Livelihoods

Baseline Study Report Adaptation in Ecologically Critical Areas in Bangladesh (AECAB)

The Ecologically Critical Areas (ECAs) of Bangladesh, especially the Sundarbans and Hakaluki Haor natural resources and biodiversity are crucial for the ECA dependent communities. However, these ecosystems are experiencing many challenges due to human activities, economic pressure, poor governance and adverse effects of climate change. These factors disproportionately affect marginalised groups, including women, persons with disabilities, and ethnic communities in the two ECAs. In response to these challenges, the NABAPALLAB project, supported by the UK Government, aims to improve ecosystem-based protection and restoration and increase climate resilience of ECA dependent communities in the Sundarbans and Hakaluki Haor ECAs. During the inception period, the project has conducted three studies simultaneously: i) An Ecological Assessment and Detailed Scoping Study, ii) Political Economy Analysis, and iii) Baseline Study.
The baseline study serves to establish pre-project conditions, providing essential data for monitoring, evaluation, and learning. It aims to capture baseline data for outcome indicators, disaggregated by sex, disability, and geography, and validate assumptions mentioned in the project's Theory of Change (ToC).
The study scope encompasses:

Socio-economic conditions

Climate change perceptions

Awareness of ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA)

Locally led adaptation (LLA)

Nature-based solutions (NbS)

The current status of project intervention areas.
Methodology
The study has applied a mixed approach, integrating quantitative and qualitative approaches by incorporating household surveys (2622 household), Focused Group Discussions (FGDs) (2506 participants) and Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) (137 respondents). A multi-stage cluster sampling approach was applied to select the sampled households, while diverse community members and stakeholders were engaged through FGD and KII that provided comprehensive insights into local contexts, baseline situation and the needs of the communities in the six intervention areas of the project.
Key findings
1. There are high levels of poverty, landlessness, and climate vulnerability among target communities in both ECAs.
• Food is by far the highest expenditure for households - demonstrating a high proportion of expenditure is simply meeting basic needs.
•It is also the case that a relatively high proportion of expenditure is used on the servicing of debt, again demonstrating the impacts for poor households on having to use debt as a coping mechanism.
• Borrowing money and cutting expenditure are by far the most used coping strategies, with reliance on savings and migration also prevalent.
28% of households in the ECA are landless, while 72% possess land, averaging 5.58 decimals.1 In the Sundarbans ECA, the average landholding is 6.85 decimals, and in Hakaluki ECA, it is 4.18 decimals. This land is used for various purposes, including housing, agriculture, homestead gardening, cattle raising, and fish culture.
2.
Climate-induced disasters severely impact livelihoods and natural resources, with limited awareness of EbA, LLA, and NbS approaches.
• Household surveys reveal that around 91% of respondents were affected by climate hazards and disasters like floods, drought and cyclones in the last 5 years. FGDs participants also highlighted that the vulnerability of the communities is high due to the location of their settlement in a fragile area, with poor infrastructure, climate sensitive livelihoods and lack of access to government Social Safety Net (SSN) services and support.
• Among the households, 32% have incurred loss of income and 23% loss of livelihoods. Over 17% of the respondents mentioned that climate change has increased health risks and medical expenditures in recent years.
• In contrast to relatively high levels of negative coping mechanisms (e.g. borrowing money, or cutting expenditure), few households engaged in planned adaptation i.e. changing livelihood options, diversification of crops, changing types of crops.
• The survey results revealed that 94% of the ECAs respondents do not know about LLA and NbS, suggesting considerable scope to work with communities to increase their understanding of these key issues.
3. Access to climate information has been inadequate and there has been a low degree of anticipatory action.
• The survey revealed a low level of information on climate change and a lack of access to important climate information. The survey reveals that overall, 66% of the respondents do not know about the Early Warning System (EWS), around 23% have not received any early warning on floods, and only 11% got some early warning during the floods in the last five years
• When asked if they take measures to strengthen their household infrastructure before local climatic hazards, approximately 57% of respondents in the ECAs reported that they do not take such measures.
4. Access to clean and renewable energy, safe drinking water, and sanitation is inadequate, particularly among vulnerable groups including poor women and ethnic minority communities.
• 97% of surveyed households have access to grid electricity in the ECAs, with 5.3% using solar energy and 0.2% relying on biogas. However, the grid electricity supply is unreliable, with about 63% of these households experiencing load shedding for more than 4 hours daily.
• There is also a significant reliance on traditional fuels (i.e. wood, twigs, cow dung, kerosine etc.) which is likely to have an impact on the broader sustainability of ECAs.
• 41% of respondents collect drinking water from tube wells, followed by Rainwater Harvesting System (RWHS) (22%), pond and dug wells (17%).
• Around 67% of the respondents use pit latrines with ring slabs (a type of improved sanitary latrine), whereas 20% use pit latrines without slabs.
5. Despite some positive trends in joint economic decision-making, women were not systematically included in decision-making around agricultural production.
In key measures women appeared to have moderate levels of inclusion in household decisions. Participation in decision-making on household purchases the surveys demonstrated that on average, across both regions, 68.1% reported having moderate or high levels of participation in these decisions.

