The benefits of livelihoods thinking and approaches are widely recognised. This paper focuses on an important gap in much of the conceptualisation and application of "livelihood approaches", a lack of emphasis on markets and their roles in livelihood development and poverty reduction. The...

Trade policy liberalisation requires institutional change, in the sense of a change in the rules of the game. The question is whether these changes produce "superior institutions" judged in terms of a reduction of transactions costs; improved coordination; stronger strategic commitment to...

Building upon the current emphasis on the importance of assets in increasing the productivity and reducing the vulnerability of poor peoples' livelihoods, a conceptual framework is developed that relates the functions and attributes of poor peoples' assets to their livelihood status and...

There is widespread concern at continuing, and indeed deepening, poverty in sub-Saharan Africa, and the lack of processes of rapid and broad based economic growth to combat this. There is also debate about the role agriculture in driving pro-poor economic growth with some arguing that it has a...

A wide range of institutional models and financial products are currently serving, or attempting to serve, the poor's demands for savings and loan services. However, very few of these operate in lower density rural areas or in areas where there has not already been some agriculturally based...

Economic growth has been low and the incidence and numbers of poor people remain very high in some parts of the world, notably in sub Saharan Africa and some parts of South Asia. Projections for poverty reduction suggest that these regions are likely to continue to hold very large numbers of...