Special Evaluation/Report
Kore Lavi Safety Net Beneficiary Resilience Assessment
As part of its mandate, the Kore Lavi program has developed and established a food voucher-based social safety net model for the poorest households in conjunction with the Haitian Government – through the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor (MAST). This Resilience Assessment contributes to a stronger understanding of the current food security and resilience situations of the most vulnerable program beneficiaries.
Based upon the data collected, the social safety net members – which is considered as the study sampling universe – are mainly affected by Illness, death and drought, respectively. The experiences shared by the respondents also revealed that they often face several types of shocks and stressors simultaneously.
The food voucher had a very positive impact and helped a lot during each key moment: before the shock or stressor affected the respondent, immediately after, sometime after and now. In the different stories that were shared, a certain number of respondents mentioned that they have no other means to ensure their food security - other than the Kore Lavi food vouchers. With regard to the food vouchers indirect contribution, it is important to highlight that 59% of
respondents used the money they saved to pay school fees and 28% to pay medical fees. 36% save it in their Village Saving and Loans Association (VSLA). Yet, there is also an emerging group that used the money to invest in agricultural endeavors and start-up income generating activities.
When comparing the three main types of assets (personal, social and physical-financial resources), it could be observed that especially vulnerable respondents tended to rely on social resources. Generally, the respondents used more negative coping mechanisms that compromise their food security like eating less or less preferred meals per day (58%), reducing expenditures related to household needs (32%), producing charcoal (33%), reducing agriculture production area (20%) and livestock (19%) or selling assets.
The study identified that 22% of VSLA members followed resilient pathways versus 16% of non VSLA respondents. In almost all the signifier questions, there were found small differences between both groups, but not as much as it was initially expected by the Kore Lavi team. Read More...
Based upon the data collected, the social safety net members – which is considered as the study sampling universe – are mainly affected by Illness, death and drought, respectively. The experiences shared by the respondents also revealed that they often face several types of shocks and stressors simultaneously.
The food voucher had a very positive impact and helped a lot during each key moment: before the shock or stressor affected the respondent, immediately after, sometime after and now. In the different stories that were shared, a certain number of respondents mentioned that they have no other means to ensure their food security - other than the Kore Lavi food vouchers. With regard to the food vouchers indirect contribution, it is important to highlight that 59% of
respondents used the money they saved to pay school fees and 28% to pay medical fees. 36% save it in their Village Saving and Loans Association (VSLA). Yet, there is also an emerging group that used the money to invest in agricultural endeavors and start-up income generating activities.
When comparing the three main types of assets (personal, social and physical-financial resources), it could be observed that especially vulnerable respondents tended to rely on social resources. Generally, the respondents used more negative coping mechanisms that compromise their food security like eating less or less preferred meals per day (58%), reducing expenditures related to household needs (32%), producing charcoal (33%), reducing agriculture production area (20%) and livestock (19%) or selling assets.
The study identified that 22% of VSLA members followed resilient pathways versus 16% of non VSLA respondents. In almost all the signifier questions, there were found small differences between both groups, but not as much as it was initially expected by the Kore Lavi team. Read More...
CARE Rapid Gender Analysis in Lao PDR
Tropical Storm Son Tinh, which hit Lao PDR on 18-19 July 2018, led to a breach in the Xe Pien-Xe Nam Noy hydropower saddle dam dam on 23 July 2018, causing a flash flood through 13 villages downstream in Sanamxay district, Attapeu Province. The Government declared the affected areas a National Disaster Area. CARE undertook a two-phase rapid gender equality and social inclusion (GESI) analysis in Attapeu to provide information and recommendations about the different needs, capacities and coping strategies of women, men, boys and girls including people with a disability and ethnic minority groups. This report is the second version of this evolving analysis and provides a valuable contribution to the limited information available on communities’ lives in the temporary residence camps where they are now residing. [25 pages] Read More...
