examples of practice & principles to guide us slide 1 ifad sl workshops examples of practice...

Examples of practiceExamples of practice&&

Principles to guide usPrinciples to guide us

Slide 1

IFAD SL Workshops

Examples of practice & principles

OverviewOverview

1. Purpose of this presentation

2. Overview of three applications

3. Identification of principles that guide our actions

4. Review of these principles

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IFAD SL Workshops


Purpose of presentationPurpose of presentation

• Understand SLAs by looking at three examples of interventions that have made use of sustainable livelihoods framework and associated principles

• Identify what the advantages are

• Identify principles that guide action

• Review these principles

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IFAD SL Workshops


1st example: Drought and water 1st example: Drought and water securitysecurity

First phase:• Project started in 1994 following some serious droughts• Aim to help poor people to have better access to

ground water when they need it• Interventions followed traditional approaches:

groundwater surveys, groundwater management policies and practices, food aid

Second phase:• Started in 1997• Same aim, but:

• different analysis and• some new interventions

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IFAD SL Workshops


What was different in action?What was different in action?

• Analysis

• Intervention

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IFAD SL Workshops


AnalysisAnalysis

1. Recognition that different people are vulnerable to lack of rainfall in different ways

2. Greater understanding of the relationship between water and livelihoods / poverty

3. Realisation that non-water resource factors (land, remoteness, society, law, policies) affect people’s access to water and food

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IFAD SL Workshops


InterventionsInterventions

1. To strengthen assets to reduce vulnerability to droughts

2. To protect livelihoods rather than reduce the shock of water shortages

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IFAD SL Workshops


Overview of difference in Overview of difference in approach between phasesapproach between phases

1. Focus on people rather than the resource (water)

2. Problem-led rather than discipline-led

3. Consideration of many aspects of context (holistic)

4. View beyond the emergency

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IFAD SL Workshops


How did the change in approach How did the change in approach between the phases occur?between the phases occur?

• More disciplines involved

• Better inter-disciplinary working

• Partnership with a range of government and civil society agencies at different levels (lots of learning and sharing)

• Institutional accountability for impact

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IFAD SL Workshops


What are the principles apparent What are the principles apparent in this better practice?in this better practice?

• Building local-central linkages

• Listening and responding to poor people

• Thinking of the bigger picture (holistic analysis)

• Embrace change, need flexibility

• Working together – partnership

• Think for the future - sustainability

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IFAD SL Workshops


22ndnd example: livestock services example: livestock services

• Project began in early 1990s

• Aim to reduce poverty by providing livestock ‘technology’ and modern knowledge to poor people with little land.

• Institutions, policies, good government and relationships were all thought to be supportive – big mistake!

• Modern knowledge and technology were all considered to be appropriate – another big mistake!

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IFAD SL Workshops


What happened?What happened?

• Despite project efforts, the poor were not reached

• The sustainable livelihoods framework prompted and supported the project staff to: get a better understanding of poverty

processes identify areas that needed further analysis negotiate and bring about a change in

project focus and attitude

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IFAD SL Workshops


What did the project do next?What did the project do next?• Examined institutions (functions and relationships)

and their connections to poor people

• Examined policies in the livestock sector and assessed their suitability to reducing poverty

• Challenged long-held operating assumptions about who the government was serving

• Create evidence of the benefits of change (policies and actions inspired by reality) through participating with the poor

• Give time for change – nurture it!

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IFAD SL Workshops


And so the project became?And so the project became?

• An institutional reform project of the government’s livestock services department

• A source of evidence for policy-makers

• A learning generation and communication machine for pro-poor change

• A channel for poor people to influence power

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IFAD SL Workshops


Some of the results are?Some of the results are?

A government livestock service that is:• More aware and responsive to poor people and

supporting their aspirations

• Working with (rather than ignoring / competing / undermining) the private sector livestock industry

• More decentralised (a model of good governance for other departments)

• Founded on policies and institutions that are derived from an understanding of their impact on poor people

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IFAD SL Workshops


What are the principles apparent What are the principles apparent in this better practice?in this better practice?

• Building local-central linkages

• Listening and responding to poor people

• Thinking of the bigger picture (holistic analysis)

• Embrace change, recognise dynamism

• Working together – partnership

• Think for the future - sustainability

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IFAD SL Workshops


3° example: Upland Agricultural 3° example: Upland Agricultural DevelopmentDevelopment

• Initially, not specifically a “sustainable livelihoods” project

• Initiated to address specific features of the “vulnerability context” - erosion & food security

• Based on findings of long-term, field-based research

• Initial sectoral focus – food production & land management

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IFAD SL Workshops


How the project startedHow the project startedPre-project phase:• Overall objectives identified• Donor identified• Diagnostic studies• Field validation of technologies• Identification of “leading farmers”

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IFAD SL Workshops


Early implementation:• Training of staff in participatory approaches• Community-level diagnosis• Local-level plans of action• Annual review and analysis involving all

stakeholders

……so what happened?so what happened?

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IFAD SL Workshops


• Upland farming technologies adapted and adopted

• Demand for intervention on diverse sectors

• Expanding partnerships with other sectors (health, education, local service providers)

• Influence on local & national policy, planning and governance

What was different about the What was different about the project?project?

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IFAD SL Workshops


• Careful initial analysis incorporating long experience in the area

• Clear understanding of factors affecting vulnerability

• Attention to process – participatory approaches, feedback mechanisms, active engagement of local institutions and processes

• “Open” project design to accommodate learning from feedback mechanisms

…….and…..and….

• Building a network of local partnerships

• Sustainable livelihoods framework provided different partners with a common language for understanding issues

• Project worked with partners at different levels - local, regional and national - to influence the institutional & political environment

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IFAD SL Workshops


LeLearning?arning?

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IFAD SL Workshops


• Diagnosis and intervention not sequential initial sectoral diagnosis in-depth understanding of livelihoods generated

as the project developed.

• Significant resources devoted to: particpatory diagnosis work establishment of feedback mechanisms

• Limited entry points addressing clear, priority issues

• Continual analysis and learning feeding into adaptive planning to adjust project focus.

………….more lessons…..more lessons….• SL implies open-ended, flexible interventions -

these require different institutional capacities and different types of management.

• Flexibility and focus on sustainability from using SL approach increased ability to deal with contingencies.

• Decentralisation important for creating effective linkages between institutions, communities and civil society.

• Politics is a part of life and must be engaged.

• Capacity in governance built in at all levels - an integral part of the sustainable livelihoods approach.

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IFAD SL Workshops


……..and finally…...and finally….

• SLA not a panacea : it’s very inclusive, can provide a framework for the

use of many other methods, techniques and tools, but does not “provide all the answers”

can help to understand poverty and vulnerability and encourage more responsive, adaptive and flexible (i.e. better) interventions but the analysis feeding into it needs to be rigourous

needs to be made context specific (for example by modifying the various elements in the livelihoods “pentagon”).

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IFAD SL Workshops


Warning: rocky road!Warning: rocky road!1. Government partners may not be ready to think

and work across disciplines (holistic), or across departments (partnership)

2. International development agencies may not be willing to close the gap between their interest area and the needs of the poor (eg: response to famine and other emergencies and more general development activities). (people-centred)

3. Multi-level, inter-disciplinary responses to complex contexts may be more expensive, need more time, and be more difficult to manage. (linkages, partnerships, holistic)

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IFAD SL Workshops


examples of practice & principles to guide us slide 1 ifad sl workshops examples of practice...

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better practice

different people

ground water

different levels

different waysgreater

water securityfirst

shock of water shortagesslide

poor peoplethinking