an essential role in providing local livelihoods for a substan-
tial proportion of the population in the global South, although the
nature of these livelihood strategies may transform over time. A third
and interrelated theme is the problem of engendering equity
and social
justice, particularly in relation to
gender
, which also continues to
undermine interventions to empower vulnerable and impoverished
rural communities.
In order fully to understand the complexities of rural living, the chap-
ter starts with a brief synopsis of the overarching rural development
agendas that have framed livelihoods approaches over time, before
moving on to discuss sustainable rural livelihood approaches and the
gender gap in rural development.
115
Rural Development Agendas:
Transformations and Transitions
The colonial experience of most countries in the developing world was
focused on the production of raw materials and primary products for
export, extracted through the use of slave and indentured labour in the
plantation system (Potter et al.
,
2008). The overwhelming reliance of
many ex-colonies on export commodities like sugar or cotton has largely
resulted in instability, stagnation and domestic food shortages. Away
from the plantations, many small-scale farmers engaged in subsistence