Report on Contract Farming
This 24 page report discusses how land ownership traditionally remains the main source of wealth, social status, and economic and political power in Nepal. Apart from its productive value linked to livelihoods and food security, land ownership for the marginalized communities often becomes the determining factor between a life with dignity and security, and exposure to different vulnerabilities and uncertainties. Ironically, however, the richest 5% own 37% of the total cultivable land leaving only 15% to be shared among rest of the 47% households. Landlessness is as high as 32.1 %. Over 44% Dalits in the Terai and 22% of those in hills are landless and, thereby, deprived of their socio- economic rights.While landlessness is very high in the country, over 30 % of cultivable land is estimated to have been left fallow for various reasons such as increasing out-migration of youth, rapid urbanization, decreasing competitiveness for agricultural produce and use of farm land for alternative purposes. Land owners most often keep their land fallow fearing that giving them out for tenant farming would ultimately rob them of their land ownership. Read More...
Sustainability of Water Systems in Tacaná, San Marcos built over the last 25 years
CARE Guatemala has worked in water and sanitation in Tacaná for over 10 years. CARE has helped construct potable water systems, trained community members to manage the systems, improved sanitation in schools, and led sanitation workshops for students. Most recently, CARE was involved in the Lazos de Agua (Water Links) project, which was completed in October 2016, in the municipalities of Tacaná and Tajumulco. One of the project’s main goals was to increase access to sustainable, safe water for at least 5,000 people1. In addition to providing access to clean water, it is imperative to ensure the sustainability of improved water systems into the future. In order to monitor the functioning of the water systems, the Municipal Water and Sanitation office (OMAS) was created in Tacaná in 2012. The OMAS is responsible for the operation, management and maintenance of the water systems in both urban and rural areas of Tacaná. However, neither the OMAS nor CARE have had adequate resources to consistently monitor the water systems that have been built over the last 25 years. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the functionality and sustainability of the water systems constructed by CARE and other organizations over the past 25 years in Tacaná. [11 pages] Read More...
A Rapid Study on Sanitation in Garissa County, Kenya
Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) is the method adopted by the Kenyan Government for expanding sanitation coverage. CARE Kenya – within the Kenya RAPID program – has been assigned 65 villages outside of Garissa town, to support the implementation of the CLTS method, and ultimately support the achievement of Open Defecation Free (ODF) villages. CARE essentially allocates the per diem and transport of local County Public Health Officers (CPHOs), who are responsible for carrying out the CLTS method in the community: pre-triggering, triggering and (some) post-triggering follow-up. To date CARE has supported the triggering of six villages, and “re-energizing” five villages and none have made significant progress toward full sanitation coverage. In the 582 villages where UNICEF is supporting CLTS rollout, 27 have been certified ODF and another 130 are nearly there (claimed or verified). In Sept 2018, CARE conducted a study on CLTS and sanitation to understand barriers to latrine construction and delays in ODF achievement. [13 pages] Read More...
Lend With Care (LWC) Assessment Project Akhuwat Islamic Microfinance Report
This report is part of the Lendwithcare (LWC) assessment project and focuses on the evaluation of LWC Pakistani partner, the microfinance institution AIM Islamic Microfinance (AIM). The report was prepared by the University of Portsmouth (UoP), partner in the project, after a second wave of a household survey to a sample of AIM clients who have been supported by the LWC crowdfunding platform.