Nearly three-quarters of the female respondents lacked the right to participate in decision-making in agricultural decision-making. Most female respondents in both regions (around 70.6% - 79.1%) did not share decision-making with their husbands about agricultural land use.
6.
There is little engagement of LGIs in conservation of natural resources, promoting resilient livelihoods. Participation of the community in formal and informal institutions is low.
• Around 93% of ECAs respondents reported that they have no membership and affiliation with the local conservation committees and groups such as Community Patrol Groups (CPG) or Village Conservation Forums (VCF). About 96% of the ECAs respondents have no participation in the decision-making of the Local Government Institutions (LGIs). Participation of vulnerable groups in decision-making is higher (10%) in the Sundarbans ECA than that of Hakaluki Haor (0.2% only).
• The participation of the study population in formal (government-led) and informal (civil society-led, private sector-led) climate-relevant decision-making spaces is also very low in the ECAs. About 6% of the households’ members participated in the decision-making spaces where 98% were male. The project must put more emphasis on the empowerment of people living in poverty and women for their effective participation in local decision processes that may benefit people living in poverty and women for adaptation and resilience building.
• Whilst community members felt that local authorities and committees had an important role to play in supporting farmers and forest-dependent communities, this support is currently inadequate due to constraints like insufficient human resources and capacity. Read More...

Systems-Level Impact through the 2018 U.S. Farm Bill

In a global context of rising numbers of people affected by increasingly frequent and severe food security crises, CARE advocated for essential amendments in the 2018 Farm Bill to strengthen critical international food aid programs. CARE's advocacy for the 2018 Farm Bill was rooted in its focus on gender equality and systems change, which in this case meant advocating for a shift away from monetization in support of CARE’s long-term goals for transforming food aid from a commodity-centric model to one that enhances effectiveness, efficiency, and focus on systems change.

Central to CARE’s asks in the 2018 Farm Bill were efforts to end the mandate of monetization and provide greater certainty in the use of the Community Development Funds. Both of these asks would strengthen Food for Peace, a program authorized in the Farm Bill that provides in-kind food aid directly to communities and supports community self-sufficiency. CARE recognized the 2018 Farm Bill reforms, including ending mandatory monetization and expanding Community Development Funds, could strengthen local food systems, empower farmers, and build community resilience by prioritizing sustainable and effective food aid delivery. Read More...

System Level Impact Evaluation Report on Categorization-based Farmer ID (FID) System in Nepal

This report highlights CARE's transformative initiatives through the Farmer Identity (FID) Card system, which significantly benefitted landless individuals, women, persons with disabilities, Dalits, Janajatis, and other marginalized groups in Nepal. Conducted from May to June 2024, the comprehensive impact evaluation utilized a participatory approach and contribution analysis to assess the impacts of the FID system. Key findings illustrate how the FID Card system has been integrated into local and federal agriculture policies, enhancing access to services for marginalized farmers and empowering communities. The report details the significant changes in agriculture policy, improved accountability, reduced discrimination, and enhanced social norms resulting from the intervention. The evaluation also identifies challenges and sustainability factors, providing actionable recommendations for future advocacy and implementation strategies.

