Innovations
The sustainable livelihoods approach is a holistic, systems-oriented and participatory approach that brings together issues of hunger and poverty reduction, with environmental and social sustainability. CSRL's efforts to improve food security, nutrition, and health of the poor recognize that the livelihoods of all human beings are secured through combinations of capabilities, assets and activities to earn a living.
This approach brings together "best practices" from many disciplines to combat hunger and poverty. It is dependent on a clear understanding of both local priorities and the broader influences on livelihoods (policies, markets, etc.). The CSRL team understands that strategies which enable people to achieve sustainable livelihoods do so by simultaneously achieving food security, stabilizing income and improving socio-economic conditions.
CSRL is innovating in the following areas:
Model development: In order to fully develop and implement a complete model, CSRL is committed to Kamuli district, Uganda – our current project site – for the first five years, and then will assess our work in order to understand how to modify our approach to make it even more effective and have broader impact.
Partnership: The three way partnership among Makerere University, Volunteer Efforts for Development Concerns (VEDCO) and ISU is core to our approach and contributes to its sustainability.
Program: In our work with farmers and farmer groups, we are linking nutrition and health education with agricultural extension and increased agricultural production with sustainable natural resource management. These links provide additional health benefits to farm families and increase sustainability.
Evaluation: CSRL conducts annual participatory monitoring and evaluation (PM&E) which emphasizes the involvement of stakeholders and will be used to guide development of future rural development support activities.
