Understanding Livelihoods That Involve Micro-Enterprise: Markets and Technological Capabilities in the SL Framework

This paper draws together conclusions and insights generated by research to develop and test practical tools that could help development practitioners use sustainable livelihoods (SL) approaches in the particular context of enterprise development.

The paper argues that:

• The SL approach recognizes the diverse dimensions to poverty and the multiple strategies that people adopt to secure their livelihoods;
• However, SL literature so far has ignored the role of:
  • Private sector markets in the livelihoods of poor people;
  • Technological change and its contribution to livelihoods.

The paper states that:

• The aim of the research was to enrich the analysis of SLs that involve MSEs by adapting research methods from other disciplines;
• The research examined:
  • The concept of technological capabilities;
  • The subsector analysis tool;
• The research:
  • Explored the conceptual framework for linking enterprise analysis and sustainable livelihoods framework (SLF) research;
  • Tested the application of analysis to existing enterprise development projects in Ghana and Kenya;
  • Synthesized a new comprehensive SLF for MSE-based livelihoods.

The paper concludes that:

• Both subsector analysis and the concept of technological capabilities are useful because they engage with processes of change occurring and being instigated, both from within enterprises, and in their external operating environment;
• In the context of livelihoods involving MSEs, some adaptations to the SLF would be advantageous.