I was first introduced to Dave Harris and Kai Mausch by my PhD supervisor at Bangor University, Tim Pagella. As a PhD student, my research explores how agricultural interventions to restore degraded lands can and cannot influence the livelihood trajectories of rural households. That is, the way that livelihoods change over time – and the extent to which innovations can reduce poverty and improve food security. Considering the increasing recognition that people’s aspirations influence their investment decisions, both in and out of farming, it was clear to Tim and me that understanding rural aspirations had important implications for the development, uptake and success of land restoration approaches. The types of restoration options a household may be willing to invest in will likely differ with their aspirations for the future. Compared to those who aspire to continue farming for the foreseeable future, households with aspirations to diversify away from agriculture may be less likely to invest in the often labour-intensive process of land restoration.
Tim: “I was involved in the initial thinking (with Dave and Kai) about the value of using the SenseMaker approach to understand smallholder aspirations in a development context. Mary’s preliminary work for her PhD had highlighted clear synergies between the direction her research was taking and what the SenseMaker team was researching, particularly in terms of gender, so it seemed a very natural fit. This type of research is inherently interdisciplinary, something which Mary is comfortable working with, and I felt her skill set complemented those of the broader team very well.”
The differentiated aspirations of men and women are also likely to have repercussions for land restoration, particularly in the context of male out-migration. In the drylands of eastern Kenya, a high proportion of men seek off-farm employment to diversify their incomes. This out-migration of predominantly able-bodied men is causing a redistribution of responsibilities within the household, with women left behind to manage both home and farm. A key aspect of my work therefore centres on gender dynamics and their interaction with restoration, and aims to answer questions such as: how do men and women differ in their aspirations and capacity to act upon them? How might changing gender roles and aspirations influence future livelihood portfolios and the adoption of land restoration practices? Curious to see how SenseMaker could help illuminate the complexities of rural aspirations and changing role of agriculture in men and women’s lives, I joined the team in July 2018.
