BRIDGING PERSPECTIVES AN ACTOR-ORIENTED STUDY OF RURAL LIVELIHOODS AND FARMER GROUP FACILITATION IN MOZAMBIQUE Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of Organic Agriculture Sciences (Fachbereich Ökologische Agrarwissenschaften) of the University of Kassel to fulfil the requirement for the degree of Doktor der Agrarwissenschaften (Dr. agr.) in the framework of the International Center for Development and Decent Work (ICDD) by Claudia Levy Witzenhausen, 11 November 2015 The following work is a product of the academic cooperation and sponsorship through the International Center for Development and Decent Work (ICDD), presented to the Faculty of Organic Agriculture Sciences from the University of Kassel as requirement of the academic degree “Doktor der Agrarwissenschaften” - Doctoral in Agricultural Sciences (Dr. agr.). Defence Committee Prof. Dr. Beatrice Knerr Fachbereich 11 Ökologische Agrarwissenschaften, Universität Kassel Department of Development Economics, Migration and Agricultural Policy Prof. Dr. Edward Webster Professor Emeritus in the Society, Work and Development Institute (SWOP), at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg ICDD Associated Professor of Sociology Prof. Dr. Christoph Scherrer Executive Director – ICDD Professor for Globalization and Politics in the Social Science Department of the University of Kassel Prof. Dr. Elisabeth Tuider Professor for Sociology of Diversity in the Social Science Department of the University of Kassel Tag der mündlichen Prüfung / Date of the oral examination: 04.08.2016 ii Eidesstattliche Erklärung Hiermit versichere ich, dass ich die vorliegende Dissertation selbstständig, ohne unerlaubte Hilfe Dritter angefertigt und andere als die in der Dissertation angegebenen Hilfsmittel nicht benutzt habe. Alle Stellen, die wörtlich oder sinn- gemäß aus veröffentlichten oder unveröffentlichten Schriften entnommen sind, habe ich als solche kenntlich gemacht. Dritte waren an der inhaltlich-materiellen Erstellung der Dissertation nicht beteiligt; insbesondere habe ich hierfür nicht die Hilfe eines Promotionsberaters in Anspruch genommen. Kein Teil dieser Arbeit ist in einem anderen Promotions- oder Habilitationsverfahren verwendet worden. Affidavit “I herewith give assurance that I completed this dissertation independently without prohibited assistance of third parties or aids other than those identified in this dissertation. All passages that are drawn from published or unpublished writings, either words-for-word or in paraphrase have been clearly indentified as such. Third parties where not involved in the drafting of the materials contents, of this dissertation; most specifically I did not employ the assistance of a dissertation advisor. No part of this thesis has been used in another doctoral or tenure process.” Claudia Levy Witzenhausen, den 11.11.2015 iii PREFACE This thesis was prepared within the interdisciplinary framework of the Graduate School of Socio-Ecological Research for Development, through its International Center for Development and Decent Work (ICDD). In practice this meant that the PhD research was co- supervised by the Faculty for Organic Agriculture in Kassel/Witzenhausen, Germany and by the Department of Sociology, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. Through ICDD, the research was financed by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), including scholarship, field trips and workshops. Furthermore, with regards to the approach with farmer groups, this research was a component of a project from the German Ministry for Development Cooperation (BMZ) “Adaptive Capacity: Supporting the vulnerable: Increasing the adaptive capacity of agro-pastoralists to climatic change in West and Southern Africa using a transdisciplinary research approach”. The project was led by the German Institute for Tropical and Subtropical Agriculture (DITSL) from the Faculty of Organic Agricultue, at the University of Kassel. Partners of the project were: the Mozambican Ministry for Agriculture (IIAM) and International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI). The thesis is submitted to the Faculty of Organic Agricultural Sciences to fulfil the requirements for the degree “Doktor der Agrarwissenschaften” (Dr. agr.). Chapters 2 to 5 are based on manuscripts prepared for publication as first author. As chapters of the thesis they interact with the general introduction and conclusion. The results sections have not been substantially changed from what was signed-off with the supervisors. While preserving its previous structure, the revised thesis format has received more in-depth material, mostly in the format of boxes, and more information from the household survey. Chapters 2 and 3 combine the results as submitted in summary form to an international peer- reviewed journal, and in more extended form as an