Livelihood Activities in Sub-Saharan Africa

Applying Entrepreneurship and Innovation for Climate Change Adaptation

Abstract

In Sub-Saharan Africa and other developing regions of the world, rural communities have relied on diverse activities to earn income for their households to survive. These activities which are mostly informal, have provided casual and seasonal employment and livelihood opportunities for rural communities to cope during times of hunger and deprivation. Livelihood activities are comprised of capabilities, assets and activities required for a means of living. These include and are not limited to activities such as cropping and livestock rearing, gardening, street vending and home construction. Unfortunatly, in recent times, climate change has emerged as a challenge for not only the socio-economic setting of the poor communities, but for the whole sphere of living, particularly in rural areas. Climate Change is comprised of long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns leading to unprecedented high levels of temperatures, extreme episodes of flooding, heat waves and drought, just to mention but few. The complex nature within which rural income earning and livelihoods are found, and how such activities are in most cases depended on environmental charateristics and climatic condtitions, makes it difficult to persue, amid climate change. This theoretical paper discusses how innovation and entrepreneurship can be used to as adaptation measures for climate change. Two Case studies are used to demostrate the applicability of this assertion. The paper concludes that, for rural livelihoods to become economically viable, innovation need to be applied to build towards entrepreneuship development and climate change adaptation. The paper recommends planning and policy directives towards rural development planning in Sub-Saharan Africa.