Manejo de la temperatura

According to Krantz (2001), the idea of sustainable livelihood first came into prominence as a developmental tool by the Brundtland Commission on Environment and Development, and in 1992 the concept was expanded to advocate for the attainment of sustainable livelihood in line with the goal of poverty reduction. Chambers and Conway (1991:6) suggest that livelihood consists of capabilities, assets (stores, resources, claims and access) and activities required for a means of living. Scoones (1998:5) argue that livelihood is sustainable when it can cope with and recover from stresses and shocks maintain or enhance its capabilities and assets, while not undermining the natural resource base. It also includes both tangible and intangible assets required to reduce risk and meet emergencies. In a broader sense, Tilahun (2014) describes livelihood as a people’s way of life that includes their access to assists, livelihood outcomes and strategies used by individuals and household for making a living. On the other hand, sustainability is defined in multiple ways. Ordinary, sustainability means the continuous ability to remain self-reliance and perpetuate without causing any harm. However, in the context of social research and development, sustainability is concerned with the ability

80 | P a g e of an individual or household not only to gain but also to maintain an adequate and decent livelihood (Chambers & Conway, 1991). It is worthy of note that this study is not concerned with the concept of sustainability from the environmental perspective. This study views sustainability as the ability to improve and maintain livelihoods.

In analysing the concept of sustainable livelihood, Scoones (1998) argue that five key indicators are considered: 1) poverty reduction; 2) well-being and capabilities; 3) livelihood adaptation; 4) vulnerability and resilience and 5) natural resource base sustainability. This broadened view of the SLA recognizes that resources are not only important for productive investments (generating income) and for smoothening consumption but also for sustaining the livelihood and power structure on which the poor women depend. According to Bebbington (1999), this holistic standpoint ensures that poverty and well-being are linked to livelihood strategies and choices. By so doing, poverty is tackled holistically, and this place the poor and their needs at the centre of interventions (Chowdhury, 2014). The principle of SLA is a paradigm shift from outputs to people and a consideration of the priorities of individuals and families. Realizing the importance of a holistic approach to IA, Krantz (2001) argues that an effective women’s empowerment intervention must be people-centred, participatory, multi-level, sustainable and dynamic. The author pointed out that this approach is increasingly been used by international development agencies such as the Department for International Development (DFID) to implement poverty reduction interventions.

The SLA can be analyzed in three varied ways: as a set of values that guides the philosophy of social research, as a developmental objective and also as an analytical framework (Farrington, 2001). This study will employ the SLA as an analytical tool and will use its framework to shape the scope of this study. Also, the current study will embrace the philosophical ideas of the SLA and rely on the SLA as a guide to answer the research questions. Concerning analysis, the SLA provides the opportunity to evaluate the complexities of livelihood strategies, trends and constraints faced by poor women. This enables assessors to gain insight into the outcomes of microfinance intervention that target women (Carney, 1998). The next Section will discuss the philosophical underpinning that guides this study.

This study is underpinned by three core assumptions of the SLA as proposed by Krantz (2001). According to the author, the first is the understanding that economic growth does not automatically translate to women’s empowerment since the latter depends on the capabilities

81 | P a g e of the women to usurp economic opportunities. Secondly, the realization that disempowerment from the perspective of poor women does not only imply low income but also includes aspects such as bad health, illiteracy, vulnerability, powerlessness, and lack of social capital. Thirdly, a recognition that poor individual and households have a better understanding of their priorities and situation; thus, should be involved in the design of interventions to improve their wellbeing. Although this approach is based on shaping thinking about the livelihood of the poor and vulnerable and the significance of development policies and institutions to women’s empowerment (Chowdhury, 2014), the SLA is more concerned with people, assets and activities rather than institutions and their performance (Chambers & Conway, 1991). Therefore, the SLA encourages researchers to assess the extent to which poor women and their households are impacted by microfinance intervention. Scoones and Wolmer (2003) argued that the SLA supports the analyzing of the livelihood of the poor as a basis for assessing microfinance interventions.

Ellis (2000) pointed out that the SLA framework is considered a useful guide in shaping microfinance policies targeted at women’s empowerment in developing countries because that the SLA considers the assets of poor individuals and households as fundamental to understanding their available options, survival strategies and vulnerability to adverse events. In general, the approach is based on the premise that poor individuals or household require a range of assets/capital to achieve positive livelihood outcome but this is dependent on a mix or variety of assets to enable the poor gain and maintain the varied livelihood outcomes that the poor seek (Serrat, 2017;Quandt, 2018; Scoones, 1998). This is particularly true given the fact that women access to economic assets is very limited in Nigeria. Based on the limited availability of assets, women often ensure their survival by adapting through nurturing and combining the few assets at their disposal (Jha & Mishra, 2009).

Although the SLA proposes a holistic approach to microfinance impact assessment, Chowdhury, (2014) argues that researchers should modify the framework to focus on identifying the specific assets needs of the sample group. Similarly, Serrat (2008) pointed out that even though the SLA is a way of analyzing complex issues that surround poverty, empowerment and gender inequality, its framework needs customization to suit contextual situations and priorities. Providing another reason for pruning the SLA framework, Hulme (2000) suggested that researchers should use a manageable number of variables to be measured to mitigate the temptation of applying a comprehensive approach that may adversely impact on the data quality and study relevance. Against this background, this study

82 | P a g e will address this research problem by modifying the SLA framework to suit the Nigerian context and limit variable to numbers that are manageable in view of the time and resource constraints to complete the study. The sustainable livelihood approach has been adapted and customized by some NGOs like CARE, Oxfam, UNDP and ActionAid for their development interventions (Batterbury, 2008; Krantz, 2001).

