Do sustainable livelihood approaches have a positive impact on the rural poor? A look at twelve case studies

This paper examines case studies of projects that employed a sustainable livelihoods approach or sustainable livelihoods principles and in which there were measurable effects of poverty reduction. The paper is not a comparative study between livelihoods and non-livelihoods approaches and as such, "traditional" development cases were not considered. This paper also attempts to identify the operational and institutional elements that were consistent among cases of successful impact on the rural poor.