The project focused on nine communities in five sub-Saharan African countries during 1994-95:

• Burkina Faso
• Ethiopia
• Kenya
• South Africa
• Zimbabwe

Within each country, local organizations were selected to coordinate a combination of participatory field research and policy analysis. The field researchers spent considerable time working with the communities to identify ways in which their livelihood systems had changed in response to both internal and external forces over the past few decades. That information then directed in-depth analyses of the regional, national, and local policies which had either constrained or supported sustainable livelihoods. In order to provide added value to the communities, the project was structured so as to become a mechanism for promoting local ownership of knowledge and advocacy for necessary policy changes. While the initial written reports have been completed, work continues on the transmission of outputs to the communities and to policy makers.