Food Security
Village Savings and Loan Associations as Economic Drivers
Exploring impacts of Village Savings and Loan Association (VSLA) at micro level to understand their potential to contribute to the Tanzanian economy
Savings-led microfinance innovation aims to improve access to financial services in remote areas, especially among women. CARE International has been the leading innovator in the field and has initiated Village Savings and Loan Association (VSLA) programmes across Tanzania. CARE aims to increase members in Tanzania to 8 million by 2025 with the vison to help improve the national economy. CARE thus commissioned SFTZ to carry out a study that investigates the potential of VSLA contributions to local and national economies.
METHODS. The study was implemented in six villages in Mufindi district, Iringa region; four of which were assigned as treatment and two as control. Treatment villages had 9 to 15 NGO-facilitated VSLAs, and control villages had only two comparable VSLAs.
RESULTS. Analysis of the data at the village level did not provide evidence that VSLA initiatives have contributed to large-scale economic growth except for one risk mitigation sub-indicator. A number of issues hindered the village-level comparison: First, microfinance savings groups were also present in control villages. Secondly, the penetration of savings groups within all treatment villages was low (below 30%, except for one village).
However, at the household level, VSLA membership showed significant impacts on a number of micro-level measures of economic growth. VSLA households had higher household savings, drew on VSLA savings to overcome negative impacts of household shocks, attained greater food security and more diverse diets, achieved better agricultural and business outcomes, and enjoyed greater economic status. Although these differences cannot be directly attributed to the VSLA programme without before-and-after comparisons with a meaningful control group, the positive household impacts suggest that a VSLA programme scaled to a high density within each village could have a positive impact
on the local economy. Read More...
Savings-led microfinance innovation aims to improve access to financial services in remote areas, especially among women. CARE International has been the leading innovator in the field and has initiated Village Savings and Loan Association (VSLA) programmes across Tanzania. CARE aims to increase members in Tanzania to 8 million by 2025 with the vison to help improve the national economy. CARE thus commissioned SFTZ to carry out a study that investigates the potential of VSLA contributions to local and national economies.
METHODS. The study was implemented in six villages in Mufindi district, Iringa region; four of which were assigned as treatment and two as control. Treatment villages had 9 to 15 NGO-facilitated VSLAs, and control villages had only two comparable VSLAs.
RESULTS. Analysis of the data at the village level did not provide evidence that VSLA initiatives have contributed to large-scale economic growth except for one risk mitigation sub-indicator. A number of issues hindered the village-level comparison: First, microfinance savings groups were also present in control villages. Secondly, the penetration of savings groups within all treatment villages was low (below 30%, except for one village).
However, at the household level, VSLA membership showed significant impacts on a number of micro-level measures of economic growth. VSLA households had higher household savings, drew on VSLA savings to overcome negative impacts of household shocks, attained greater food security and more diverse diets, achieved better agricultural and business outcomes, and enjoyed greater economic status. Although these differences cannot be directly attributed to the VSLA programme without before-and-after comparisons with a meaningful control group, the positive household impacts suggest that a VSLA programme scaled to a high density within each village could have a positive impact
on the local economy. Read More...
Mid-Term Strategic Review of the Livelihoods for Resilience Activity
CARE commissioned a Mid-Term Strategic Review (MTSR) of the Livelihoods for Resilience Activity to formulate recommendations for the remaining life of the project to increase effectiveness in achieving sustainable impact. The Livelihoods for Resilience Activity is being implemented in 27 Woredas in the three regions of Tigray, Amhara, and Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples and is just over the midway point in its five-year life from December 5, 2016, through December 3, 2021. The purpose of the Livelihoods for Resilience Activity is to reduce food insecurity and increase resilience for 97,900 chronically food insecure households that are enrolled in the fourth cycle of the Government of Ethiopia’s Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP4), enabling them to graduate with resilience from the PSNP4.
The MTSR for the Livelihoods for Resilience Activity was a formative evaluation exercise intended to provide guidance on ways to improve the effectiveness of the program in achieving intended impact.
Relative to the four global learning questions for the MTSR (see page 4), the MTSR found that the model that the Livelihoods for Resilience Activity is implementing is effective for achieving graduation with resilience, but because frontline delivery is constrained by the number of staff, their technical capacities and the degree of supervision and support that they receive, interventions are not always going deeply enough to ensure behavioral change. The program is empowering women both economically and socially through the VESA platform, but there are significant variations between regions; and outside of the VESA, there is some evidence to suggest that women’s empowerment has not yet been well incorporated, especially in value chain participation and MFI linkages. Progress is certainly being made in transferring ideas and knowledge to PSNP counterparts, but that has not yet translated into practice mainly because of resource constraints. Key approaches that need to be added or strengthened in the coming two years include expanding frontline delivery capacities, expanding efforts to ensure that strategies and approaches are well understood by implementation staff at all levels in all partners, ensuring that women’s empowerment is included in all approaches by all partners, and looking for new ways to facilitate access to jobs, either through self-employment or wage employment, for youth from PSNP households.
