Power, Politics, and Livelihoods: Reworking the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework in Peri-Urban Goderich, Sierra Leone

This article examines how power relations, patronage, and institutional fragility shape livelihood practices in peri-urban Sierra Leone, using Goderich as a case study. It argues that conventional applications of the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework (SLF) do not adequately account for the political processes through which access to land, fisheries, markets, and local opportunities is negotiated and unequally distributed. Drawing on 165 household surveys, 25 semi-structured interviews, three focus group discussions, and extended ethnographic observation, the study shows that livelihood outcomes are shaped not only by household assets but also by elite brokerage, contested local authority, and mounting ecological pressure. Women and young people are disproportionately concentrated in insecure and low-return livelihood strategies, whereas politically connected actors are better positioned to secure stability and protection. To address these dynamics, the article proposes a reworked SLF that places political economy at the centre of analysis. In doing so, it contributes to wider debates on governance, exclusion, adaptation, and sustainable development in peri-urban Africa.