Total Page Count: 67 Read More...

Ecological Assessment and Detailed Scoping Study in the Sundarbans and Hakaluki Haor Ecologically Critical Areas (ECA) for Nature-based Solutions (NbS) and Locally Led Adaptation (LLA)

The Ecologically Critical Areas (ECAs) in Bangladesh, notably the Sundarbans and Hakaluki Haor are vital for biodiversity and livelihoods. The UK government’s Adaptation in Ecologically Critical Areas known locally as NABAPALLAB- (Nature Based Adaptation towards Prosperous and Adept Lives & Livelihoods in Bangladesh) project aims to enhance resilience of the ecosystem and livelihoods through Nature-based Solutions (NbS) and Locally Led Adaptation (LLA). The project has conducted three separate assessments (Ecological Assessment and Detailed Scoping study; Stakeholder Mapping and Political Economy Analysis; and Baseline Study) simultaneously during its inception stage. This report synthesizes findings from the ecological assessment and detailed scoping study. Insights were gathered to understand ecological status, community needs, and intervention opportunities in the Sundarbans and Hakaluki Haor. The report further highlights current and emerging threats, drivers and complexities in both ECAs. The status of the natural resource base, degradation pattern and ecosystem health were also analysed and documented using physical data and recent satellite imagery.
In the Sundarbans, the study found different ecosystems, including wetlands, low-lying lands, riverside areas, homesteads, croplands, and coastal embankments. All of these ecosystems are affected by various climatic stressors such as salinity, tidal inundation, erratic rainfall, and cyclones. They are also impacted by anthropogenic drivers such as shrimp farming, water logging, overharvesting, illegal fishing, deforestation, poaching. For example, the study shows that shrimp cultivation has a profound effect on agriculture with changes in land use and intrusion of saline water, which lead to decreased soil fertility, crop failure and lower productivity. Shrimp cultivation also contributes to surface water pollution, leading to scarcity of drinking water and negative impacts on WASH. The study also highlights significant threats to important endangered wildlife species in the Sundarbans ECA, including the Masked Finfoot and White-Rumped Vulture. In addition to the anthropogenic threats, the study has identified other problems such as fishing with poison, bird hunting, use of illegal fishing equipment, canal siltation, and intrusion of saline water into freshwater wetlands. These issues result in decreased fish population, depletion of wildlife and reduced agricultural productivity.
The Hakaluki Haor, encompassing 276 interconnected beels (wetland lakes) over an area of 18,000 hectares, faces significant threats from both anthropogenic and climate change stressors. Extensive sedimentation and agricultural expansion have led to the conversion of over 20 beels to agricultural production, impacting wetland productivity, aquatic vegetation, fish populations, and local livelihoods. Degradation of rivers, canals, and hill streams within the Haor has further exacerbated these problems and challenges, affecting crop production, fish yields, and biodiversity. Encroachment on protected swamp forest areas after phase-out of previous projects, wide-ranging deforestation, and conversion of raised land (Kandas) for agriculture have negatively impacted the habitats of fish and birds, and other wetland-dependent wildlife as well as waterfowl migratory routes. Furthermore, elite capture excludes poor fisher folk and landless individuals from fishing and accessing natural resources, while agricultural expansion in Kanda areas raises concerns about increased use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers that pollute wetlands. Read More...

