POOR, POORER, POOREST: Urban Livelihoods and …

[Pages:43]Poor, Poorer, Poorest: Urban Livelihoods and Vulnerability in Mazar-i-Sharif

Case Study Series

POOR, POORER, POOREST:

Urban Livelihoods and Vulnerability in Mazar-i-Sharif

Stefan Sch?tte

Funding for this research was provided by the European Commission (EC).

Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit

January 2006

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Poor, Poorer, Poorest: Urban Livelihoods and Vulnerability in Mazar-i-Sharif

? 2006 Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit. All rights reserved. The views and opinions expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect the views of AREU. ii

Poor, Poorer, Poorest: Urban Livelihoods and Vulnerability in Mazar-i-Sharif

About the Author

Stefan Sch?tte, Ph.D. is a social geographer who has carried out extensive research into urban and rural vulnerability and social networks in south India. His work has included study of the impact of tea-growing on the rural livelihoods and food security of tribal groups in Tamil Nadu, and study of marginalised urban communities in Banaras. Dr Sch?tte holds a doctorate degree in social geography from the South Asia Institute of the University of Heidelberg.

About the Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit

The Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU) is an independent research organisation that conducts and facilitates action-oriented research and learning that informs and influences policy and practice. AREU also actively promotes a culture of research and learning by strengthening analytical capacity in Afghanistan and by creating opportunities for analysis and debate. Fundamental to AREU's vision is that its work should improve Afghan lives.

AREU was established by the assistance community working in Afghanistan and has a board of directors with representation from donors, UN and multilateral organisations and non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

Current funding for AREU is provided by the European Commission (EC), the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Stichting Vluchteling and the governments of the United Kingdom, Canada, Denmark, Norway, Switzerland and Sweden.

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Poor, Poorer, Poorest: Urban Livelihoods and Vulnerability in Mazar-i-Sharif

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank the many people who made this study possible. Foremost, thanks go to the local communities and households in Mazar-i-Sharif who shared their time and knowledge with us and whose accounts form the basis of this paper. Many thanks go also to Eng. Islamuddin from UN-Habitat in Mazar-i-Sharif, who was most helpful and supportive in organising our research, and all the members of the Community Forum Development Organisation, especially Mrs Candi, Mr Karim Hafizi, as well as the local heads of the city's community councils who patiently supported our work. Further thanks go to Aftab Opel for being a perfect organiser of fieldwork and to the whole research team consisting of Anil, Dr Sharaf, Leena and Mamiko. Finally, I would like to thank Paula Kantor for her useful comments on drafts of the paper and to Brandy Bauer for the final editing.

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Poor, Poorer, Poorest: Urban Livelihoods and Vulnerability in Mazar-i-Sharif

Contents

Glossary

vi

Acronyms

vi

1. Introduction

1

2. The City of Mazar-i-Sharif

3

3. Methodology

5

4. Living Contexts and Livelihood Activities in Mazar

7

4.1 Contexts: urban communities and access to services

7

4.1.1 The study communities

7

4.1.2 Access to services on the household level

10

4.2 Perceptions: poverty and well-being from a

community perspective

13

4.3 Activities: urban labour markets and access

to employment

15

4.4 Possessions: asset endowment of poor urban households 21

4.4.1 Physical Assets

21

4.4.2 Financial assets

23

4.4.3 Human assets

24

4.4.4 Social assets

27

4.4.5 Natural assets

28

4.5 Actions and reactions: coping with risks and events

28

4.6 Participation: structures of local governance in Mazar 30

5. Conclusions and Their Implications for Policy

and Practice

33

References

36

Recent Publications from AREU

37

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Poor, Poorer, Poorest: Urban Livelihoods and Vulnerability in Mazar-i-Sharif

Glossary

Afghani (or Afs) bokhor va namir

chapan gharibkar kalantar/ wakil-e gozar shura

official Afghan currency literally, "eat and don't die", refers to hand-to-mouth existence Uzbeki coat work activities carried out by the poor neighbourhood representative

local/community council

Acronyms

ACF AREU CFDO GoA IDP

Action Contre la Faime Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit Community Forum Development Organisation Government of Afghanistan internally displaced person

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Poor, Poorer, Poorest: Urban Livelihoods and Vulnerability in Mazar-i-Sharif

1. Introduction

All major cities in Afghanistan have experienced a significant growth in their population during the last decade. This trend is ongoing, with estimates expecting a doubling of urban populations by the year 2015.1 Given these accelerated urban growth rates and the attendant challenges they pose for urban planning and management, astonishingly little is known about the actual situation of urban residents in Afghanistan, and the realities in which poor urban dwellers have to lead their lives.

The Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU) is carrying out an urban livelihoods research programme in three major Afghan cities to address this crucial knowledge gap. The research attempts to develop a detailed and comprehensive understanding of the diverse livelihood strategies of the urban poor and vulnerable, and how and why adopted strategies change over time. This is done with the overall objective to inform a policy formulation process that builds on the capabilities, needs and priorities of poor and vulnerable urban populations and to assist aid actors to develop appropriate, effective and practical interventions that strengthen the livelihoods of the urban poor. To achieve these objectives, AREU is conducting longterm research on the changing livelihood strategies of poor urban households in the cities of Kabul, Jalalabad and Herat over the period of one year.

The present case study on the livelihoods of the urban poor and vulnerable in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif (hereafter Mazar) is complementing this ongoing longterm livelihoods research.2 It is based on 18 days of field research among poor urban communities and households in Mazar that focussed on five basic themes:

1. Access to services: identifying how access to basic services (i.e. water, health, education, housing and land) is carried out at the community and household level.

2. Urban labour markets: exploring the sources of livelihoods and types of work followed in different urban communities and the conditions posed by urban labour markets.

3. Exposure to risks and response strategies: identifying the most frequent (and burdensome) risks to urban livelihood security in Mazar from a community and households perspective, and investigating how people cope with those risks.

4. Asset portfolios: exploring the shape of asset portfolios among different urban communities and households and relating them to risk experiences.

5. Urban governance from "below": investigating means and scope of interaction between communities and the municipality and identifying the barriers to effective community participation in urban governance issues.

These themes have been addressed during group discussions and by practice of "participatory urban appraisal" research techniques3 with poor urban communities and through detailed household interviews in different parts of Mazar City.

1 Government of Afghanistan (GoA), 2004, Securing Afghanistan's Future, Kabul: GoA. 2 Another complementary short-term case study on the central city of Pul-e Khumri will be carried out in early 2006. 3 See D. Mitlin and J. Thompson, 1995, "Participatory approaches in urban areas: strengthening civil society or reinforcing the status quo?", in Environment and Urbanization, 7(1) and C. Moser and C. McIllwaine, 1999, "Participatory urban appraisal and its application for research on violence", in Environment and Urbanization, 11(2).

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Poor, Poorer, Poorest: Urban Livelihoods and Vulnerability in Mazar-i-Sharif

In addition, discussions with members of community shuras and kalantars,4 as well as interviews with members of the municipality and NGOs working in the city, provided important contextual sources of information.

After a brief overview of the city of Mazar and an introduction to the methodology used, the findings of the study and their implications for policy and practice are discussed.

4 Kalantar is the local term for neighbourhood-representative (called wakil-e gozar in other parts of Afghanistan).

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