Sustainable livelihoods in practice: Early applications of concepts in rural areas

What is poverty - and how it can best be addressed - are central questions at conceptual and practical levels in international development. Increased donor commitment to tackling poverty has made the search for answers more urgent. This paper outlines a new approach to poverty alleviation - sustainable livelihoods - setting out its basic concepts and drawing lessons from early experience. The approach is being pursued by, amongst others, the UK Department for International Development.