An understanding of the livelihood resources required to attain and maintain women livelihoods will lay the foundation for establishing indicators of intervention outcomes. The sustainable livelihood framework recognizes five types of “capitals” which explores the assets that individuals (women) and household utilizes to in securing their livelihoods. These five capitals are discussed next.

3.3.1 Natural Capital

According to Schütte, (2006) natural capital refers to endowments of natural resources and institutional arrangements controlling access to common property resources. Although this description of natural capital/assets is narrow, it brings to light the legal and economic frameworks for acquiring and holding property which may be complex and too expensive for poor women. A broader perspective of natural capital suggests that it consist of natural resource stocks (soil, water, air, genetic resources, etc.) and environmental services (hydrological cycle, pollution sinks, etc.) from which resource flows and services useful for livelihoods are derived (Scoones, 1998). Specifically, natural capital includes land, water, mineral and vegetation utilized by women to generate means of livelihood. Ahmed (2009) applied the sustainable livelihood framework in his study of fish farming in rural Bangladesh, the study found that farmers relied on rainfall, groundwater and sometimes canal water for fish farming. Because natural capital is both renewable and non-renewable, they are increased or depleted when utilized by humans. Schutte (2006) argue that natural capital is often thought of as less influential in the urban context; however, they have a significant effect on the livelihood of the urban and rural poor women.

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3.3.2 Economic or Financial Capital

The economic or financial capital consists of cash and other economic assets such as the basic infrastructure, technologies and productive equipment’s necessary for the attainment of livelihoods. Quandt et al., (2018) and Adjie (2008) pointed out that financial capital consists of stocks of money in the form of savings and access to credit in the form of loans and access to a bank account. Both authors argue that neither loans nor savings are directly productive forms of capital; they add to the asset portfolio of the household and rely on the household priorities to either employ them in productive ventures or for consumption. In the context of microfinance, financial capital also includes the regular flow of income from labour, enterprise, pension and remittance. Schutte (2006) observe that financial capital is indispensable for the sustainable livelihoods of the urban poor who are faced by expensive commoditization culture that is common in most urban centres. Therefore, the ability of households to accumulate cash and maintain savings is critical to their management of emergencies and economic shocks. Roth et al., (2010) argue that due to limited economic resources, poor women and their families are often without anything to fall back on in events of adverse emergencies and shocks. In this context, microfinance provides credit to assist poor women to meet needs such as paying for children education or acquiring business assets for the purpose of enhancing income generating opportunities (Ellis, 1999; Chowdhury, 2009). In the absence or limited access to financial markets, poor women hold socks in other forms. For instance, in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) including Nigeria, an informal saving mechanism such as saving under pillows, investing in livestock’s or precious materials like gold and saving with associations like ROSCA are used to store wealth against adverse events (Christen & Mas, 2009).

3.3.3 Human Capital

Leisz et al., (2018) and Ferrington et al. (2001) argue that human capital consists of the skills, knowledge, physical capability and ability to work which are essential for the attainment of sustainable livelihoods. It involves investment in education, healthcare and nutrition and a safe environment which impacts on people’s ability to engage in productive activities and employment. Carney (1998) considers human capital as the quality and quantity of labour supply available for the household in terms of power, literacy, skills and health. Its

84 | P a g e accumulation can not only be a means to an end but an end in itself. Tilahun (2014) argues that poor communication skills, lack of confidence, powerlessness and illiteracy are considered as core dimensions of poverty, thus overcoming these conditions will contribute to improvements in the livelihoods of poor women. More importantly, human capital is considered the most important of other assets as it is required to utilize the other four type of capitals/assets. It is, therefore, necessary, though not on its own enough, for the achievement of positive livelihood outcomes, (DFID, 1999). Ellis (2000) suggest that human capital can be enhanced by investing in education, business training and on the job skills acquisition.

3.3.4 Physical Capital

Physical capital comprises of both productive assets and household assets. Productive assets include access to business assets, services and basic infrastructure such as shelter, water supply, sanitation, waste disposal, energy supply and transport, as well as tools and production equipment required for income-generating activities or enhancement of labour productivity (Schütte, 2006). On the other hand, household assets refer to equipment such as furniture, kitchen utensils, clothing, shelter and other marketable items of value like jewellery artefacts. Schütte, (2006) contend that housing is the essential physical assets to households residing in urban centres as it can be rented for income purpose and also to ease financial pressures. Ahmed (2009) adds that transport, road, market, electricity, water supply, sanitary and health facilities to the mix of physical capital. In his study, the author finds that lack of business assets and poor electricity had a negative effect on women’s enterprise growth (see Section 5.8.1).

3.3.5 Social Capital

Social capital refers to social resources drawn upon by individuals in furthering their livelihood objectives. Stirrat (2004) suggest that social capital comprises networks, cultural norms and other social attributes that support experience and knowledge sharing and cooperation among individuals in the community. These are developed through either vertical (patron/client) or horizontal (between individuals with shared interests) networks and connections, that increase people's trust and ability to work together (Adjei, 2008). Tewodaj

85 | P a g e (2006) observe that in most rural settings, the social network helps in reducing the risk of poor yield by sharing experiences and information about best practices, timing and quality seed amongst members of same community or village. Regarding limited access to finance, Rankin (2002) points out that social networks can help reduce information asymmetry since members are part of a formalised association like ROSCA which can provide a history of participation and transaction.