Seasonality Revisited
The Seasonality Revisited International Conference, was held at the Institute of Development Studies from 8-10 July 2009, concluded that the costs of ignoring the seasonal dimensions of poverty are enormous, despite seasonality being rarely reflected in agricultural investment and social protection policies.
The conference was organised by the Future Agricultures Consortium and the Centre for Social Protection to help put the ‘seasonality of poverty’ back in the policy agenda.
Latest articles
Video: What is Seasonality?
April 16, 2012 / Seasonality Revisited Stephen Devereux, one of the editors of the book Seasonality, Rural Livelihoods and Development, explains why seasonality has been neglected and why it is important for policy. Watch the video on YouTube
Book: Seasonality, rural livelihoods and development
January 18, 2012 / Seasonality Revisited Edited by Stephen Devereux, Rachel Sabates-Wheeler & Richard Longhurst A systematic study of seasonality for over 20 years, this book aims to revive academic interest and policy awareness of this crucial but neglected issue. Buy the book from Routledge Book
Conference Blog
September 15, 2010 / Seasonality Revisited This is the blog for Seasonality Revisited, an international conference on seasonal poverty taking place from 8-10 July at the Institute of Development Studies, Brighton, UK. You are invited to read these posts and comment generously to make the online
Berton 2009 – Seasonal variation in food affordability
September 15, 2010 / Seasonality Revisited - Background Report and Papers This paper explores the two main reasons that explain why access to food changes by season: the variability of the cost of food and the variability of available incomes. Firstly, this paper looks at how much money is required to
Boudreau 2009 – Livelihoods and seasonality in Ethiopia
September 15, 2010 / Seasonality Revisited - Background Report and Papers Growing evidence suggests that disaster occurrences have undermined progress towards the Millennium Development Goals. Reducing poverty and hunger is contingent on the establishment of a set of policies and associated programmes that support peoples livelihood systems and strategies and „proof
Brouwer 2009 – Isolated wetlands in the Sahel
September 15, 2010 / Seasonality Revisited - Background Report and Papers Isolated wetlands are among the most seasonal of ecosystems in semi-arid Africa. Their role is important but varying throughout the year for a number of different user groups. They are links in a number of different seasonal chains. But these
Burbano 2009 – School feeding and seasonality in Malawi
September 15, 2010 / Seasonality Revisited - Background Report and Papers School feeding programmes are effective social protection tools that have the potential to reach the most vulnerable households. The programmes transfer resources implicitly or explicitly to poor households of the value of the food provided, therefore offsetting the costs of
Chibuye 2009 – JCTR Rural Basket in Zambia
September 15, 2010 / Seasonality Revisited - Background Report and Papers In today’s difficult situation, a more exact awareness and a wider diffusion of the set of principles for reflection, criteria for judgment and directives for action would be of great help in promoting both the correct definition of the problems
Chirwa – Investigating Seasonality and Poverty: The 2004/05 Malawi Integrated Household Survey
September 15, 2010 / Seasonality Revisited - Background Report and Papers Investigating Seasonality and Poverty: The 2004/05 Malawi Integrated Household Survey The predominance of rain-fed agricultural cultivation in Malawi, makes income and consumption to be highly seasonal for more than 80 percent of the population that largely derive their livelihoods from
Climate Variability, Location and Diversification: Livestock Assets in Consumption Smooth
September 15, 2010 / Seasonality Revisited - Background Report and Papers Dekha Sheikh and Corinne Valdivia Climate Variability, Location and Diversification: Livestock Assets in Consumption Smoothing in Shock and Non-shock Seasons in two Regions of Kenya This study focuses on the coping strategies developed by households in five Kenyan villages, experiencing
Coulter – Water-Bound Geographies of Seasonality
September 15, 2010 / Seasonality Revisited - Background Report and Papers Water-Bound Geographies of Seasonality: Investigating Seasonality, Water, and Wealth in Ethiopia through the Household Water Economy Approach The Household Water Economy Approach (HWEA) is a new approach that was designed in 2007-08 to bring analytical rigour to understanding the inter-linkages
Ding 2009 – Seasonality and labour migration in China
September 15, 2010 / Seasonality Revisited - Background Report and Papers Seasonal variation in agricultural and rural economy is a fundamental phenomenon characterising rural development in China. Socioeconomic consequences of seasonal patterns of household income, consumption and labour mobility need to be understood for designing appropriate interventions to smooth seasonality and
