COPE - Long-term resilience implications of development agendas for smallholder farmers and herders in rural Africa

This project aims to produce new, locally rooted knowledge about resilience by learning from farmers and pastoralists about how they deal with change, uncertainty and crisis situations in their daily lives and whether three different types of development projects – large-scale agriculture, land formalisation and the UN flagship programme REDD+ (Reduction of Emissions from Degradation and Deforestation) – have benefited these strategies.

In a time of multiple crises - global climate change, high commodity prices, aid cuts and the aftermath of Covid 19, smallholder farmers and pastoralists in Africa face unusually large challenges to survive day to day and change their living conditions in the long term. At the same time, both Swedish and global development policy have for decades implemented development projects that promised ‘increased resilience’, defined as the long-term ability to manage crises. Increased resilience also remains a highly prioritized development goal, despite the fact that we have very limited knowledge about what resilience is for smallholder farmers and pastoralists and whether development projects are helpful in their crisis management. Understanding this better is urgent as reports of major challenges facing rural populations increase. 

The livelihoods of smallholder farmers and pastoralists are important for Africa, as they produce the majority of all food and provide social and economic security for many people. Their access to productive agriculture is therefore a key factor in sustainable rural development, and continued access to natural resources such as land, water and forests is of utmost importance for their well-being and survival. At the same time, they are among the most vulnerable in this “multi-crisis”.

Over four years, we will study the complex effects of crises and development projects in four villages in Tanzania where the team has had a long-term presence. The starting point is the village, and which change processes the local population considers most important to understand, and, in a second step, what possible effects the aid projects have had on their ability to tackle crises. Through in-depth interviews and participation in the everyday lives of 20 farmers and pastoralists, we can understand their stress factors and strategies to deal with them. Focus group discussions with a wider selection of informants from different social groups create opportunities for shared learning between villagers.

Process tracing and a combination of justice theory and political ecology create a broad analysis of how the impacts affect different socio-economic groups. The goal is to contribute to future development strategies through the team's unique access to high-level decision-makers and aid practitioners in Sweden and Tanzania.