Theories Of Sustainable Livelihood

Theoretical Framework
It was said from the very beginning that some farmers in the study area have shifted to cultivate new crop and to increase yields of traditional crops. However, the reasons for this shift, the problems that are faced with in this new attempt, as well as its impact on the welfare of farmers were not clear. Over the past 20 years, theories on Sustainable Livelihood (SL) have become popular in light of the debate over how to best address the complexities of rural economies in a more holistic manner especially by taking into account how the rural populace makes socio-economic decisions (Dowardet al. 2002). Over this period, SL theories have effectively shifted the focus of development policies from relying on traditional

This definition built upon Chambers and Conway’s earlier definition and the subsequent work of Rennie and Singh (1996) and Scoones (1998) through adding a natural resource dimension:
A livelihood consist of the capabilities, assets (including both material and social resources) and activities required for a means of living. A livelihood is sustainable when it can cope with and recover from stresses and shocks and maintain or improve its capabilities and assets both now and in the future, while not undermining the natural resource base. (Carney, 1998, p. 4).
The sustainable livelihood framework is suitable for this study, the reason being that , analyses of livelihoods using this framework are usually done on entire households. The focus was on the factors that are most relevant to the farmer’s livelihoods and the relationship between these factors. In view of this, five major assets that influence livelihoods were identified and analyzed vis -à-vis garden egg cultivation.
These are:
1. Human Capital
2. Physical Capital
3. Financial Capital
4. Social Capital

The motives for diversification may vary from person to person or from household to household, all the same the basic rationale is primarily to accumulate assets, reduce financial risk, maintain financial liquidity and secure a consistent flow of income in response to seasonal changes and other shocks (Ellis, 1998; Unni, 1998). Ellis (1998) defines livelihood diversification as the process by which rural households construct a diverse portfolio of activities and social support capabilities in their struggle for survival and in order to improve their standards of living through accumulation of assets. Rural livelihood diversification comes in different forms, both on and off-farm. On-farm diversification involves rural households either cultivating a mix of crops or shifting from the cultivation of one crop to an entirely new crop. I focused on the introduction of garden egg in the study area to assess its effects on the welfare of the farmers who have either diversified into its cultivation or still remain in the cultivation of other crops or engaging in both garden egg and other crops. It is evident that the various livelihood assets, new crop adoption decisions and the challenges encountered from pre planting to post harvest period of the crop all affect incomes that are accrued from the