Rapid Assessment of the FBMT Family Business Management Training

This rapid review was commissioned by CARE to evaluate the Family Business Management Training (FBMT) in Côte d’Ivoire using a qualitative approach.
The relevance of the FBMT in relation to the objectives of the W4C (Women for Change) program was analyzed by comparing the FBMT content and the evidence from the interviews with the objectives and indicators of the W4C logframe.
It becomes clear that the FBMT was most effective in increasing IGAs, balancing decision making and improving relationships. The effect of IGAs on household income not entirely clear yet. Access to the training is determined by participation in VSLAs. While this is not detrimental in the first place, potential entry barriers to VSLAs need to be kept in mind when scaling up.
For men the main challenges to participate in the FBMT are a perceived loss of power and possibly the available time to attend. Yet, those who participated were attracted by potential economic gains and finally recognized the advantages of improved relationships.
A mapping of training courses that are related to the FBMT and are applied in the W4C program revealed that the couple dialogues, the gender strategy interventions and FBMT overlap in some areas but the FBMT goes beyond the objectives of the other two courses. The IGA training courses, which are complementary to the FBMT, overlap with some of the contents of the FFBS1 (Farmer Field and Business School). The FFBS also overlaps with some of the FBMT contents on gender and also addresses the couple rather than just the women. However, it comprises of about double the number of training modules of the FBMT.
Training application is divided between technical advisors and field supervisors. This arrangement was not evaluated in detail but might not be the most effective and should be reviewed critically. The FBMT sustainably changed some of the behaviour of participating couples, confirming the sustainability of some of the effects of the training. The provision of the training still depends on external funding and cannot be considered fully sustainable yet. Change plans and their follow up by CARE staff are time consuming, resource intensive and might reduce the ownership of these plans by the couple that developed the plan.
The FBMT has been successful in changing household economies and relationships. Specifically the daily calendar, the income and expenditure tree and the prioritization of expenditures as practiced in the NEEDS and WANTS exercise have proven to be very effective. The perceived economic advantages of the training attract men eventually they discover the rewards of an improved relationship. The benefits of the FBMT have motivated some community members to spread its concepts to other households, which is as an opportunity for future programming. Read More...

How Can Approaches that Achieve Gender Equality Help Advance all the SDGs: Impact Evaluations Evidence from CARE Programs

Approaches that achieve gender equality, that move beyond the individual level to address greater interpersonal, socio-cultural, and community factors that influence gender attitudes and behaviors, have been shown by rigorous impact evaluations to be impactful in promoting gender-equitable attitudes (e.g., SASA! Program in Uganda), reducing gender-based violence (e.g., Stepping Stones and Creating Futures program in South Africa), and decreasing social acceptance of intimate partner violence (e.g., RESPECT program in Tanzania).
Key Findings Summary:
What are the Impacts of Approaches that Achieve Gender Equality?
• Empowerment of women and girls: 8 out of 8 programs have positive impacts on increasing women’s and girls’ self-efficacy, mobility, sexual and reproductive agency, egalitarian gender attitudes, and economic situations; 5 out of 8 programs have positive impacts on reducing early marriage rates and intimate partner violence (IPV), and increasing women’s intrahousehold decision-making power; 6 out of 8 programs have positive impacts on changing community traditional gender norms and increasing women’s community leadership.
• Increased impact on other SDGs, such as poverty reduction (SDG 1), food security (SDG 2), health (SDG 2), education (SDG 4), access to clean water and sanitation (SDG 6), decent work (SDG 8), and reduced inequalities (SDG 10).
How Did These Changes Happen?
• Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs).
• Active engagement of men and boys, community members and leaders.
• Couples’ curriculum and gender dialogues.
• Community-level social norms intervention: Social analysis and action (SAA)
• Life skills and financial management training. Read More...

Women Empowerment for Climate Resilience (WECR) in Laos

The CARE International in Laos’ project entitled: “Women Empowerment for Climate Resilience” (WECR) aims to enhance the capacity of women, particularly in ethnic minorities, to become more resilient to climate change. The project plan defines three pathways to empowerment; increased locally led adaption, increased food and nutrition security, and defining a village-level action plan to increase women’s participation in improving climate resiliency at the local level.

Project Background:
The project takes place in 20 ethnic minority, rural agricultural communities of Khoua, Samphan and Mia Districts in the province of Phongsaly and involved 1,800 ethnic minority women, 1,400 children and their families. Most of the target populations’ livelihoods primarily depend on upland agriculture of cash crops, livestock, and non-timber forest products (NTFPs) for export. Many villages have limited or no access to basic services such as electricity, running water, phone service, healthcare, and education.