international conference paper published online: Levy, C., Webster, E. & Kaufmann, B. (2012). Organization of the socio-space and present day vulnerability of peasant communities in Mabalane District, Mozambique. Conference Paper no. 15. Instituto de Estudos Sociais e Economicos – IESE III International Conference: “Mozambique: Accumulation and Transformation in a Context of International Crisis” Maputo, 4th and 5th of September 2012. The peer-review suggestions were given mainly to its theoretical framework, which is covered in the introduction of this thesis. Similarly is the case for chapters 4 and 5, but here retaining the results in their original format. The first has been published as a book chapter: iv Levy, C. & Kaufmann, B. (2014) Charcoal for Food: Livelihood Diversification in Two Peasant Communities in Mozambique. In: Fakier, K. & Ehmke, E. (Eds) Socio-Economic Insecurity in Emerging Economies: Building new spaces (Hardback) – Routledge, Series: Routledge Explorations in Development Studies, 260 pages. ISBN-13: 9781138017825 Chapter 5 was prepared for the peer-reviewed journal ‘Action Research’ special edition on Knowledge Democracy and Action Research: Levy, C., Webster, E. and Kaufmann, B. and entitled: “Prompting agency through farmer groups in co-constructing knowledge to improve livelihoods in remote rural areas of Mozambique”. The assessment from the journal’s Editor in Chief points to “potential for publication”, but also suggests some major revisions mainly in its introductory part. The issues indicated by the editors were revised, and addressed as of October 2013, in close cooperation with co-authors. Nevertheless, final resubmission still faced significant editing hurdles thereby missing the opportunity window available. v CONTENTS PREFACE ............................................................................................................................... IV SUMMARY .......................................................................................................................... XIII 1 GENERAL INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................... 1 1.1 GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE STUDY AREA ............................................................... 4 1.2 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND: SYMBOLIC ELEMENTS OF EVERYDAY LIFE ............................. 9 1.3 SITUATING THE STUDY’S STANDPOINT ............................................................................ 11 1.4 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ............................................................................................ 14 1.4.1 INTER-RELATING LIFEWORLD, LIVELIHOODS AND ASSETS TO THE ORGANIZATION OF THE SOCIO-SPACE .................................................................................................... 17 1.4.2 DEFINING A RESEARCH APPROACH TO FARMER GROUPS .................................... 22 1.5 OBJECTIVES AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS .......................................................................... 24 1.6 RESEARCH PROCEDURE ................................................................................................... 27 1.6.1 DATA ANALYSIS ................................................................................................. 29 1.6.2 BRIDGING PERSPECTIVES ..................................................................................... 37 2 APPRAISING RURAL LIVELIHOODS ............................................................................. 41 2.1 THE DATA COLLECTION PROCESS ..................................................................................... 41 2.1.1 INFORMAL INTERVIEW ........................................................................................ 43 2.1.2 UNSTRUCTURED INTERVIEW ............................................................................... 43 2.1.3 FOCUS GROUPS .................................................................................................... 44 2.1.4 FULLY-STRUCTURED INTERVIEW ......................................................................... 47 2.1.5 SEMI-STRUCTURED INTERVIEW ........................................................................... 50 2.2 RESULTS: APPRAISING RESOURCE GROUPS ....................................................................... 51 2.2.1 WATER ............................................................................................................... 53 2.2.2 HEALTH .............................................................................................................. 57 2.2.3 COLLECTIVE ACTION ........................................................................................... 58 2.2.4 CUSTOMARY PRACTICES ....................................................................................