The Livelihoods for Resilience Activity is already doing some very nice work in starting to achieve sustainable impact. The project has strong potential to be recognized as a “great” project if it can make some adjustments.
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The MTSR for the Livelihoods for Resilience Activity was a formative evaluation exercise intended to provide guidance on ways to improve the effectiveness of the program in achieving intended impact.
Relative to the four global learning questions for the MTSR (see page 4), the MTSR found that the model that the Livelihoods for Resilience Activity is implementing is effective for achieving graduation with resilience, but because frontline delivery is constrained by the number of staff, their technical capacities and the degree of supervision and support that they receive, interventions are not always going deeply enough to ensure behavioral change. The program is empowering women both economically and socially through the VESA platform, but there are significant variations between regions; and outside of the VESA, there is some evidence to suggest that women’s empowerment has not yet been well incorporated, especially in value chain participation and MFI linkages. Progress is certainly being made in transferring ideas and knowledge to PSNP counterparts, but that has not yet translated into practice mainly because of resource constraints. Key approaches that need to be added or strengthened in the coming two years include expanding frontline delivery capacities, expanding efforts to ensure that strategies and approaches are well understood by implementation staff at all levels in all partners, ensuring that women’s empowerment is included in all approaches by all partners, and looking for new ways to facilitate access to jobs, either through self-employment or wage employment, for youth from PSNP households.
The Livelihoods for Resilience Activity is already doing some very nice work in starting to achieve sustainable impact. The project has strong potential to be recognized as a “great” project if it can make some adjustments.
Read More...
PROGRAMME EUROPÉEN DE SÉCURITÉ ALIMENTAIRE ET NUTRITIONNELLE ASARA
L’Union Européenne finance les Programmes ASARA (Amélioration de la Sécurité Alimentaire et Augmentation des Revenus Agricoles) et AINA (Actions Intégrées en Nutrition et Alimentation) dans le cadre de son initiative visant à accélérer l’atteinte de l’Objectif du Millénaire pour le Développement (OMD) 1c, « réduire de moitié, d’ici 2015, la proportion de la population vivant dans l’extrême pauvreté et souffrant de la faim ».
ASARA et AINA pilotés respectivement par l'USCP (Unité de Suivi et de Coordination du Projet) et la FAO (Organisation des Nations Unies pour l’Alimentation et l’Agriculture) visent la réduction de l’insécurité alimentaire des familles vulnérables dans les zones ciblées. Le programme AINA vise en plus l’amélioration de la sécurité nutritionnelle de ces familles. Les Régions Androy, Anosy et Atsimo Atsinanana sont des zones communes aux deux programmes si AINA intervient également dans les Régions Amoron’i Mania, Vatovavy Fitovinany et ASARA dans le District de Fort-Dauphin. Read More...
ASARA et AINA pilotés respectivement par l'USCP (Unité de Suivi et de Coordination du Projet) et la FAO (Organisation des Nations Unies pour l’Alimentation et l’Agriculture) visent la réduction de l’insécurité alimentaire des familles vulnérables dans les zones ciblées. Le programme AINA vise en plus l’amélioration de la sécurité nutritionnelle de ces familles. Les Régions Androy, Anosy et Atsimo Atsinanana sont des zones communes aux deux programmes si AINA intervient également dans les Régions Amoron’i Mania, Vatovavy Fitovinany et ASARA dans le District de Fort-Dauphin. Read More...
ENSURE Project Outcome Monitoring Survey Report
Enhancing Nutrition Stepping Up Resilience and Enterprises (ENSURE), originally was a 5 year project which was supposed to end in June 2018 but was extended to February 2020. It is funded by USAID and is implemented in six districts in Manicaland and Masvingo Provinces by a consortium led by World Vision. The other consortium members are CARE, SNV, SAFIRE and ICRISAT. World Vision is the implementing lead in Buhera, Chipinge and Chimanimani Districts of Manicaland Province, while CARE is the implementing lead in Bikita, Chivi and Zaka Districts of Masvingo Province. The project aims to cushion vulnerable and food insecure Zimbabweans in the target districts. The main thrust of the project is to empower and capacitate poor, rural households in the targeted districts to become more food secure. The geographical scope of the ENSURE project was carefully selected to involve agro-ecological zones 4 and 5 where food insecurity is high and covering a total of 66 wards of which 32 wards are in Manicaland Province and 34 are in Masvingo Province. The ENSURE project is anchored on three main thematic areas namely maternal and child health (SO1), agriculture and economic development (SO2), and resilience (SO3). Gender is included as a cross cutting objective which has been embraced in this project in order to increase equity in access to resources among men and women. [44 pages] Read More...
