Livelihood opportunities

Faced with a general deterioration of market prospects, the coconut industry continued to receive special attention in major producing countries. In Indonesia, support measures tended to emphasize intercropping, rehabilitation measures, and product diversification. In the Philippines, in 2001, coconut producers have been included in the public food distribution scheme with a view to protect farmers from the impact of declining prices for coconut products. A number of accompanying rural development programes aim at providing alternative livelihood opportunities for small coconut farmers (39). 

Sustainable Development of Medicinal Plants and Livelihood Opportunities... 

The indigenous sustainable management practices of medicinal plants, developed by local communities, have been overlooked normally with the passage of time and changing socio-economic conditions. Realizing the importance of medicinal plants in recent years countries across the world have shown interest in the medicinal plant sector, which they wish to strengthen in order to create additional income, livelihood opportunities and employment prospects. 

Nevertheless, the situation is still better for camp-dwellers versus urban settlers. Although scarce, economic avenues for camp-dwelling persons with disabilities exist in the form of small business loans and affirmative hiring policies of certain humanitarian agencies. On the other hand, those living in urban settlements have to compete for livelihood opportunities against non-disabled workers in the open market (WRC 2008). 

Clinton (2006) said in his BBB propositions that a sustainable recovery process depends on reviving and expanding private economic activity and employment and securing diverse livelihood opportunities for affected populations. Thus, the uniqueness of BBB comes from the integrated approach it proposes by giving economic recovery as much importance as reconstruction and aiming to provide solutions to suit local dynamics and preferences. 

Miah MG, Ahmed FU, Ahmed MM, Alam MN, Choudhury NH, Hamid MA (2002) Agroforestry in Bangladesh Potentials and opportunities. Country Paper Presented in ICRAF s South Asia Regional Agrofoiestry Consultation Workshop held on 23-25 November 2002 at New Delhi, India Miah MG, Ahmed MM (2003) Traditional agroforestry in Bangladesh Livelihood activities of the rural households. A Poster Presented at the XII World Forestry Congress, held in September 2003, Canada... 

Despite the growing performance of this sector, the local communities, including the indigenous communities worldwide, who have traditionally been related to natural resources and are too often marginalized. For that reason, there is a concern that an important opportunity for rural communities to increase their livelihoods is lost at the very moment when renewed effort is needed to reduce their marginalization. 

This poses many fresh questions, and, to some extent, tempers previous optimism regarding the ability of this sector to make a difference by providing a more subtle and complex picture of livelihood-biodiversity linkages (e.g., Arnold, 2002, Belcher, 2005, Koziell, 2001, Lawrence, 2003, Ros-Tonen and Wiersum, 2005, Scherr et al., 2004, Wunder, 2001). Central to these new enquiries is a more perceptive and nuanced appreciation of (a) the links between natural resource dependence and the potential of the natural product trade to provide pathways out of poverty and (b) the extent to which opportunities associated with natural product production and sale can be made more pro-poor and thus contribute to the efforts to combat poverty and vulnerability (FAO, 2003) and Koziell, 2001). A key area of debate is whether the trade in natural products can assist in improving livelihoods and income, or alternatively, whether it offers limited options serving only as a last resort, possibly contributing to persistent poverty (Belcher, 2005, Ros-Tonen and Wiersum, 2005 and Wunder, 2001). 

Safety nets can enable households to make better investments in their future. In this role, safety nets basically act to remedy credit market failures, allowing households to take up investment opportunities that they would otherwise miss—both in the human capital of their children and in the livelihoods of the earners. 

Control of women. Coal towns provided scarce employment opportunities for women, and these were carefully allocated on the basis of perceived loyalty to the company. Women who passed muster could find jobs as housekeepers and cooks in the company-mn hotel or in the homes of mine managers or local professionals. Others could work as health aides in the hospital, teach in the schools, or work as clerks in the company store. Often a woman s access to paid employment was linked to her husband s cordial relationship with mine management. When a miner was injured, his wife most often nursed his wounds, for if he became disabled, the entire family could lose its home and livelihood. Thus, both the paid and unpaid work of women supported the operation of model towns in the coalfields. 

FIC (2012b) Refugee Livelihoods in Urban Areas Identifying Program Opportunities. Case study Quito, Ecuador. 

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