Mobility and livelihoods: a small island perspective

This paper examines the role of 'mobility' in local livelihood development in small islands in eastern Indonesia. Empirical evidence is drawn from Mawali village, Lembeh Island, an island regularly exposed to natural hazards, plant diseases and a variety of external and internal drivers of change (population growth, migration, industrialisation). The paper charts the development of three new pillars of Mawali's complex livelihood strategies (wage labour, tuna fishing and tree crop production) that respond to these conditions, singling out mobility as an important component of livelihood diversification. In this way it posits small island responses to environmental and socio-economic change beyond the usual MIRAB (Migration, Remittances, Aid and Bureaucracy) strategies, drawing instead on debates about sustainable livelihoods where the need to manage resources and spread risk is apparent. This approach stresses the assets and capacities of island populations but also taps into longer histories of mobility in the region