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A world without poverty:Developing sustainable livelihoods indeveloping rural communities
Accenture DevelopmentPartnerships in partnership with Oxfam
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Oxfam GB is a development, relief and
campaigning organization that works
with others to overcome poverty and
suffering around the world.
The organization is independent,
registered as a charity, and affiliated
to Oxfam International, which stems
from the Oxford Committee for
Famine Relief, founded in Britain
in 1942.
Oxfam GB acts as a catalyst for
overcoming poverty by responding
swiftly to provide aid, support and
protection during emergencies to
save life; developing programs
and solutions that empower people
to work their way out of poverty;
and campaigning to achieve
lasting change.
In a world rich in resources, Oxfam GB
believes poverty is a morally
indefensible injustice. All too often,
poverty is the result of decisions
taken, intentionally or unintentionally
by those in power. Unjust policies and
practices, nationally and
internationally must be challenged
and removed. However, it firmly holds
to the principle that with the right
resources, support and training,
people living in poverty can solve
their own problems.
Everyone has the right to a
sustainable livelihood, yet
circumstances have prevailed that
have denied this right to many.
Accenture Development Partnerships
is lending support to many of Oxfam
GB’s livelihood programs to realize the
vision of a world without poverty.
A road map for growth in
farming communities
Farming is central to the livelihoods
of the poorest, especially among
women. Nearly three out of four of
the world’s poorest people live in rural
areas, depend directly or indirectly on
agriculture for food and income
security. Nearly two-thirds of the
labour force in Africa and Asia is
employed in agriculture. Hence the
reason that Oxfam devotes more than
a quarter of its total program
expenditure (£26.7 million in 2003-
2004) to agriculture-related programs.
Oxfam launched its Global Agriculture
Scale-up Initiative in 2005. The
initiative was borne out of the need
to strengthen the impact of Oxfam’s
agriculture-related development
programming in two ways.
Firstly, ‘scaling-up’ ultimately means
reaching more communities by
engaging them in high quality,
sustainable farming programs that
will, after time, no longer require
outside support.
Secondly, there was a need to
demonstrate to decision-makers that
small-scale agriculture is a
fundamental element of poverty
reduction as part of wider economic
development strategies.
The scale-up initiative was, therefore,
designed to show how the
In a world rich in resources, Oxfam GBbelieves poverty is a morally indefensibleinjustice. All too often, poverty is the resultof decisions taken, intentionally orunintentionally by those in power.
The long-term “livelihood program” for the
southern part of Sri Lanka has helped to give
people ways to earn money. Cover: women
clearing water channels for rice paddy farming.
Right: A geographical analysis was carried out
to identify which industries needed support. Sri
Lankan fishermen were among those to benefit
from the program.
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smallholding farm community can be
turned into a viable and productive
path that will eventually generate
sustainable livelihoods for millions of
people living in poverty, and a means
to future economic growth and
prosperity.
The initiative was launched in three
countries—Ethiopia, Honduras and
India—and seven Accenture consultants
were assigned to the project through
Accenture Development Partnerships.
“The opportunity to play a part in a
change program that targets the
alleviation of poverty and suffering
for women, men and children at a
scale that makes a measurable
impact at a country and global
level is tremendously rewarding,”
said Accenture Development
Partnerships participant Aaron
Perryman, senior manager-Financial
Services, Korea.
“By contributing our project
management, strategic planning,
financial modelling and capability
development skills, we helped to
ensure a structured approach was
exercised in executing the large, multi-
country program.”
During the initial strategic planning
phase of the program, the Accenture
Development Partnerships team hosted
workshops to analyse causes of poverty
with local small and medium-sized
enterprises; the team facilitated Oxfam
in defining strategic visions and
objectives; and developed the business
case for the initiative. In addition, the
team helped to articulate the model of
change to be implemented; developed
implementation strategies; compiled
financial models; and designed the
organizational approach specific to
each country.
Not losing sight of the global nature
of the program, the Accenture
Development Partnerships team applied
a rigorous, process-driven approach to
ensure that the countries were aligned
with the global objectives. The team
also worked to build the capabilities of
the local staff in process management
and financial aspects to ensure that
the initiative was sustainable in the
long-term.
“We really challenged the thinking on
the ground and pushed for new ways
of working to achieve the targeted
goals,” Perryman added.
As a result of the project, a program
implementation roadmap, including
business cases and project, financial,
communication and capacity building
plans, was established and approved
to proceed. The Accenture
Development Partnerships team also
secured buy-in at country level from
key stakeholders such as local and
international non-governmental
organization partners and local
governments. The standardized
processes created by Accenture
Development Partnerships can now
be leveraged for all future country
and global initiatives.
“As well as improving the quality of
livelihoods in rural communities, by
providing a critical mass of evidence
ACC_adp_OX.qxd 6/3/07 11:56 Page 3
Copyright© 2007 Accenture
All rights reserved.
Accenture, its logo, and
High Performance Delivered
are trademarks of Accenture.
In partnership with
About AccentureDevelopment Partnerships
Accenture Development Partnerships
is a not-for-profit organization that
provides high quality consulting
services to donors, non-
governmental organizations and
other non-profit entities working
in developing countries.
For more information please visit
www.accenture.com/adp
or e mail
from the initial three countries,
governments and decision makers will
be influenced to ensure that
frameworks are put into place to
support the small-scale agriculture
sector as a means for national
economic development,” said Dr Lea
Borkenhagen, livelihoods programme
development manager, Oxfam GB.
Sustainable recovery in Sri
Lanka and Nigeria
Two Accenture professionals were
assigned to help Oxfam to develop
a long-term “livelihoods program”
for the southern part of Sri Lanka.
A geographical analysis was carried out
to identify which locations
were in most need of the program,
along with a sector analysis to
determine which industry sectors, such
as agriculture, fisheries and tourism,
needed support.
The team also conducted a market
analysis and made field visits to each
selected sector to develop a strategy
for the program. In addition, workshops
were organized with the managers and
livelihood leads of other offices around
the country to help support the Sri
Lankan team in its development efforts.
In helping Oxfam to build the capacity
of its employees, the Accenture
Development Partnerships team first
identified the skills necessary for
employees of all levels of the
organization and then conducted
interviews with employees to ensure
that skill levels were aligned. Finally,
a series of recommendations was
determined for bridging the identified
gaps.
The success of Accenture Development
Partnerships’ work in Sri Lanka resulted
in one participant, Ezra Murad, senior
manager-Resources, US, being sent to
replicate the development approach in
Nigeria.
“The opportunity to help Oxfam
develop a clear and logical program
that will help thousands of people
in two different countries is something
I will never forget,” Murad said. “The
value of our contribution can be
measured by the fact that Oxfam asked
us to expand our involvement in the
program from Asia into Africa.”
The livelihoods strategy developed by
Accenture Development Partnerships
has now been packaged as a toolkit for
Oxfam to be reused on other programs
to assist in developing long-term
livelihoods programs.
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