ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a global North/South comparison of farm households’ livelihood strategies and gender relations, with particular reference to Europe and Africa. This might seem unusual, but we argue that this comparative approach allows us to see similarities in different contexts. We begin with an overview of what we mean by farm family households and livelihood strategies among farm households in the North and South. We examine the different language used in each context, and also make some observations about the differences in context. Next, we examine the variations in the livelihood strategies among women and men in North and South showing that based on space, assets, and culture, the same strategies are operationalized differently. Then we consider the gendered dimensions to livelihood paths to understand the motivations and mobility constraints to livelihood strategies. Livelihood identities created by the livelihood paths that farm households engage in are explored as well as the similarities in differences in the global North and South with future research directions identified.
