Livelihoods

“FUTURE FOR YOU(TH): YOUNG PEOPLE AS LEADERS OF LIFE SKILLS EDUCATION IN THE BALKANS”

The final evaluation of the “Future for You(th): Young people as Leaders of Life Skills Education in the Balkans” was conducted between December 2023 and March 2024. This end-term evaluation has addressed the full period of the project implementation (March 2021 – February 2024). Its scope covered all four target countries (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Kosovo and Albania) and main project beneficiaries (partner organizations, institutional representatives, teachers, youth, parents, movement leaders, etc.).
The evaluation process employed a mixed-methods approach with a non-experimental design. Its purpose was to assess the intervention's impact on advancing gender equality, examining shifts in cultural norms, behaviors and attitudes, and power dynamics, along with changes in participation, access to resources, and policy adjustments. It also aimed to summarize the main findings, conclusions and recommendations to inform the project's design and implementation phase.
The evaluation process was based on OECD-DAC evaluation criteria, but the priority was given to relevance, effectiveness, (immediate) impact and sustainability of the intervention. The rest of the criteria were not prioritized considering the given time frame, budget and purpose of the evaluation.
The project evaluation has embedded gender-responsive approaches and human rights frameworks from its inception. This approach was instrumental in establishing a holistic evaluation framework, with the aim of ensuring that these aspects were not treated as peripheral concerns but rather integral components of the project's core objectives and activities.
The data collection process comprised a desk review of relevant documents, semi-structured interviews with key informants, focus groups involving young individuals, and validation sessions to confirm clarity and authenticate key findings with project partners and other stakeholders. Data triangulation involved consolidating various methods and sources, thereby enhancing credibility through cross-referencing information from diverse origins.
Key limitations in the evaluation included a lack of representation from policymakers in some countries, restricted involvement of young individuals not engaged in BMCs and limited participation of young law offenders and professionals from youth at risk centers in the evaluation process. Related findings from the informants were cross-referenced with other information extracted from reviewed documents to mitigate potential bias.

Young men and women who participated in a greater number of project activities, including workshops or events related to campaigns, demonstrated more gender-equal attitudes towards gender roles and norms, violence, gender equality. All young people have increased their knowledge in sexual and reproductive health. Parents of BMC members have confirmed that the BMC program serves as a vehicle for continuous and holistic personal growth of their children, positively impacting diverse aspects of their lives.
School staff and professionals from juvenile correctional centers have gained qualitative content and the necessary competencies to effectively present crucial topics to youth in a non-formal manner that aligns with the needs of young people.
BMCs have progressed to comprehensive resource centers, providing safe spaces where young individuals can openly discuss their most sensitive concerns and receive professional referrals to address their diverse needs.
The project has managed to reach out to a remarkable number of people. The partners organized campaigns at the local level, resulting in the implementation of 35 school-based initiatives that reached 9,356 young individuals, and conducted 68 community-based campaigns, engaging with 20,218 citizens spanning across youth and adults alike, significantly increasing awareness on promoting peaceful masculinities, gender equality, and addressing hate speech and intolerance within the targeted demographics.
Despite challenges, such as navigating political instability, the project demonstrated resilience and effectiveness, significantly influencing community attitudes on social issues. It made a substantial impact on policy and practice regarding life skills education, underscoring its commitment to gender equality. Read More...

Savings and Credit Groups for Food Security and Ecosystem Sustainability in Tanzania: Endline Evaluation

The "Savings and Credit Group for Food Security and Ecosystem Sustainability (SGFSES) in Tanzania" was a CARE-WWF Alliance’s project implemented in Southern Agricultural Growth Corridor of Tanzania (SAGCOT), focusing on the Great Ruaha River region. The initiative aimed to address climate vulnerabilities, improve livelihoods, and enhance ecosystem services. Among other interventions, the project promoted sustainable production of Irish potatoes and common beans, crucial for community livelihoods, but vulnerable to climate shocks. Challenges such as water and land shortages, deforestation, and weak governance had affected productivity and adaptation options.

Implemented from June 2021 to December 2023 in Iringa and Mufindi Districts, the project targeted 21 villages. Its primary goal was to enhance the household income of 5,000 farming families, particularly empowering women, directly impacting 22,500 individuals and indirectly benefiting at least 50,000 individuals within the Great Ruaha watershed.

The project employed traditional approaches like Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLA), Farmer Field and Business Schools (FFBS), and Community-Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM), along with Integrated Land and Water Resource Management (ILWM) integrating income-generating and market-engagement strategies with natural resource management and sustainable agriculture practices so that both communities and ecosystems thrive.

