IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/jdevst/v48y2012i9p1241-1257.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Livelihood Change in Rural Zimbabwe over 20 Years

Author

Listed:
  • Josphat Mushongah
  • Ian Scoones

Abstract

This article explores the changing livelihood strategies among a group of rural households in southern Zimbabwe across 20 years. The study uses a combination of a household survey, in-depth biographical interviews and wealth ranking to examine livelihood change. The households studied in 1986--1987 were all traced two decades on, and the pattern of livelihood transitions was analysed. In addition, a set of ‘secondary households’, offshoots of the original ‘primary households’, were also traced, revealing important changes in livelihood opportunity for the next generation. The article reflects on the methodological challenges of exploring longitudinal livelihood change. In conclusion, the key dynamics of livelihood transitions over this period are highlighted, along with the implications these have for rural development and agrarian change.

Suggested Citation

  • Josphat Mushongah & Ian Scoones, 2012. "Livelihood Change in Rural Zimbabwe over 20 Years," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(9), pages 1241-1257, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:jdevst:v:48:y:2012:i:9:p:1241-1257
    DOI: 10.1080/00220388.2012.671474
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/00220388.2012.671474
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/00220388.2012.671474?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ellis, Frank, 2000. "Rural Livelihoods and Diversity in Developing Countries," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198296966.
    2. Tony Addison & David Hulme & Ravi Kanbur, 2008. "Poverty Dynamics: Measurement and Understanding from an Interdisciplinary Perspective," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series 1908, GDI, The University of Manchester.
    3. Frank Ellis, 2000. "The Determinants of Rural Livelihood Diversification in Developing Countries," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(2), pages 289-302, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Rui Sun & Jianing Mi & Shu Cao & Tianyi Zhang, 2021. "Trends and Determinants of Income-Oriented Livelihood Transitions in Rural China," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 155(2), pages 601-624, June.
    2. Emmanuel Mavhura, 2016. "Disaster legislation: a critical review of the Civil Protection Act of Zimbabwe," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 80(1), pages 605-621, January.
    3. Adamseged, M.E. & Frija, A. & Thiel, A., 2018. "Dynamics of rural livelihoods and rainfall variability in Northern Ethiopia," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 277441, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    4. D. Weyer & C. M. Shackleton & Y. O. Adam, 2018. "HIV/AIDS and other household shocks as catalysts of local commercialization of non†timber forest products in Southern Africa," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 36(S1), pages 285-301, March.
    5. Falconnier, Gatien N. & Descheemaeker, Katrien & Van Mourik, Thomas A. & Sanogo, Ousmane M. & Giller, Ken E., 2015. "Understanding farm trajectories and development pathways: Two decades of change in southern Mali," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 210-222.
    6. Shanta Paudel Khatiwada & Wei Deng & Bikash Paudel & Janak Raj Khatiwada & Jifei Zhang & Jiangjun Wan, 2018. "A Gender Analysis of Changing Livelihood Activities in the Rural Areas of Central Nepal," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-24, November.
    7. Hansen, James & Hellin, Jon & Rosenstock, Todd & Fisher, Eleanor & Cairns, Jill & Stirling, Clare & Lamanna, Christine & van Etten, Jacob & Rose, Alison & Campbell, Bruce, 2019. "Climate risk management and rural poverty reduction," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 172(C), pages 28-46.
    8. Hui Xiao & Jianxiu Xiao & Fangting Xie, 2022. "Impact Assessment of Farmland Lease-Out on Rural Households’ Livelihood Capital and Livelihood Strategy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(17), pages 1-22, August.
    9. Current Masunungure & Sheona E. Shackleton, 2018. "Exploring Long-Term Livelihood and Landscape Change in Two Semi-Arid Sites in Southern Africa: Drivers and Consequences for Social–Ecological Vulnerability," Land, MDPI, vol. 7(2), pages 1-23, April.
    10. Dai, Xuhuan & Li, Bo & Zheng, Hua & Yang, Yanzheng & Yang, Zihan & Peng, Chenchen, 2023. "Can sedentarization decrease the dependence of pastoral livelihoods on ecosystem services?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 203(C).
    11. Liboster Mwadzingeni & Raymond Mugandani & Paramu L. Mafongoya, 2021. "Assessing Vulnerability to Climate Change in Smallholder Irrigation Schemes of Zimbabwe," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-18, September.
    12. Amrita Saha & Rachel Sabates-Wheeler & John Thompson, 2022. "Insights into smallholder capacity for agricultural commercialisation: Evidence from four African contexts," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 34(4), pages 1757-1802, August.
    13. Véronique Sophie Ávila-Foucat & Daniel Revollo-Fernández & Carolina Navarrete, 2021. "Determinants of Livelihood Diversification: The Case of Community-Based Ecotourism in Oaxaca, Mexico," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(20), pages 1-17, October.
