WHAT’S IN A NAME?

From off-farm to non-farm: Weeding through alternative

livelihoods definitions

WHAT’S IN A NAME?March 7, 2019

Facilitator:

• Andrea Mottram, SCALE Director, Mercy Corps

Presenters:

• Adam Reinhart, USAID Office of Food for Peace

• Tara Noronha, SCALE Alternative Livelihoods Strategy Lead

• Malini Tolat, Regional Advisor, Save the Children

SESSION OVERVIEW

• SCALE Introduction and Overview

• Common Alternative Livelihoods Definitions

• Program Implications

• Q & A

• SCALE Alternative Livelihoods Strategy

Strengthening Capacity in Agriculture, Livelihoods and Environment (SCALE) works to strengthen the impact, sustainability, and scalability of FFP-funded agriculture, natural resource management, and off-farm livelihood activities in both emergency and development contexts to ensure that communities and families are fully benefiting from the initiatives.

SCALE

POLL QUESTIONS

POLL 1

POLL 2

POLL 3

Defining Alternative Livelihoods

• Why are definitions important?

• Where do the lines get blurry?

• Does it really matter?

Agricultural Market Systems

Agricultural Market System: The dynamic interaction between people, relationships, functions, and rules that

determine how agricultural goods are produced, accessed, exchanged, and consumed.

On-Farm: Farming and agricultural production, including casual and seasonal labor. From the value chain lens, on-farm work occurs at the “beginning” of the value chain.

Off-Farm: Agriculture-related income beyond the farm, including the the “middle” and “end” of the value chain as agricultural goods leave the farm to ultimately reach the consumer.

Alternative Livelihoods

Alternative Livelihoods:1) Pursuing multiple, diversified income streams; 2) Moving from

cultivating illicit or harmful crops to legal sources of income; 3) Replacing agriculture-based income with other sources.

Off-Farm: Agriculture-related income beyond the farm, including the “middle” and “end” of the value chain as agricultural goods leave the farm to ultimately reach the consumer.

Non-Farm: Non-farm income exists outside of agricultural market systems. Some refer to non-farm as non climate-dependent income.

Portfolios of Work / Mixed Livelihoods

Off-Farm

But Always Remember

While eliminating ambiguity around

alternative livelihoods terms is

useful, the absolute categorization

of these activities is not wholly

critical, as long as the interventions,

strategies, principles, and outcomes

are sound.

Program Implications

Why Go There?

Preferences

Aptitude

Knowledge/Skills

HUMAN

FACTORS

STRUCTURAL

FACTORS

Land Access

Markets

Urbanization

Migration

Risk

Low Value

Seasonality

ECONOMIC

FACTORS

Migration

Framework for Non-Agriculture-based Livelihoods

Financial/

Business Capability

Life Skills for

Work-force

Success

Functional Literacy & Numeracy

Linkages with

employers and

markets

Vocational / skills

Training

Follow-up Support & Tracking

Differences in Programming

• Individual targeting/HH level layering

• Value chain analysis for ancillary services and labor market assessments

• Soft and hard skills (counselling, mentoring)

• Highly diversified options –(business planning, market assessments, access to finance)

• Urban – rural linkages (location of analysis/placement)

Examples from Save the Children - work in progress

Indonesia – Youth in Cocoa supply chain

• Foundational skills for youth

• Integrating agriculture curriculum into vocational school system

• Training youth for opportunities within Cacao Supply Chain (nurseries, pruning)

Nepal – Youth, women, ultra poor HH’s

• Financial literacy, life skills entrepreneurship skills

• Off-farm options (VAHW’s, value addition, agro-dealers)

• Certified skills (construction, electricians TBD)

• Safe/productive migration and productive investment of remittances

Questions?

Alternative Livelihoods Strategy

• Phase 1: Oct - Dec 2018

Background Scan, Glossary, Internal Work Plan

• Phase 2: Jan - Dec 2019

Implementer Survey, Technical Deep Dive, Training of Trainers, Case Study

• Phase 3: Jan 2020 - Nov 2022

MERL and Indicator Deep Dive, Case Study

SCALE STRATEGY

This presentation is made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents are the responsibility of the SCALE Award and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.

Questions?

Andrea Mottram amottram@mercycorps.org

Tara Noronha tnoronha@mercycorps.org

Malini Tolat MTolat@savechildren.org

For more info: www.fsnnetwork.org/scale