Implementing a sustainable livelihoods framework for policy-directed research: Reflections from practice in Mali

dc.contributor.authorBrock, K.en
dc.contributor.departmentSustainable Agriculture and Natural Resource Management (SANREM) Knowledgebaseen
dc.coverage.spatialMalien
dc.coverage.spatialAfricaen
dc.date.accessioned2016-04-19T18:56:12Zen
dc.date.available2016-04-19T18:56:12Zen
dc.date.issued1999en
dc.descriptionMetadata only recorden
dc.description.abstractThis paper has two objectives. The first is to discuss the experience of carrying out research in a village in Mali as part of a multi-country, comparative research programme on the theme of Sustainable Livelihoods. The second is to place that field-level experience in the broader context of the relationship between research and policy, particularly in terms of the exchange and flow of information between different stakeholders in the development policy process. The process of using the Sustainable Livelihoods framework for planning and implementing and inquiry, and analyzing the information this generated, raised a range of questions. On one hand, there were methodological lessons and practical issues: what is the best way to represent complexity? How can the multiple views of different actor groups be incorporated in to such a representation? How can such a learning process be effectively managed within the boundaries of available resources? On the other hand, there were more abstract considerations: what, and who, is this research for? How could this process of research best be transformed into something which usefully serves the needs of the poor, or supports environmentally sustainable practices? These reflections on how a particular piece of research was carried out resonated with some of the current debates about methodological complimentarily, incorporating the needs and perceptions of the poor into anti-poverty policies, and the centrality of institutions, both to livelihoods and policymaking. There is in turn a common thread in many of these debates; how to best occupy the space between top-down and bottom-up, between macro and micro. The framework for research and analysis described here provided opportunities to bridge this gap.en
dc.format.mimetypetext/plainen
dc.identifier1416en
dc.identifier.citationInstitute of Development Studies Working Paper 90en
dc.identifier.isbn1-8586-4264-7en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10919/66122en
dc.language.isoen_USen
dc.publisherInstitute of Development Studies University of Sussex, Brighton, UKen
dc.rightsIn Copyrighten
dc.rights.holderCopyright 1999 Institute of Development Studiesen
dc.rights.urihttp://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/en
dc.subjectPovertyen
dc.subjectSustainabilityen
dc.subjectFrameworken
dc.subjectPolicymakingen
dc.subjectMalien
dc.subjectVillagesen
dc.subjectComparative researchen
dc.subjectEcosystemen
dc.titleImplementing a sustainable livelihoods framework for policy-directed research: Reflections from practice in Malien
dc.typeAbstracten
dc.type.dcmitypeTexten

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