The endline evaluation utilizing OECD criteria to assess the relevance, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency, impact, and sustainability of the project. It measured the achievements of this integrated conservation and development compared to the baseline three years earlier.
The endline evaluation found that the project surpassed its targets, reaching 7,029 households (51% female-headed) with a total of 10,961 direct beneficiaries (55% women, 34% youth) across all 21 project villages. In another words, the project impacted directly 33,739 individuals from 7,029 households. This represents 141% of the target set by the project at its beginning. Findings from FGDs and KIIs, showed that the project improved well-being of these communities by enhancing equal opportunities for men, women, and youth. The project enhanced meeting of basic needs such as food, housing, clothing, health services, and education expenses.

They participants increased productivity of staple crops like maize, common beans, sunflower, and Irish potatoes which notably contributed to reliable food sources and increased income for the communities. These crops served for both food and income. The endline survey found that the average productivity of the common bean increased from 331.3 kg acre-1 to 633 kg acre-1 which is an increase of 91% compared to the baseline. This achievement surpasses the LOP target of 30% increment by 61%. Furthermore, the average productivity of Irish potato increased from 1,435.5 kg acre-1 to 7,500 kg acre-1, which is 423% of the baseline or 393% of the LOP target of 30% increase.

The average number of months that surveyed households were able to provide sufficient food to their families was 7.4 at endline, up from 4.0 months at baseline. This is an increase of 85% from the baseline. The achievement surpasses the Life of Project goal of a 20% increase by 65%. On average, 83% of households experience adequate food provisioning during the crop-harvesting period (May to November), 42% experience hunger during the planting and crop growing season (December to April). 83% of the surveyed households report consuming three meals a day for most of the year, 86% of respondents were not worried about facing food shortages throughout the year. For those households that do not have adequate food provisions throughout the year, they tend to reduce their meals to two a day between December and April. Communities regard having two meals a day during the lean period as an improvement, as food was sometimes insufficient for one meal among some families in the past.

The endline evaluation drawn lessons learned that emerged from the data are:
- The implementation of VSLAs have helped the village land use committee, village environmental committee members and village council leaders to get into engagement with conservation activities.
- The Alliance-promoted VSLA-based AMCOS model has several benefits: in addition to attracting farmers with its core collective marketing promise, the requirement that all AMCOS members should also be VSLA members both accelerated VSLA group formation and enhances trust in leaders, a critical component of successful AMCOS.
- The planting to avocado trees, being one of potential trees for income generation and conservation of natural resources comes with a number of challenges. The first is it high water usage especially at the early stages of growth. The fruit tree have attracted large investors, who have been seen to open up large farms in forested lands. This has the risk of causing deforestation and drought in the near future, as the virgin land is turned into production land.
- The Alliance-piloted CSI model holds significant promise: Collective Investment trainings have not only supported VSLA groups in investing together but also have supported the individual members in starting their enterprises.
- VSLA members are confident to speak out on the enterprises which are destructive to environment in front of other members compared to period before the CSI training.
- VSLA members can see the benefits of individual and group investments that are made.
- Women have been in front line in undertaking collective investments activities at a group and individual level, which has resulted into family stability and reduced GBV issues as they also have something to contribute to their families. Read More...

New Economic Opportunities for Returnees and Vulnerable Citizens in Southern and Eastern Serbia

This report is an external evaluation of “New economic opportunities for returnees and vulnerable citizens in southern and eastern Serbia” project, implemented by CARE International Balkans, Serbia Office and project partner organizations NEXUS from Vranje and ENECA from Niš, financed by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ); Donor Contract no. 4621. Part of matching funds have been provided by Letter-Day Saint Charities (LDS). Lead applicant of the project was CARE Deutschland e.V. Project implementation period under review was from the November 2020 to October 2023. The evaluation was carried out by the external evaluator at the end of the Project period September – October, 2023.

Overall objective of the project was to contribute to the equal, socio-economic integration of vulnerable citizens and improve the general economic living conditions in the south and east of the Republic of Serbia. The goal of the project was that vulnerable population groups in Southeast Serbia recognize opportunities for socio-economic inclusion in their home region and question emigration more critically. The project has been implemented in six districts of south and east Serbia: Pčinjski, Jablanički, Nišavski, Pirotski, Zaječarski and Borski. Target project groups includes citizens who have returned via the readmission agreement, but also local economically disadvantaged population groups that tend to emigrate to Western countries and their family members.

