Participatory analysis of poverty, livelihoods and environment dynamics (PAPoLD)

Abstract

Poverty, livelihoods’ strategies and the environment are linked in numerous ways. Some of these links are distinctly spatial: they can be measured using household surveys and remote-sensing technologies and be mapped using geographic information systems. Other links are more context- specific and, therefore, more difficult to observe. PAPoLD was developed to capture specific issues of local importance. The method is dynamic and comparable (Hoang et al 2007a) and a refinement of the Stages of Progress method developed by Dr Krishna of Duke University in the USA 1 . The method was modified to become PAPoLD by the World Agroforestry Centre in Viet Nam in 2007, in collaboration with the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs and the Viet Nam Institute of Economics, to better address the links between poverty and the environment. By integrating PAPoLD with a sustainable livelihoods approach, the links between poverty and the environment can be understood in a more comprehensive way