Researchers and practitioners concerned with sustainable livelihoods have identified the need both for greater understanding of how government organisations impact on sustainable livelihoods and also for guidelines on how to influence the organisational environment to achieve favourable outcomes.
This paper responds to these needs. Lessons and experiences are distilled from case studies in order to illustrate processes and suggest entry points for organisational change. Research with the Department of Rural Development in Andhra Pradesh, India and the Department of Agricultural Extension in Bangladesh forms the basis of two supplementary case study booklets. Other case study material is drawn from the literature.
