Livelihood Zones

Livelihood zone maps were developed by the USAID-funded Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) as basic information for food security analysis. They define geographic areas of a country where people generally share similar options for obtaining food and income and similar access to markets. Factors considered in the delineation of the livelihood zones include not only socio-economic parameters, such as market accessibility, farming systems and major economic activities, but also agroclimatic characteristics, soil patterns, elevation, and land-cover. A livelihood zone map is typically accompanied by a livelihood description which outlines the key characteristics of each zone. In some cases, maps may also be accompanied by livelihood profiles, which are in-depth descriptions of the characteristics of wealth groups within each zone. The zone maps are available for download as PDFs, PNGs, and GIS shapefiles. The shapefiles and maps were all produced by FEWS NET through multi-day workshops during which food security stakeholders and country experts identify, delineate and characterize the zones.

Given their purpose of understanding livelihood systems in food security hotspots and linkage with USAID projects, livelihood zone maps are available for 27 countries in Africa (Angola, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Guinea, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe), and only few in other continents : Afghanistan, Yemen in Asia,  and Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador in Central America.

In view of their integrated socio-economic/ecological  characterization of agricultural environments, livelihood zone maps can also be very useful for land resource planning, especially at national level.