SUFFiciENcy EcONOMy ANd GRASSROOtS DEvElOPMENt
SUFFiciENcy EcONOMy ANd GRASSROOtS DEvElOPMENt
SUFFiciENcy EcONOMy ANd GRASSROOtS DEvElOPMENt
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The Meaning of Sufficiency Economy <br />
International Conference<br />
179<br />
Strengthening Sufficiency: <br />
Interdependent Selves Within Community Economies<br />
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This paper considers what makes Sufficiency Economy (SE) different from<br />
other development alternatives, notably those that stress sustainability and<br />
empowerment of communities. In particular, it compares SE to the Sustainable<br />
Livelihood Approach (SLA), a framework put forth by the British Department for<br />
International Development (DFID) in the late 1990s, when the SE model was<br />
similarly being formalized in Thailand. Both share common ground as holistic,<br />
people-centered development approaches that focus on sustainable livelihoods,<br />
though differences emerge due to their analytical versus philosophical<br />
characteristics. Both could also be improved in terms of community empowerment,<br />
best accomplished by a philosophical/ontological shift to interdependent selves and<br />
a practical/social shift to community economies. With its Buddhist nature and<br />
consideration of networks, SE is well positioned to make these shifts.<br />
<br />
Sufficiency Economy versus the Sustainable<br />
Livelihoods Approach<br />
In refining SE for application in the development field, particularly in rural<br />
development, it is instructive to compare it to a similar approach: SLA, which<br />
originated in Britain’s DFID but is now used worldwide by development<br />
organizations large and small. For those not familiar with SLA, it’s based on the<br />
ideas of development practitioners Robert Chambers and Gordon Conway (1992),<br />
who conceive of livelihoods as comprising people, their capabilities (what a person<br />
is capable of doing and being), and their means of living (including food, income,<br />
and assets). Chambers and Conway’s goals for developing livelihoods include<br />
enhancing capabilities, improving equity (equal distribution of assets, capabilities,<br />
and opportunities), and increasing sustainability. According to DFID’s guidance<br />
sheets, livelihoods are sustainable when they can recover from stress and shock, are<br />
not dependent on external support, maintain the long-term productivity of natural<br />
resources, and do not compromise the livelihoods of others. DFID adapted these<br />
ideas into an operational framework to help practitioners support livelihood<br />
activities with the ultimate aim of eliminating poverty in poorer countries.
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