Post-Crisis Livelihoods Interventions

1. Post-Crisis Livelihoods Interventions Krishna S. Vatsa Regional Disaster Reduction Advisor, BCPR-UNDP, New Delhi

2. Key Objectives of Livelihoods Generation • To meet basic food and non-food needs • To recover livelihoods through the purchase of essential assets or re-establish business • To diversify or re-establish livelihoods • To help recovery of lost assets • To stimulate the local economy through enterprise and employment creation • To stabilize local markets and increase economic self-sufficiency • To connect with development programmes

3. 1. Food-for-Work • To provide food aid as income support for the poor or unemployed and promote asset creation • To address acute or chronic food insecurity in case of slow onset disasters or protracted conflicts • Public programme where workers are paid in food aid works • The food ration often calculated to be less than daily wage rate for an area to promote self-selection from the poorest households • Easier to target than free food distribution

4. 2. Cash-for-Work (CfW) • A short-term livelihoods intervention that provides cash payment for work—either individual projects or public works schemes • Recipients paid in cash to work on public works or community schemes – commonly to improve roads, public buildings and water sources. • Targets the poorest or most food-insecure • Intended to both provide a social safety net and rapidly introduce cash into communities • Designed to generate rapid employment, increase purchasing power, and enable participants to meet their basic needs. • Though CfW may have development gains, it is designed to provide assistance to meet urgent needs.

5. 3. Cash Support for Livelihoods Recovery • Money provided to targeted households, communities or traders either as emergency relief to meet their basic need for food and non-food items, • Provided as a grant to buy assets essential for recovery of their livelihoods • Helps meet the basic needs, and stimulates local markets • Applicable for early stages of emergency rehabilitation • Cost efficient

6. 3. Cash Support for Livelihoods Recovery • Gives people a choice to spend on a wide variety of items, allowing them to decide what to invest in, and whether to rebuild previous livelihoods or establish new ones. • A potential tool in a wider process of assisting people to recover and rebuild livelihoods following crises. • Should not be seen as all that is needed to enable people to re-establish successful livelihoods. • Difficult to target; cash may not be spent on intended programme objectives; risk of inflation

7. 4. Income Generation Activities (IGAs) • Provision of training and / or resources / assets to undertake new IGAs or re-establish disrupted IGAs • To diversify livelihoods or re-establish livelihoods disrupted or destroyed by a crisis • Essentially a second-stage response • Need for viable training programmes • An optimal level of transfer of resources / assets • Necessary to have institutions / pools of skills which can provide training • Necessary to identify the target group on the basis of needs, qualifications, etc.

8. 5. Social Funds • Important instruments for social protection in many parts of the developing world • Source of resources for various livelihoods related activities in crisis situations • Most widely known for their investments in social infrastructure, particularly health, education, water supply, and sanitation • Origins in Bolivia, where the Social Fund was set up as an emergency response to general economic downturn • Operational in almost 50 countries, most in Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa • Used to respond to emergencies—Hurricane Mitch in Central America, an earthquake in Armenia, drought in Zambia

9. 6. Microfinance • Started in Bangladesh with the Grameen Bank; expanded to a number of countries with different institutional models. • The program component initially consisted of credit, but subsequently came to include savings and insurance as well. • Targeted at poor households, who are excluded from the formal banking sector. • In the aftermath of a crisis, microfinance can quickly provide relief, and then support sustainable recovery and rehabilitation. • Microfinance institutions (MFIs) can additionally provide post-disaster communication and coordination through their established community networks. • Though strongly linked to poverty alleviation efforts for more than a decade, its potential for helping households in crisis situations has been recognized and tested in a number of countries in the last decade

10. 7. Commodity and Cash Vouchers • Vouchers distributed to crisis-affected populations which can be exchanged for a fixed quantity of named commodities from certified traders either at distribution outlets, markets or special relief shops • Cash Vouchers have a fixed cash value and can be exchanged for a range of items up to this value, from special shops or traders

11. 8. Monetization and Subsidized Sales • Putting large quantities of food aid grain in the market or subsidized sales through specific outlets • Usually second phase response in acute emergencies • Promotes purchase of local products • Market-based approach cushions people from the impact of inflation • Doesn’t require targeting, Easy to monitor

12. 10. Seeds and Agricultural Inputs • Involves seed distribution in conjunction with other inputs to help plant and harvest crops • Targeted at farmers; assistance needs to be disbursed on the basis of landholding, etc. • Timeliness of assistance is critical • Re-establishes crop production • Strengthens agricultural system in the long run • Stabilizes food production

13. 11. Livestock Support and Fisheries • To prevent loss of livestock through distress sale or deaths • Provision of water, fodder and veterinary care • Setting up cattle camps / fodder depots • De-stocking when animals are at increased risk of dying • For Fisheries, distribution of fishing tools (nets, boats, cages) to improve catch • More suited for slow-onset and protracted crises

14. Livelihoods Planning: Issues to Consider • Stage of Intervention • Time-frame for Planning and Implementation • Availability of Financial and Institutional Resources • Synergy with Local Economy, Market, etc. • Targeting Vulnerable Groups • Monitoring and Evaluation Requirements