The study sample included 500 new AIM clients and 100 non-clients, first interviewed in 2015 by a team of independent interviewers recruited from local universities. The second wave of interviews took place in 2017, after all the clients had completed repaying their first loan (20 to 22 months later). [21 pages]
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The study sample included 500 new AIM clients and 100 non-clients, first interviewed in 2015 by a team of independent interviewers recruited from local universities. The second wave of interviews took place in 2017, after all the clients had completed repaying their first loan (20 to 22 months later). [21 pages]
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Food security, nutrition, climate change resilience and gender: Policies for Small-Scale Farmers
This Policy Analysis is part of series of country-specific studies on Food and Nutrition Security (FNS) and Climate Change Resilience (CCR) policies in the Southern African region that CARE International is currently conducting. CARE identifies advocacy as one of the priority approaches to influence broader change and scale up effective solutions. Multiplying the impact of innovative solutions that bring lasting changes, by documenting and replicating successful experiences, promoting pro-poor approaches and advocating and influencing policies are key aspects of CARE global 2020 Program Strategy. The focus of this analysis is the implementation status of FNS- CCR, with a strong emphasis on how these policies impact in the small scale and women farmers. The analysis covers both national specific policies and those policies and commitments that the Government of Tanzania has signed to as part of global collective efforts. The analysis aims to become a baseline to better understand the policy gaps and implementation challenges in in FNS and CCR towards women and smallholders in Tanzania. [112 pages] Read More...
Qualitative Assessment of the Effectiveness of Gender Transformative Programming on Changing Gender and Social Norms and Women’s Empowerment
The “Win-Win for Gender, Agriculture and Nutrition: Testing a Gender-Transformative Approach from Asia in Africa” is a project aimed at establishing a comparison between a gender-transformative model to achieve gender equality (the “EKATA” model), and a gender-mainstreamed approach in the agriculture sector (“Gender-Light model”), in which basic activities around gender are integrated into a program whose principle focus and measures of success are women’s economic empowerment through agriculture and micro-enterprise development.
The qualitative research is using in-depth interviews and Focus Group Discussions(FGDs) of a subset of women and their spouses who are participating in the program. For the in-depth interviews, 30 people (22 women and their spouses) were selected and are followed every year to document different pathways to empowerment. They were randomly selected from a strata of all women interviewed at baseline to reflect different social economic and marital status. On the other hand, 106 people (45 men and 61 women) participated in a total of ten FGDs. [42 pages]
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The qualitative research is using in-depth interviews and Focus Group Discussions(FGDs) of a subset of women and their spouses who are participating in the program. For the in-depth interviews, 30 people (22 women and their spouses) were selected and are followed every year to document different pathways to empowerment. They were randomly selected from a strata of all women interviewed at baseline to reflect different social economic and marital status. On the other hand, 106 people (45 men and 61 women) participated in a total of ten FGDs. [42 pages]
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Women and Agriculture Project Gender Analysis Report
In Tanzania, agriculture is the largest and most important sector of the economy. Majority of the country’s population which lives in rural areas relies heavily on agriculture. The sector accounts for about half of the national income, three quarters of merchandise exports and is source of food and provides employment opportunities to about 80 percent of Tanzanians. Agriculture also has linkages with the non-farm sectors through forward linkages to agro-processing; consumption and export; provides raw materials to industries; and a market for manufactured goods. Consequently, agriculture has a pivotal role in economic growth, and is directly linked with sustainable development and poverty reduction. Gender differences are a significant attribute in agriculture, from access, control and ownership of land to marketing of raw and processed produce. In Tanzania, despite constitutional proclamations of gender equality and many laws that promote equal opportunities for both men and women, it remains the case that on both smallholder farms and large plantations, men and women carry out different types of work, have different levels of access to resources, and are unequally rewarded for their contributions to the agricultural system, with women typically having less access and lower incomes (Rubin, 2010). [75 pages] Read More...
Business-Based Solutions in Humanitarian Crises: Lessons from Zimbabwe
In response to heightened food insecurity in Zimbabwe, Crown Agents and CARE, through the Grain Trade Market Facility, utilised existing market structures to avoid a potentially devastating food disaster. Using innovative solutions that brought together both the public and private sectors the programme ensured that people could meet their basic food needs through mobile money transfers. Utilising private sector systems increased access to funds and guaranteed market demand. This improved the availability of grain nationwide, maintained price stability and ensured vulnerable households were able to meet their basic food needs. Read More...