The purpose of the Final evaluation was to analyse the achievement of the planned results and the impact of the named project on the level of the key stakeholders and to provide findings, conclusions, and recommendations for the future programming, as well as for development of new project proposals. In order to assess the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency and sustainability of the Action the evaluation was analysed the project’s achievements after the three years of the project implementation, based on the specific objectives and results as specified in the project proposal and ToR1. The process of evaluation involved 64 participants, 54 of which are direct project beneficiaries. Evaluation was based on participatory approach since this approach can increase ownership of the program, evaluation findings, conclusions, and recommendations.
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Qualitative Monitoring Improvement Initiative Pilot for the SHOUHARDO III Program in Bangladesh

Strengthening Household Abilities to Respond to Development Opportunities (SHOUHARDO) III was a five-year multisectoral and integrated program implemented by CARE Bangladesh between 2015 and 2020 and funded by USAID and the Government of Bangladesh. The objective of the program was to improve the lives and livelihoods of 549,000 people living in poor and extreme poor communities in eight districts in the Deep Haor and Remote Char region of northern Bangladesh. The program focused on community-based asset development and women’s empowerment, building the capacity of local government and community-service organizations, increasing resilience to frequent shocks and stressors, and improving nutrition and health outcomes for mothers and children under two-years of age. SHOUHARDO III was extended for two years (2020 to 2022) and a second extension phase (SHOUHARDO III Plus) was funded for an additional two years (2022 to 2024). During this period the program will focus on engaging with and linking local service providers with the government and the private sector. Read More...

OUTCOME MAPPING ASSESSMENT REPORT RESILIECE IN PASTORAL AREAS (RIPA – NORTH)

Gender transformation is a major cross-cutting approach of the Mercy Corps-led RIPA-North program which aims to build resilience in the lowlands of Ethiopia. A key pillar of this approach is to address restrictive gender and social norms which limit female participation in market opportunities, exclude women from having an active voice in community institutions, and undermine nutrition improvements. The approach, led by CARE International, is a process of Social Analysis and Action (SAA) in which participants in RIPA-North community and market platforms engage in dialogue with their communities to identify and ultimately address the restrictive norms.
RIPA-North’s ‘Gender Outcome Mapping' Study, conducted in February 2023, aimed to assess how communities themselves measure theirprogress towards gender equality. The findings indicate very positive signs of progress, with almost 75% of women reporting 'high' or 'medium' levels of change for all eight main categories of gender norm that pose a challenge for women's participation and gender equity. Read More...

LIVELIHOODS FOR RESILIENCE ACTIVITY ENDLINE INTERMEDIATE RESULTS (IR) ASSESSMENT

The Feed the Future Ethiopia-Livelihoods for Resilience Activity (L4R) is a 6.5-year USAID project led by CARE, with the goal of improving food security for 97,900 chronically foodinsecure households in multiple Ethiopian regions. It aims to achieve resilient livelihoods through four main objectives. Zerihun Associates was contracted to and conduct an Endline Assessment using mixed methods, and managed data collection of the endline, ensuring quality through rigorous processes. Despite challenges, Zerihun Associates successfully gathered data from 1802 out of 1849 sampled households. However, the study faced limitations due to external factors, seasonal variations, and methodological inconsistencies, potentially impacting findings' comparability. Using both cross-sectional and panel data, the study reveals a mix of success and challenges.
Income
Devaluation of the birr during the project period, combined with rising inflation and cost of inputs, negatively impacted household’s net inflation-adjust income over time. While in unadjusted terms net incomes increased 154%, when adjusted for inflation, net incomes experienced a 19% decline among cross-sectional households from baseline to endline. At endline, there was an increase in the proportion of households earning income from crop and livestock production and transfers and other sources, but a decline in households earning income from off-farm and wage employment, compared to baseline. There was a slight increase in the average number of income sources per
household between baseline and endline (1.5 and 1.7 sources respectively).
Household Assets
The longitudinal analysis of household assets among both cross-sectional and panel data reveals a generally upward trend in overall household asset values and, particularly, in livestock assets over the period from the baseline to the endline. When adjusted for inflation, the overall asset value showed a 43% increase in the cross-sectional data and a 25% increase in the panel data. Livestock assets consistently played a pivotal role in this growth. This rise is particularly notable given the challenging economic conditions, including conflicts.
On-Farm livelihoods
The cross-sectional analysis on household livelihood activities, specifically focusing on Value Chain (VC) engagement, reveals a complex pattern of participation over time. Initially, there was a promising uptick in households engaged in at least one prioritized VC, increasing from 49.5% at baseline to 71.0% in Year 3. This was followed by a decline, reaching 45.9% by the endline. However, there was a slight increase in households engaged in two or more prioritized value chains between baseline and endline, increasing from 38% to 40%. Read More...

