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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Agrarian Vista or Vortex: African Rural Livelihood Policies
Author:Bryceson, Deborah F.ISNI
Year:2004
Periodical:Review of African Political Economy
Volume:31
Issue:102
Period:December
Pages:617-629
Language:English
Geographic term:Subsaharan Africa
Subjects:employment
rural poverty
livelihoods
Economics and Trade
Development and Technology
Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups)
External links:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0305624042000327831
http://ejournals.ebsco.com/direct.asp?ArticleID=NWVAKMLT8CPE7PYVV12P
Abstract:This article explores the concepts of livelihoods, sustainability and poverty alleviation with reference to recent rural economy survey findings in sub-Saharan Africa, policies in the international development policy arena during the last 20 years, and South Africa's rural history. The author argues that processes of deagrarianization and depeasantization have accelerated in association with the implementation of structural adjustment policies. Village case study evidence from various African countries indicates a decline in peasant commodity production, a surge in non-agricultural income diversification ('non-agricultural' activities are those that do not directly involve plant or animal husbandry), the proliferation of multi-occupational households, accelerating rural class stratification and growing poverty. International financial institutions, specifically the World Bank, have become increasingly alert to rural poverty over the last few years but tend to ignore their policy influence in this field. The sustainable rural livelihoods approach acknowledges structural change in rural areas but has not yet fully analysed the depth of ongoing change and the policy scope needed to deflect rural poverty. A schematic look at deagrarianization in South Africa and the effect of past and present policy interventions in South African rural areas illustrates the potential continental dimensions of agricultural labour displacement. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. [Journal abstract]
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