I am squeezed: a case study of rural livelihood in Morrumbala district, Mozambique

Abstract

Rural development and poverty alleviation in Mozambique has been seen as a linear and uni-directional process. In this process, farmers receive support from the government and NGOs via programmes and projects aiming to alleviate poverty. Recently the WV has started a project aiming to reduce poverty bay introducing red sweet pepper- a cash crop, in Morrumbala. To measure the impact, the organization is producing reports and basing the analysis on “averages”, in order to conclude the extent to which the project was a success or failure are drawn. In this report I argue that analysis based on averages does not allow for differentiation between the households targeted. I suggest that rural development and poverty alleviation must been seen as an arena of struggle (Hebinck&Bourdillon, forthcoming) where there are losers and winners, and as a process which creates opportunities and constraints (Arce&Long, 2000). In order to do that, a framework, which allows for disentanglement of the average data and insights into differentiation between the rural households must be used. A livelihood framework, which looks at people, capabilities, activities and assets to make a living, becomes very important. This report, which is based on a study carried out in Morrumbala district in Mozambique, uses a livelihood framework, showing differences between households within a community and also differences betweens households within a communities. In Sabe region, some households concentrate on livestock and trading to make a living while others depend mainly on wage labour and agriculture; marrying at an early stage in life was also found to be a livelihood while in Megaza region, having a home in Malawi and in Mozambique was one of the most important strategies. These differences mean that households respond differently to the introduction of red sweet pepper. They benefit from red sweet pepper to different degrees, some not at all. The use of averages does not express these nuances.