    14. Jiao, Xi & Pouliot, Mariève & Walelign, Solomon Zena, 2017. "Livelihood Strategies and Dynamics in Rural Cambodia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 266-278.
    15. Jude Ndzifon Kimengsi & Mukong Alfred Kechia & Balgah Roland Azibo & Jürgen Pretzsch & Jude Kwei, 2019. "Households’ Assets Dynamics and Ecotourism Choices in the Western Highlands of Cameroon," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-16, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Rao, Nitya, 2017. "Assets, Agency and Legitimacy: Towards a Relational Understanding of Gender Equality Policy and Practice," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 43-54.
    2. Jan Fałkowski & Maciej Jakubowski & Paweł Strawiński, 2014. "Returns from income strategies in rural Poland," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 22(1), pages 139-178, January.
    3. Food Security and Agricultural Projects Analysis Service (ESAF), 2004. "Food insecurity and vulnerability in Viet Nam: Profiles of four vulnerable groups," ESA Working Papers 23798, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Agricultural Development Economics Division (ESA).
    4. Dolores Koenig, 2024. "Evaluating well‐being after compulsory resettlement: Livelihoods, standards of living, and well‐being in Manantali, Mali," Economic Anthropology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 11(2), pages 210-220, June.
    5. Hendrawan, Dienda C P & Musshoff, Oliver, 2022. "Oil Palm Smallholder Farmers' Livelihood Resilience and Decision Making in Replanting," 2022 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Anaheim, California 322441, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    6. Jon D. Unruh, 2008. "Toward sustainable livelihoods after war: Reconstituting rural land tenure systems," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 32(2), pages 103-115, May.
    7. Yen H. T. Nguyen & Tuyen Q. Tran & Dung T. Hoang & Thu M. T. Tran & Trung T. Nguyen, 2023. "Land quality, income, and poverty among rural households in the North Central Region, Vietnam," Poverty & Public Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 15(2), pages 150-172, June.
    8. Walelign,Solomon Zena & Wang Sonne,Soazic Elise & Seshan,Ganesh Kumar, 2022. "Livelihood Impacts of Refugees on Host Communities : Evidence from Ethiopia," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10044, The World Bank.
    9. Porro, Roberto & Lopez-Feldman, Alejandro & Vela-Alvarado, Jorge W., 2015. "Forest use and agriculture in Ucayali, Peru: Livelihood strategies, poverty and wealth in an Amazon frontier," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 47-56.
    10. Jung, Suhyun & Hajjar, Reem, 2023. "The livelihood impacts of transnational aid for climate change mitigation: Evidence from Ghana," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    11. Anwar Kurniadi & IDK Widana & Christine Sri Marnani, 2023. "Mangrove Forest Development as Sustainable Vegetation Disaster Mitigation against Coastal Abrasion and Rob Floods in Supporting Regional Resilience in Bekasi Regency," Technium Social Sciences Journal, Technium Science, vol. 39(1), pages 440-451, January.
    12. Yohannes Teshome & Kaba Urgessa & Anouska Ann Kinahan & Hailu Belay & Sisay Assefa, 2018. "An Assessment of Local Community Livelihood Benefits as a result of Bale Mountains National Park, Southeast Ethiopia," International Journal of Environmental Sciences & Natural Resources, Juniper Publishers Inc., vol. 15(5), pages 133-140, December.
    13. H.M. Tuihedur Rahman & Gordon M. Hickey, 2020. "An Analytical Framework for Assessing Context-Specific Rural Livelihood Vulnerability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(14), pages 1-26, July.
    14. Sara Randall & Ernestina Coast, 2015. "Poverty in African Households: the Limits of Survey and Census Representations," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(2), pages 162-177, February.
    15. Elijah Yendaw & Augustine Tanle & Akwasi Kumi-Kyereme, 2019. "Analysis of livelihood activity amongst itinerant west African migrant traders in the Accra metropolitan area," Journal of Global Entrepreneurship Research, Springer;UNESCO Chair in Entrepreneurship, vol. 9(1), pages 1-21, December.
    16. Maria Mwaipopo Fibaek, 2021. "Working Poor? A Study of Rural Workers' Economic Welfare in Kenya," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(1), pages 41-69, January.
    17. Francesca Marchetta, 2011. "On the Move Livelihood Strategies in Northern Ghana," CERDI Working papers halshs-00591137, HAL.
    18. Wunder, Sven & Angelsen, Arild & Belcher, Brian, 2014. "Forests, Livelihoods, and Conservation: Broadening the Empirical Base," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 64(S1), pages 1-11.
    19. Wegenast, Tim & Richetta, Cécile & Krauser, Mario & Leibik, Alexander, 2022. "Grabbed trust? The impact of large-scale land acquisitions on social trust in Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    20. André Leliveld & Peter Knorringa, 2018. "Frugal Innovation and Development Research," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 30(1), pages 1-16, January.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:jdevst:v:48:y:2012:i:9:p:1241-1257. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/FJDS20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.