Final Report: Her Money Her Life (HMHL) – Gender Survey of Tea and Spices Farming Communities in Korogwe and Bumbuli, Tanga region

In October 2023, Kazi Yetu Tanzania Limited commissioned gender baseline survey for the HMHL project implemented jointly with Caritas International in Tanzania, Tea Board of Tanzania and Smallholder Tea Development Agency.

The purpose of the survey was to gather gender gaps and issues to use in informing the implementation of phase 2 HMHL project. The survey interviewed 170 farmers (96 women and 74 men) from seven villages in Korogwe and Bumbuli districts. Read More...

IMPACT OF SANCTIONS ON FOOD SECURITY AND LIVELIHOODS IN NIGER Rapid Analysis Results in Tillabéry

The humanitarian situation in Niger was already urgent prior to the July 2023 political crisis and the imposition of sanctions by the international community. 4.3 million people, approximately 17% of Niger’s population, are in need of humanitarian assistance and 3.3 million people are projected to be experiencing crisis or worse levels of acute food insecurity. CARE recently conducted focus group discussions (FGD) in Tillabéry to determine how the crisis has affected food prices, livelihoods, and coping strategies for communities. Eight sex-disaggregated FGDs with 64 participants were completed at the end of August 2023 to analyze crisis impacts, especially for the most vulnerable, and to inform age, gender and disability-responsive humanitarian response in Niger.
ANALYSIS OF THE IMPACT OF SANCTIONS ON FOOD SECURITY AND LIVELIHOODS:
Women and men reported facing challenges in sustaining their eating habits in the months and weeks to come, with women and girls reporting more difficulty maintaining current consumption patterns. 75% of the women’s FGDs reported that they would not be able to sustain current eating habits at all and only one all-women’s group estimated their normal food consumption to continue for only 2 weeks. All 4 men’s groups reported that they would all be able to maintain current eating habits, but only for approximately 30-90 days beyond survey time.
RISING FOOD PRICES: ⅔ of participants attributed the rise in food prices to the political crisis and subsequently imposed sanctions. Maize and rice, staple items in most household diets, are reported to have increased by 75% and 28% respectively one month after the crisis. Read More...

Afghanistan Multi Sector Needs Assessment 2023

According to Humanitarian Needs Overview 2023, a staggering 28.3 million people (two thirds of Afghanistan’s population) are in need for urgent humanitarian assistance in order to survive as the country enters its third consecutive year of drought-like conditions and the second year of crippling economic decline, while still reeling from the effects of years of continued disaster

In March 2023, CARE conduct the Multi-sectoral Needs Assessment (MSNA) to assess the condition of needs, vulnerabilities, and poverty in the selected communities within mentioned provinces to help inform proposals to potential donor for lifesaving responses in sectors of EiE, Health, Nutrition, Livelihood, WASH and some integrated GBV and nutrition interventions for longer-term support to address their ongoing vulnerabilities.
This research covered 381 people (50% women) in 9 provinces in Afghanistan. Most respondents were between 24-45 years old, and 83% were host community members. The other 17% were internally displaced people.
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Baseline Study of SUFAL Project Funded by ECHO “Supporting Flood Forecast-based Action and Learning in Bangladesh” (SUFAL)

Supporting Flood Forecast-based Action and Learning in Bangladesh (SUFAL) is being studied in 4 unions (Chinadulli, Kulkandi, Noarpara, Shapdhari) of Islampur Upazila of Jamalpur district, 4 unions (Bhartkhali, Ghuridaha, Haldia, Saghata) of Sagatha Upazila of Gaibandha district and 4 unions (Begumganj, Buraburi, Hatia, and Saheber Alga) of Ulipur Upazila of Kurigram districts by BCAS with the support of Care Bangladesh and the consortium members including Concern Worldwide, Islamic Relief Bangladesh, and the Regional Integrated Multi-Hazard Early Warning System (RIMES) and financially supported by ECHO. SUFAL will set up a Forecast-based Early Action (FbA) system in three northern flood-prone districts: Kurigram, Gaibandha, and Jamalpur. There are many char land in the study area which are the propensities of disaster. The inhabitants of Char land are the most vulnerable and poorest community who are in search of livelihood. Their daily life is full of uncertainty. Read More...

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