Velontenga Final Evaluation
Le projet VELONTEGNA mis en œuvre par le SAF/FJKM en partenariat avec CARE International dans la Région Atsinanana, et qui dure 3 ans, est financé par la Coopération allemande BMZ (Bundesministerium für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit). L’objectif est que les 17 000 ménages vulnérables cibles puissent améliorer de façon durable leur sécurité alimentaire afin de faire face aux impacts du changement climatique et parmi lesquels, il y aura au moins 4 000 ménages ruraux dirigés par les femmes. (88 pages)
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MAHAFATOKY project final evaluation
CARE Madagascar a mis en œuvre un projet qui s’intitule MAHAFATOKY dont l’objectif est d’accroître la résilience de 50.000 ménages dans les deux districts côtiers de la Région SAVA. Généralement, les actions tournent autour des renforcements de capacités pour que la population cible, notamment les plus vulnérables, s’adapte à réduire les effets néfastes du changement climatique sur leur sécurité alimentaire. L’objectif du projet Mahafatoky est de renforcer la résilience des 50000 ménages dans les deux districts côtiers de la Région SAVA à Madagascar, par une plus grande capacité à s’adapter aux effets du changement sur leur sécurité alimentaire et à réduire ces effets. Le projet comprend trois volets essentiels et complémentaires: i) La Gestion des risques et des catastrophes, ii) La sécurité alimentaire et iii) Le groupe d’épargne villageois. Ces trois volets se répartissent en sept (7) résultats attendus (RA) dont les analyses des valeurs actuelles de chaque indicateur sont développées dans ce rapport. Au terme du projet, les bénéficiaires finaux du projet sont de 73 032 ménages soit 365.160 Personnes qui représentent 146% de l’objectif fixé. (118 pages) Read More...
SECOND TREND SURVEY REPORT 2ND DRAFT MAZIKO PROJECT (NUTRITION FOUNDATIONS FOR MOTHERS AND CHILDREN)
This report presents results of the 2014 second trend survey carried out by CARE Malawi, in March, 2014. The report is the source of information of outcome indicators for children, lactating and pregnant mothers’ wellbeing which include health, nutrition, water and sanitation gender and social empowerment. In addition to presenting values for the specific indicators CARE Malawi values the report because it provides valuable information on the status of its activities on women and children in term of access to basic needs such as food, nutrition and health. The report also reveals the progress made over the two years towards the contribution of MAZIKO to the wellbeing of children and caregivers in Kasungu and Dowa. [127 pages] Read More...
Final abiemnom smart survey report 2017
This 50 page report details a SMART Nutrition Survey undertaken in Abiemnom County, South Sudan in ... Read More...
Gender and GBV analysis and operational suggestions – CARE Nigeria field Assessment
CARE international has deployed a multisector assessment team in North East Nigeria to assess the increasing humanitarian needs and inform CARE’s emergency Strategy and response programming. The assessment will look at the areas of food security, Sexual and reproductive Health and Gender based violence. The gender-specific dynamics and impacts of the insurgency require a strong focus on gender mainstreaming and sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) prevention and mitigation. Therefore a rapid gender and GBV analysis has been conducted with the global objective to improve the quality and effectiveness of CARE and partner’s response in the North East Nigeria through strong integration of gender equality and GBV at all stage of the humanitarian project cycle.
This analysis aim to provide answer to the following key questions:
• What are the different Impact of the insurgency for girls, women, boys and men and what
are the different needs of these groups?
• Who has access, and who has control over what resources and assistance? Who has the
decision among the family and the community? How the crisis has affected this power
relation, what social norms and practices affect the access and control?
• What are main GBV risks? Who is most affected and at-risk among girls, women, boys and
men? What are main social, cultural norms and practices that shape GBV in the Area?
• What are main GBV services providers and actors in the ground and what is their capacity to deliver? Do GBV survivors have access to comprehensive GBV services? What are main gaps
in service
• Formulate geographic and programmatic recommendations to guide CARE decision on GBV
• Develop a GAP to improve gender integration into the assistance. Read More...
This analysis aim to provide answer to the following key questions:
• What are the different Impact of the insurgency for girls, women, boys and men and what
are the different needs of these groups?
• Who has access, and who has control over what resources and assistance? Who has the
decision among the family and the community? How the crisis has affected this power
relation, what social norms and practices affect the access and control?
• What are main GBV risks? Who is most affected and at-risk among girls, women, boys and
men? What are main social, cultural norms and practices that shape GBV in the Area?
• What are main GBV services providers and actors in the ground and what is their capacity to deliver? Do GBV survivors have access to comprehensive GBV services? What are main gaps
in service
• Formulate geographic and programmatic recommendations to guide CARE decision on GBV
• Develop a GAP to improve gender integration into the assistance. Read More...
Berchi end line evaluation final report
This 210 page document describes the results of the Berchi project Read More...