A world without poverty:Developing sustainable livelihoods indeveloping rural communities

Accenture DevelopmentPartnerships in partnership with Oxfam

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Oxfam GB is a development, relief and

campaigning organization that works

with others to overcome poverty and

suffering around the world.

The organization is independent,

registered as a charity, and affiliated

to Oxfam International, which stems

from the Oxford Committee for

Famine Relief, founded in Britain

in 1942.

Oxfam GB acts as a catalyst for

overcoming poverty by responding

swiftly to provide aid, support and

protection during emergencies to

save life; developing programs

and solutions that empower people

to work their way out of poverty;

and campaigning to achieve

lasting change.

In a world rich in resources, Oxfam GB

believes poverty is a morally

indefensible injustice. All too often,

poverty is the result of decisions

taken, intentionally or unintentionally

by those in power. Unjust policies and

practices, nationally and

internationally must be challenged

and removed. However, it firmly holds

to the principle that with the right

resources, support and training,

people living in poverty can solve

their own problems.

Everyone has the right to a

sustainable livelihood, yet

circumstances have prevailed that

have denied this right to many.

Accenture Development Partnerships

is lending support to many of Oxfam

GB’s livelihood programs to realize the

vision of a world without poverty.

A road map for growth in

farming communities

Farming is central to the livelihoods

of the poorest, especially among

women. Nearly three out of four of

the world’s poorest people live in rural

areas, depend directly or indirectly on

agriculture for food and income

security. Nearly two-thirds of the

labour force in Africa and Asia is

employed in agriculture. Hence the

reason that Oxfam devotes more than

a quarter of its total program

expenditure (£26.7 million in 2003-

2004) to agriculture-related programs.

Oxfam launched its Global Agriculture

Scale-up Initiative in 2005. The

initiative was borne out of the need

to strengthen the impact of Oxfam’s

agriculture-related development

programming in two ways.

Firstly, ‘scaling-up’ ultimately means

reaching more communities by

engaging them in high quality,

sustainable farming programs that

will, after time, no longer require

outside support.

Secondly, there was a need to

demonstrate to decision-makers that

small-scale agriculture is a

fundamental element of poverty

reduction as part of wider economic

development strategies.

The scale-up initiative was, therefore,

designed to show how the

In a world rich in resources, Oxfam GBbelieves poverty is a morally indefensibleinjustice. All too often, poverty is the resultof decisions taken, intentionally orunintentionally by those in power.

The long-term “livelihood program” for the

southern part of Sri Lanka has helped to give

people ways to earn money. Cover: women

clearing water channels for rice paddy farming.

Right: A geographical analysis was carried out

to identify which industries needed support. Sri

Lankan fishermen were among those to benefit

from the program.

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smallholding farm community can be

turned into a viable and productive

path that will eventually generate

sustainable livelihoods for millions of

people living in poverty, and a means

to future economic growth and

prosperity.

The initiative was launched in three

countries—Ethiopia, Honduras and

India—and seven Accenture consultants

were assigned to the project through

Accenture Development Partnerships.

“The opportunity to play a part in a

change program that targets the

alleviation of poverty and suffering

for women, men and children at a

scale that makes a measurable

impact at a country and global

level is tremendously rewarding,”

said Accenture Development

Partnerships participant Aaron

Perryman, senior manager-Financial

Services, Korea.

“By contributing our project

management, strategic planning,

financial modelling and capability

development skills, we helped to

ensure a structured approach was

exercised in executing the large, multi-

country program.”

During the initial strategic planning

phase of the program, the Accenture

Development Partnerships team hosted

workshops to analyse causes of poverty

with local small and medium-sized

enterprises; the team facilitated Oxfam

in defining strategic visions and

objectives; and developed the business

case for the initiative. In addition, the

team helped to articulate the model of

change to be implemented; developed

implementation strategies; compiled

financial models; and designed the

organizational approach specific to

each country.

Not losing sight of the global nature

of the program, the Accenture

Development Partnerships team applied

a rigorous, process-driven approach to

ensure that the countries were aligned

with the global objectives. The team

also worked to build the capabilities of

the local staff in process management

and financial aspects to ensure that

the initiative was sustainable in the

long-term.

“We really challenged the thinking on

the ground and pushed for new ways

of working to achieve the targeted

goals,” Perryman added.

As a result of the project, a program

implementation roadmap, including

business cases and project, financial,

communication and capacity building

plans, was established and approved

to proceed. The Accenture

Development Partnerships team also

secured buy-in at country level from

key stakeholders such as local and

international non-governmental

organization partners and local

governments. The standardized

processes created by Accenture

Development Partnerships can now

be leveraged for all future country

and global initiatives.

“As well as improving the quality of

livelihoods in rural communities, by

providing a critical mass of evidence

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About AccentureDevelopment Partnerships

Accenture Development Partnerships

is a not-for-profit organization that

provides high quality consulting

services to donors, non-

governmental organizations and

other non-profit entities working

in developing countries.

For more information please visit

www.accenture.com/adp

or e mail

devpartnershipsinfo@accenture.com

from the initial three countries,

governments and decision makers will

be influenced to ensure that

frameworks are put into place to

support the small-scale agriculture

sector as a means for national

economic development,” said Dr Lea

Borkenhagen, livelihoods programme

development manager, Oxfam GB.

Sustainable recovery in Sri

Lanka and Nigeria

Two Accenture professionals were

assigned to help Oxfam to develop

a long-term “livelihoods program”

for the southern part of Sri Lanka.

A geographical analysis was carried out

to identify which locations

were in most need of the program,

along with a sector analysis to

determine which industry sectors, such

as agriculture, fisheries and tourism,

needed support.

The team also conducted a market

analysis and made field visits to each

selected sector to develop a strategy

for the program. In addition, workshops

were organized with the managers and

livelihood leads of other offices around

the country to help support the Sri

Lankan team in its development efforts.

In helping Oxfam to build the capacity

of its employees, the Accenture

Development Partnerships team first

identified the skills necessary for

employees of all levels of the

organization and then conducted

interviews with employees to ensure

that skill levels were aligned. Finally,

a series of recommendations was

determined for bridging the identified

gaps.

The success of Accenture Development

Partnerships’ work in Sri Lanka resulted

in one participant, Ezra Murad, senior

manager-Resources, US, being sent to

replicate the development approach in

Nigeria.

“The opportunity to help Oxfam

develop a clear and logical program

that will help thousands of people

in two different countries is something

I will never forget,” Murad said. “The

value of our contribution can be

measured by the fact that Oxfam asked

us to expand our involvement in the

program from Asia into Africa.”

The livelihoods strategy developed by

Accenture Development Partnerships

has now been packaged as a toolkit for

Oxfam to be reused on other programs

to assist in developing long-term

livelihoods programs.

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