Supporting sustainable livelihoods: A critical review of assistance in post-conflict situations

The document argues that post-conflict recovery requires a shift from short-term humanitarian relief to a sustainable livelihoods approach that addresses the root causes of conflict, such as poverty, powerlessness, and the loss of assets. It examines the 'deadly triad' of food insecurity, HIV/AIDS, and conflict, and provides frameworks for analyzing household vulnerability and the political economy of war. Case studies from Angola, Sudan, Mozambique, and Uganda illustrate the importance of integrating emergency relief with long-term developmental support, particularly for internally displaced persons (IDPs) and the urban poor.

• Africa faces a 'deadly triad' of interrelated burdens consisting of chronic food insecurity, HIV/AIDS, and conflict, which together create endemic threats to livelihoods.
• Modern 'New Wars' in Africa are often triggered by a combination of entrenched poverty, state weakness, and excessive dependence on natural resource exports, rather than purely ethnic or ideological motives.
• There is a strong correlation between both resource scarcity and resource abundance (such as oil and diamonds) and the risk of armed conflict, as seen in Angola, Sierra Leone, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
• The Sustainable Livelihoods (SL) approach emphasizes that poverty is multidimensional and that recovery must focus on the 'asset limitations of the poor' and the institutional environments that either facilitate or block their progress.
• Conflict often creates 'war economies' where the formal economy collapses and is replaced by systems of predation, asset stripping, and illicit trade, which can benefit local political elites and business mafias while further immiserating the poor.
• Internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Africa lack the extensive legal rights of refugees and are often victims of the state's own military objectives, making them highly vulnerable to the manipulation of food aid.
• In post-war Angola, the urban poor in Luanda rely heavily on the informal market economy, dominated by women, but face extreme social exclusion and a lack of access to formal credit, forcing them to use high-interest parallel market loans.
• Climate change is expected to increase vulnerability in Southern Africa, with models predicting increased temperature and more extreme rainfall and drought periods, which may negatively impact cereal production.
• The HIV/AIDS pandemic exacerbates livelihood vulnerability by reducing agricultural labour, decreasing crop yields, and disrupting the functioning of households through the loss of skills and increased care burdens.
• Effective post-conflict recovery requires a 'transitional approach' that integrates emergency relief with long-term investments in infrastructure, human rights, and the restoration of operative government structures.

APA

Cain, A., Clover, J., Cornwell, R., de Satgé, R., Timpson, A., & Vogel, C. (n.d.). Supporting sustainable livelihoods: A critical review of assistance in post-conflict situations. Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/Mono102.pdf

Chicago

Cain, Allan, Jenny Clover, Richard Cornwell, Rick de Satgé, Andrew Timpson, and Coleen Vogel. Supporting sustainable livelihoods: A critical review of assistance in post-conflict situations. Institute for Security Studies, n.d. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/Mono102.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Cain |first1=Allan |last2=Clover |first2=Jenny |last3=Cornwell |first3=Richard |last4=de Satgé |first4=Rick |last5=Timpson |first5=Andrew |last6=Vogel |first6=Coleen |title=Supporting sustainable livelihoods: A critical review of assistance in post-conflict situations |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/Mono102.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{cainndsupporting, author = {Cain, Allan and Clover, Jenny and Cornwell, Richard and de Satgé, Rick and Timpson, Andrew and Vogel, Coleen}, title = {{Supporting sustainable livelihoods: A critical review of assistance in post-conflict situations}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/Mono102.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }