Diversification and security? Labour mobilization among urban poor households in Kabul, Afghanistan

This article examines the labour diversification strategies of 41 urban poor households in Kabul, Afghanistan across a 12-month period to determine if diversification is sufficient to reduce risk and bring improvement to their lives and livelihoods, or if diversification is solely a survival strategy. It finds that diversification in terms of numbers of workers, multiple employment statuses represented and who works—particularly mobilizing adult male workers—s important to bring some measure of income security, but that movement beyond income adequacy (assessed through low need to borrow for consumption) is elusive. Having male workers and access to regular salaried work are key strategies, though no guarantee in the face of shocks and crises, and all households cannot ensure access to such household compositions or labour pools; in the end many are dependent on child and/or female labour. Recommendations on how to improve employment opportunities and outcomes for the urban poor are provided, linked to on going processes in the Afghan context including the approval of a new labour code, development of a national employment policy, and the drafting of the Afghanistan National Development Strategy, Afghanistan's PRSP.