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Save lives and save (or restore) livelihoods…..

Livelihoods

Interventions

Module 16

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Learning objectives

• Be familiar with the different options of livelihood interventions

• Understand their main objectives • Be aware of advantages, disadvantages and

criteria for implementation of livelihood interventions

• Understand the various contexts for livelihood interventions

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Understanding livelihoods is critical to understanding nutrition in emergencies as it is through livelihoods that people obtain food and income security.

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Livelihoods and emergency programming

• In emergencies, livelihood support programmes include any intervention that protects people’s capabilities and assets, and supports livelihood activities

• These programmes can be undertaken to prevent or mitigate* the impact of a crisis or in response to a crisis

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Would these fishermen benefit more from food aid or support to repair their

boat?

Impact of a tsunami

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Would these farmers benefit more from food assistance or logistic support to get

their produce to markets?

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Underlying causes

Immediate causes

Basic causesFormal and informal infrastructure/

political ideology/resources

Inadequate food intake

Poor PublicHealth

Household food

insecurity

Disease

Undernutrition

Poor social and care practices

Source: UNICEF conceptual framework

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Planning and Designing Interventions that Support Livelihoods in emergencies

Interventions to support livelihoods can have3 objectives: – Livelihood Provision, the supply of basic

immediate needs– Livelihood Protection, preventing the sale of

assets or the recovery of lost assets– Livelihood Promotion, strengthening

institutions, skills and advocating for policy change that supports livelihoods

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Interventions can be divided into 4 main groups:– (Food assistance (GFD))– Income and employment (Food for work, Cash for

work, Cash grants, micro-finance, income generating activities)

– Production support (crop production support, livestock support, fishing support)

– Market support (commodity vouchers, cash vouchers, monetization and subsidized sales, market infrastructure and access, de-stocking)

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Hand-out

Overview of different livelihood support interventions in emergencies and criteria/condition for decision-making on interventions to address food crises

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Interventions can be divided into 4 main groups:– (Food assistance (GFD))– Income and employment (Food for work, Cash for

work, Cash grants, micro-finance, income generating activities)

– Production support (crop production support, livestock support, fishing support)

– Market support (commodity vouchers, cash vouchers, monetization and subsidized sales, market infrastructure and access, de-stocking)

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Implementing interventions to support Livelihoods: Food assistance interventions

• Food assistance is organized to: – Maintain or improve nutritional status, hence enabling a

healthy active life– Reduce the need for people to sell off assets to obtain

food– Release income that would otherwise have been spent

on food– Enable the payment of credit or debt i.e. supports

important coping strategies • Some risks are to be considered, such as the impact

on market, people dependency, competition with other aid interventions, etc.

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Implementing Interventions to support Livelihoods: Income & Employment

• Cash approaches are increasingly being used - when sufficient food (or other goods) is available and

accessible on markets- when no risk of increasing inflation exists; and- when conditions are respected for safe and effective cash

transfer.

• Types of interventions are cash grants, cash vouchers, cash for work.

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Implementing Interventions to support Livelihoods: Market support

• The aim of market support programmes in emergencies is generally to ensure that people’s access to basic goods is maintained.

• Market support interventions can take many forms: – cash and voucher programmes – programmes that support market infrastructure, the

maintenance of food prices in markets (e.g. through the provision of subsidized foods) and the producers’ access to markets locally, nationally and internationally.

• Such programmes require adequate market analysis.

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Implementing Interventions to support Livelihoods: Production support

• It can take many forms such as support of livestock, crop production and fishing interventions

• The main types of interventions are:– Seeds and Tools – Seeds fair– Livestock programmes– Livestock marketing support– De-stocking– Fodder distribution– Veterinary and animal health support– Re-stocking

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How would you monitor and evaluate Livelihoods Interventions?

And….. Is it different from other interventions?

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How to decide which intervention is appropriate?

Selection based on the need, the context, the advantages and disadvantages of each intervention. Example:

Type of intervention

Criteria/conditionCommon

emergency context

Advantages Disadvantages

Seeds and tools

•Food insecurity due to reduction or loss in crop production•Affected households lacking seeds and tools•Lack of seeds/tools limits production•Local knowledge available on the use•Sufficient food accessible (otherwise seeds might be eaten)

Recovery stage or protracted emergencies(Note: but planning needs to start during emergency!!!!)

•Re-establishes crop production•Strengthens agricultural systems in longer term•Increases self-sufficiency

•Requires knowledge of local seeds and agriculture.

•Imported seeds may not be used.

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Monitoring and evaluation of livelihoods interventions

Key questions for monitoring process (how was the transfer delivered?)

Did the intended recipients receive the seeds? Did the recipients receive the correct amounts of seeds Was the distribution done on time? Were the recipients and other stakeholders satisfied with

the process and method of implementation? What other assistance are recipients receiving? Types of recipient?

Key questions for monitoring impact (what change has there been for the recipient?)

What was the average yield of the seed distributed? How have sources of food and income changed? How have coping strategies changed? How much has income and expenditure changed since

the seed distribution programme? Have there been any changes in consumption patterns? Would recipients have preferred another form of

assistance?

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Are all livelihood interventions appropriate for each context?

For example:- in relief? - in pro-tracted crisis? - as part of disaster preparedness?- in rehabilitation/early recovery phase?

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Issues and challenges for livelihoods programming in emergencies (1)

Examples of different interventions dependent on the context (disaster management cycle)

 Relief Rehabilitation Development

Mitigation/preparedness

Income generationand markets

Asset/income transfers or expenditure reduction; Food aid; Cash grants; vouchers; Cash-for-work; Food-for-work; Seed distribution

Vouchers and fairs;Cash-for-work;Food-for-work;Asset recovery (seeds and tools, livestock, equipment);Microfinance 

Microfinance;Training in business management;Organizing small-scale producers;Lobbying for a more supportive market environment;Social welfare programmes;Diversification opportunities

Contingency stocks;Linking social welfare to emergency response; Insurance to, e.g., cereal/fodder banks;Early warning systems

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• Working in conflict makes it very necessary for livelihood interventions to be linked with protection ones.

• Mainstreaming HIV and AIDS in livelihood interventions because of the deep prolonged impact of the disease on livelihoods.

• Can livelihood interventions improve nutrition?

*

Issues and challenges for livelihoods programming in emergencies (2)

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Can livelihood interventions improve nutrition?

• Improvement of nutritional status cannot necessarily be attributed to the livelihood intervention.

• Because there is a complex pathway between that intervention and nutritional status (with many factors that can change the nutritional status)

• But……at best there might be a plausible causal association, e.g. it might be possible that a livelihood intervention leads to increased income leading to improved consumption patterns.

• As long indicators on each level are not measured, it will be difficult to defend this ‘causal’ relationship.

• BUT…..livelihood interventions do not need to have nutritional objectives to be still useful and supportive to families/communities in emergencies.

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Many opportunities, often not used

Your experiences?

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• Understanding livelihoods is critical to understanding how an emergency will affect nutrition.

• Organisations are increasingly programming to support livelihoods during emergencies.

• A wide variety of interventions can be implemented in support of livelihoods during emergencies including:– Food aid (general food distribution, food for work)– Income and employment (cash distribution, cash for work, micro-

finance)– Market support (vouchers, monetization and de-stocking)– Production support (agricultural, livestock and fishing)

• The choice of the most appropriate livelihood intervention depends on the pros and cons, the context (relief, rehabilitation, development. mitigation/preparedness), preferences of the communities, etc.

Key messages