Dorward 2009 – Participatory budgets in Ghana and Zimbabwe
September 15, 2010 / Seasonality Revisited - Background Report and Papers This paper describes the findings of research that aimed to 1) understand the constraints faced by farmers during production seasons and 2) evaluate the usefulness of a novel participatory method for exploring farming practices and resource use with farmers. Detailed
Freeland 2009 – Seasonality and social protection
September 15, 2010 / Seasonality Revisited - Background Report and Papers Hundreds of millions of people suffer an annual cycle of hunger and hardship that is linked to the agricultural season. There is a growing argument that it should theoretically be possible to design social protection measures that are counter-cyclical such
Gillespie 2009 – Seasonality of HIV and hunger in southern Africa
September 15, 2010 / Seasonality Revisited - Background Report and Papers The seasonality of disease, ill-health and hunger were illustrated in multiple contexts in the original IDS conference on seasonality over three decades ago. The subsequent book (Chambers et al. 1981) was published in the same year as the first case
Hadley – Seasonality and Access to Education
September 15, 2010 / Seasonality Revisited - Background Report and Papers Seasonality and Access to Education: A Review of Research Improved education is associated with higher socio-economic status, lower fertility rates, improved health, reduced mortality rates and greater gender equality and mobility. Investment in primary education is especially crucial, as it
Hauenstein Swan 2009 – Interventions to address seasonal hunger
September 15, 2010 / Seasonality Revisited - Background Report and Papers Many policies have proved to be successful in fighting seasonal hunger. In this paper, we review what we regard as the most important of these policy ideas and give examples of their application in various countries, focusing particularly on Malawi.Emergency
Jennings 2009 – What happened to the seasons
September 15, 2010 / Seasonality Revisited - Background Report and Papers The timing of rains, and intra-seasonal rainfall patterns, are critical to smallholder farmers in developing countries. Seasonality influences farmer’s decisions about when to cultivate and sow and harvest, and ultimately the success or failure of their crops. Worryingly, therefore, farmers
Loevinsohn 2009 – Seasonal hunger, famine and HIV in Malawi
September 15, 2010 / Seasonality Revisited - Background Report and Papers Secure access to food, adequate in quantity and quality, is becoming increasingly problematic for many. The number of food insecure is rising worldwide, reaching more than 1 billion according to the latest estimate (FAO 2009). Falling incomes, in part due
Mukherjee 2009 – Seasonality and coping in Asia
September 15, 2010 / Seasonality Revisited - Background Report and Papers The paper is based on 6 case studies in seasonal poverty, vulnerability and ill-being and coping mechanisms of poor farmers and agriculture labourers from 6 Asian developing countries –BANGLADESH, CAMBODIA, CHINA, INDIA, LAO PDR and NEPAL. The paper draws upon
Ndirangu 2009a – Seasonality, savings and health in Kenya
September 15, 2010 / Seasonality Revisited - Background Report and Papers The high prevalence of risks in low-income economies implies that people’s ability to manage uncertainty is critical for both productivity and their mere survival. This paper analyses seasonal changes in per capita consumption and saving behaviour of farm households in
Ndirangu 2009b – Seasonal time poverty in Kenya
September 15, 2010 / Seasonality Revisited - Background Report and Papers Despite early recognition of the importance of time poverty in people’s well-being, its empirical investigation and measurement in the literature remains scarce. This paper applies the concepts used in consumption and income poverty to time use to estimate seasonal time
Neogi 2009 – Rice and Monga in Bangladesh
September 15, 2010 / Seasonality Revisited - Background Report and Papers A series of experiments was conducted at the proposed RDRS University Campus Farm, Rangpur Bangladesh during aman season in 2005 and 2006. The overall objective was to evaluate the effect of direct seeding and transplanting system of short duration variety
Oluwatayo 2009 – Seasonal vulnerability of farmers in Nigeria
September 15, 2010 / Seasonality Revisited - Background Report and Papers Over the past two or three decades, it has become increasingly clear that small-scale farmers in sub-Saharan Africa produce the bulk of the food consumed by inhabitants of these countries, in spite of their poor working conditions in terms of
Press Release – Seasonality Revisted
September 15, 2010 / Seasonality Revisited - Background Report and Papers ‘Seasonal poverty’ is worsening. Climate Change, AIDS and heightened vulnerability identified as main culprits.
