Walking the village: LiveDiverse – Sustainable livelihoods and biodiversity in developing countries

Abstract

LiveDiverse is a multi-year, multi-country collaborative research project that focuses on the interface between livelihoods and biodiversity of people in rural communities who live in or in the vicinity of a biodiversity ‘hotspot’. Five villages were chosen across the Vhembe District Municipal Area, where multidisciplinary research was conducted in the form of household surveys, interviews, group interviews and focus group discussions. The second step is to foster a close working relationship with the local leadership of these villages. The third step in walking the village is to harness as much local knowledge as possible. The last step in walking the village creates space for community members to contribute to and own part of the research process, rather than only being ‘knowledge providers’.