Seasonal Livelihood Analysis

Seasonal livelihood analysis examines how poor households' livelihoods — their income, food access, labour demand, prices, debt, and exposure to hazards and disease — vary systematically across the months of the year rather than remaining constant. Rooted in the agenda set by Robert Chambers, Richard Longhurst, and Arnold Pacey in their 1981 work on seasonal dimensions to rural poverty and revived by Stephen Devereux and colleagues, it uses seasonal calendars to chart these intra-annual rhythms, locate the lean or 'hunger' season, and time interventions such as social protection so they reach people when need is greatest.