The purpose of the evaluation is to determine the system changes achieved by WERC. The evaluation aims to assess the project’s effect and potential effect on the lives of the target population.
Evaluation questions:
• What impact did the WERC activities have on system level pathways to improve livelihoods?
Systems and structural effects:
• What system changes in social norms pathways were successful in improving livelihood?
• What system changes through social accountability pathways were successful?
Impact:
• What level of impact has been achieved in the empowerment of women in decision-making of improving their livelihoods through climate resilience? Read More...

Women for Change: RÉSULTATS DE L’ENQUÊTE SEMESTRIELLE

Cette enquête visait à mesurer les indicateurs d’effets de la mise en oeuvre des thématiques AVEC, Lien financier, AGR-Entrepreneuriat, Genre, FBMT et l’Éducation parentale afin d’apprécier leur niveau de progression. Les données ont été collectées dans 10 villages de 5 souspréfectures du projet pour un échantillon indicatif de 136 membres AVEC. Les résultats issus de cette enquête sont à titre indicatifs et non pas représentatifs des communautés. MARS WRIGLEY (4 page) Read More...

Strengthening Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP) Institutions and Resilience II (SPIR II) Gender Analysis

Ethiopia’s current estimated population is around 123 million; out of which, approximately 50% are women, and 41% are under the age of 15 (The World Bank). Despite Government's efforts to close the gender gap, women and girls still do not have the same opportunities as men and boys. For instance, in Ethiopia girls and women aged 10 and above spend about 19.3% of their time on unpaid care and domestic work in comparison to only 6.6% spent by men (UN Women). This situation limits their ability to enter and remain in the labor force, which in turn hinders economic growth and development.

World Vision (WV), CARE Ethiopia, IFPRI, and ORDA Ethiopia are jointly implementing Strengthening Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP) Institutions and Resilience II (SPIR II) – a five- year program funded by the USAID. SPIR II's goal is aligned with the Government of Ethiopia’s Productive Safety Net Program 5 (PSNP 5), that aims to address the pervasive issues of food and nutrition insecurity in Ethiopia’s Amhara, Oromia, and Tigray regions. SPIR II targets 531,788 PSNP clients in nine, eight and fours woredas in the Amhara, Oromia and Tigray, respectively.

In March 2023, SPIR II conducted a Gender Analysis (GA) to identify gender and social inequalities that could negatively affect the achievement of SPIR II project objectives and to ensure that the design and interventions to increase women’s empowerment, equity for women, men, boys and girls, and other vulnerable groups (including the elderly, PWDs1, IDPs2) do not exacerbate existing power or abusive gender relations. SPIR II was not implementing in Tigray at that time, so the results generated are from Amhara and Oromia only. Read More...

Evaluation du Projet: Appui à l’Adaptation au changement Climatique et à Sécurité Alimentaire (PAACCSA/YANAYI)

Le Projet « Appui à l’Adaptation au changement Climatique et Sécurité Alimentaire (PAACCSA/YANAYI) » est une intervention de l’ONG CARE dans la région de Zinder sur une durée de 60 mois. Il a concerné 21 villages des communes de Gafati (Département de Mirriah), Albarkaram (Département de Damagaram Takaya) et Dakoussa (Département de Takeita) en raison de 7 villages par commune.
Le coût total du Projet est de 450 000 EURO, soit 295 180 650 FCFA.
Le Projet a trois (03) composantes à savoir : Appui à l’amélioration des stratégies, pratiques et techniques agro-sylvo-pastorales pour une adaptation réussie, Appui à l’amélioration de la planification et à l’adaptation à base communautaire (ABC) et Renforcement des capacités locales en matière de Gestion des Ressources Naturelles (GRN).
Pour évaluer le Projet, la méthodologie est le tirage aléatoire sur les producteurs, les membres des groupements et les services déconcentrés.
Après avoir obtenu la taille de l’échantillon des producteurs, elle a été repartie par localité et par sexe. Quant aux nombres des personnes à enquêter pour la collecte des données qualitatives, le nombre a été décidé lors de la réunion préparatoire mais le tirage des enquêtés était aléatoire.
S’agissant des données qualitatives, la taille de l’échantillon a été déterminée au cours de la réunion préparatoire avec l’équipe de CARE en charge de l’évaluation du Projet. Read More...

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