Livelihood & Resilience

National Level Context

The impact of extreme poverty on children development remains significant with the prevalence of malnutrition among young children from developing countries is approximately 2.5 times higher in the poorest families compared with the richest. In Ethiopia, 38 percent of children under 5 are considered short for their age or stunted (below -2 SD), and 18 percent are severely stunted (below -3 SD). This phenomenon has caused the country tremendous amount of loss in work productivity, lower earning capacity and poor economic growth.

Despite the economic development, food security and poverty alleviation still stand top priority for the GOE. Beside food insecurity, lack of diversified livelihood, population growth and fragmentation of farmlands, low level of agricultural technology and access to financial services are key factors for the underdevelopment of the economy in general and agriculture in particular.

Ethiopian agriculture is incredibly sensitive to shifts in weather. When rainfall is erratic or insufficient for even a few successive rainy seasons, the entire country is prone to falling into famine, where the rural suffers from the failure of its only and primary livelihood and the urban suffer from the supply of food.

WVE NO Livelihood and Resilience Strategic Objective and Approach

WVE has designed a five years strategy (2016-2020) for an integrated development programs. The number one priority ministry objective will be ‘Children thrive in resilient households and communities’. The Livelihood and nutrition technical approach is prepared to provide guidance to the national office, CPOs and APs in order to translate this strategic priority into actions. In order to make this a reality, the program has identified 5 key areas as follows.

BUILDING RESILIENT LIVELIHOOD

 

1) Nutrition

Very small-hold farmers, with low productivity, and often unable to have year-round access to nutritious food, improves their nutritional status through awareness creation in diet diversification, protection from infectious disease, promotion of nutrition-sensitive agricultural practice & institutional strengthening for stakeholders.

2) Economic Development

Very smallholder farmers, landless households, unemployed urban youth & women increase their income through diversified income source. This is done through village saving promotion, integration of smallholder farmers into local value chain, agricultural commercialization, IGA, entrepreneurship, access to credit & insurance opportunities

3) DRR/Resilience

Smallholder farmers build their capacity to anticipate, absorb, adapt and cope with shocks & stress to improve the resilience of their livelihood through the existence of functional EWS, DRR & DM

4) Climate change & Environment

Small hold farmers build their resilience through a resilient farming system (both adoptive & mitigation measures) through promoting climate-smart agriculture including crop-livestock, livestock feeding, agroforestry, FMNR, efficient energy technologies.

GEOGRAPHIC FOCUS AND TARGET

In general Livelihood and Nutrition, components are implemented in 52 Area Programmes in 5 regional states and 1 city administration. However, the components of programs may differ depending on the agro-ecology and compelling needs of the community.

PARTNERSHIP AND NETWORKING

Livelihood and Nutrition programs pursue a partnership with research institutions, universities and appropriate technology providers so as to have research-based improved productivity. The other key partners are line ministries at federal, regional and district level (MOA, MOEF, Federal cooperative agency, MOCYW, DRMFSS), private sectors engaged in processing, marketing, and distribution. The core area WVE works in partnership and networking are as follow.

 Core Project Model 
  • Building Secure Livelihood(BSL)
  • Saving Group & Microfinance
  • Ultra poor Graduation (UPG)
  • Community Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM)
  • PD hearth
Other Project Models
  • GINII (growing for improved Nutrition & increased income)
  • Conservative Agriculture
  • FMNR(farmers managed natural regeneration)
  • LVCD(local value chain development)
  • EECS(Energy efficient cookstoves)
  • Community-based Disaster risk management
  • Business Facilitation
KEY ACHIEVEMENTS SUMMARY

Agriculture & food security

  • A total of 670 GINII Groups have been functional in 52 APs. 9,093 beneficiaries have been benefitted from all components of the PM in terms of improving their nutritional status and diversifying their income.

Economic Development

  • 61,000 HHs mobilized into 3,219 saving groups with a registered total asset of 900,000 USD, 15,000 SG members access a total 350,000 USD in credit for hh emergencies & enterprise development. So far From the saving & credit activities, the group generated a net profit of 17,000   USD.
  •  Undertook local value chain analysis for 7 products Milk, coffee, tailoring, weaving, and pepper vegetable, honey and soya bean. 88 cooperatives have been mobilized for better market engagement. More than 18,379 beneficiaries have been benefited from the chain.

Climate & Environmental  sustainability

  • Received carbon revenue of 87,651 USD for Humbo and 30,000 USD for Sodo A/R projects,
  • Verification of Sodo A/R project for Gold Standard finalized successfully
  • EECSP Cooperatives provided access to their members 238, 600 USD for 3120 members (1670 M and 1450 F)4)Carbon revenue for the first verification 85, 616 USD received,
  • Verification of EECSP project by Designated Operational Entity of the CDM executive board carried out successfully, for emission reduction of 126, 914 ton CO2.
  • 1055 ha of degraded land rehabilitated.

Disaster risk reduction

  • Almost all WVE - APs have identified the existing hazards in their context and work on them with their stakeholders in minimizing vulnerabilities to make the community resilience to disaster risk.
  • All APs have attentively reporting EW update to make effective disaster preparedness and response proactively.

Nutrition/CMAM/ PD Hearth

  • PD hearth has been implemented in 12 APs & nearly 3000 beneficiaries supported.
  • CMAM has been employed in 25 APs with well over 1milion beneficiaries.