Rethman 2009 – Modelling Seasonality
September 15, 2010 / Seasonality Revisited - Background Report and Papers This paper illustrates the use of models to analyse income seasonality. Section 1, by Charles Rethman is based on grouped data obtained using the household economy approach. Section 2, by John Seaman provides a more detailed analysis based on income
Salahuddin 2009 – Addressing Monga in Bangladesh
September 15, 2010 / Seasonality Revisited - Background Report and Papers Monga, is a well-known in the language of development in Bangladesh. Poor farmers and labourers in the northwest region of Bangladesh suffer from a lack of employment opportunities during the months of September to November. Such a situation increases the
Seasonal Neglect? Aseasonality in Agricultural Project Design
September 15, 2010 / Seasonality Revisited - Background Report and Papers Seasonal Neglect? Aseasonality in Agricultural Project Design Based on a literature review and observation of selected agricultural projects, this paper reflects on whether and how projects that support agriculture-based livelihoods in Africa account for seasonality in their design, delivery and
Seasonal Poverty:Integrated, overlooked and therefore opportunity
September 15, 2010 / Seasonality Revisited - Background Report and Papers ince the first seasonality conference in 1978, there have been changes: not least, communications have improved, and food prices in SubSaharan Africa have become more volatile. But much has not changed: seasonal poverty and stress remain widespread and integrated. Urban
Seasonality and Social Protection in Africa
September 15, 2010 / Seasonality Revisited - Background Report and Papers This Working Paper draws on nearly twenty years of research in several African countries, on the inter-related themes of food insecurity, seasonality, coping strategies, famine, formal and informal safety nets, and social protection. The paper has three objectives: 1. to
Soil fertility and crop theft: changing rural dimensions and cropping patterns
September 15, 2010 / Seasonality Revisited - Background Report and Papers Farmers globally and those in Ethiopia in particular, are facing a number of challenges on top of the obvious physical and economic constraints in managing soil fertility. The majority of the studies conducted on soil fertility issues in Sub-Saharan Africa
Stange 2009 – Avoiding seasonal food deprivation
September 15, 2010 / Seasonality Revisited - Background Report and Papers Most crop plants are seasonal, giving rise to alternating periods of glut and dearth. Three ways of avoiding food deprivation in the periods between harvests are to grow crops that are non-seasonal, to diversify diets, so that for every month
Turin 2009 – Seasonal work in Peruvian Altiplano
September 15, 2010 / Seasonality Revisited - Background Report and Papers The Peruvian Altiplano presents different agro-ecological zones and variable climatic conditions. Rural households of the Altiplano from the ethnic Aymara define their livelihoods and strategies according to those natural conditions. Agricultural households of the lakeside zone, with less variable climatic
Why Risk Management has trouble locating Seasonality
September 15, 2010 / Seasonality Revisited - Background Report and Papers Sabates-Wheeler Why Risk Management has trouble locating Seasonality Attempting to draw general lessons from the theoretical, empirical and policy responses to seasonality leaves one slightly disappointed for a number of reasons. At one level there exists an instrumentalist response in
Planning to address seasonal poverty: some experiences of the last 30 years
September 15, 2010 / Seasonality Revisited - Day 2 Planning to address seasonal poverty: some experiences of the last 30 years Richard Longhurst Phemo Kgomotso IDS
Water-bound Geographies of Seasonality Investigating Seasonality, Water, and Wealth in Ethiopia
September 15, 2010 / Seasonality Revisited - Day 2 Water-bound Geographies of Seasonality Investigating Seasonality, Water, and Wealth in Ethiopia Through the Household Water Economy Approach Lorraine Coulter, Zemede Abebe, Seifu Kebede, Eva Ludi, Belay Zeleke
Soil Fertility Crop Theft: changing rural dimensions and cropping patterns
September 15, 2010 / Seasonality Revisited - Day 2 Soil Fertility Crop Theft: changing rural dimensions and cropping patterns Linley Chiwona-Karltun Linley.chiwona.karltun@sol.slu.seThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala
Seasonal Neglect? Aseasonality in agricultural projects
September 15, 2010 / Seasonality Revisited - Day 2 Seasonal Neglect? Aseasonality in agricultural projects Stephen Devereux Richard Longhurst
Seasonality and Social Protection: A Bridge too Far?
September 15, 2010 / Seasonality Revisited - Day 2 Seasonality and Social Protection: A Bridge too Far? Nicholas Freeland
HEA Model for a Consumption Year
September 15, 2010 / Seasonality Revisited - Day 2 Rethman – HEA Model for a Consumption Year
Politics of Seasonal Safety Nets in Southern Africa
September 15, 2010 / Seasonality Revisited - Day 2 Politics of Seasonal Safety Nets in Southern Africa Stephen Devereux Philip White
Making the Links : Responding to Seasonality through Adaptive Social Protection
September 15, 2010 / Seasonality Revisited - Day 2 Making the Links : Responding to Seasonality through Adaptive Social Protection Mark Davies, Centre for Social Protection, IDS
School Feeding, seasonality and schooling outcomes
September 15, 2010 / Seasonality Revisited - Day 2 School Feeding, seasonality and schooling outcomes:A case study from Malawi Carmen Burbano Aulo Gelli
Seasonality, precautionary savings and health uncertainty in Central Kenya
September 15, 2010 / Seasonality Revisited - Day 2 Seasonality, precautionary savings and health uncertainty in Central Kenya Lydia Ndirangu (KIPPRA, Kenya)
Seasonality and Access to Primary Education
September 15, 2010 / Seasonality Revisited - Day 2 Seasonality and Access to Primary Education Sierd Hadley
Avoiding seasonal food deprivation in poor countries
September 15, 2010 / Seasonality Revisited - Day 2 Avoiding seasonal food deprivation in poor countries Richard Strange Editor-in-Chief Food Security School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Birkbeck College, University of London, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HX, UK