The Livelihood Support Programme (LSP) works through the following sub-programmes:
Improving peoples access to natural
resources
Access of the poor to natural assets is essential for
sustainable poverty reduction. The livelihoods of rural people with limited or
no access to natural resources are vulnerable because they have difficulty in
obtaining food, accumulating assets, and recuperating after shocks or
misfortunes.
Participation, Policy and Local Governance
Local
people, especially the poor, often have weak or indirect influence on policies
that affect their livelihoods. Policies developed at the central level are often
not responsive to local needs and may not enable access of the rural poor to
needed assets and services.
Livelihoods diversification and enterprise
development
Diversification can assist households to insulate themselves
from environmental and economic shocks, trends and seasonality - in effect, to
be less vulnerable. Livelihoods diversification is complex, and strategies can
include enterprise development.
Natural resource conflict management
Resource
conflicts are often about access to and control over natural assets that are
fundamental to the livelihoods of many poor people. Therefore, the shocks caused
by these conflicts can increase the vulnerability of the poor.
Institutional learning
The institutional learning
sub-programme has been set up to ensure that lessons learned from
cross-departmental, cross-sectoral team work, and the application of sustainable
livelihoods approaches, are identified, analysed and evaluated for feedback into
the programme.
Capacity building
The capacity building
sub-programme functions as a service-provider to the overall programme, by
building a training programme that responds to the emerging needs and priorities
identified through the work of the other sub-programmes.
People-centred approaches in different cultural
contexts
A critical review and comparison of different recent development
approaches used in different development contexts is being conducted, drawing on
experience at the strategic and field levels in different sectors and
regions.
Mainstreaming sustainable livelihoods approaches in the
field
FAO designs resource management projects worth more than US$1.5
billion per year. Since smallholder agriculture continues to be the main
livelihood source for most of the worlds poor, if some of these projects
could be improved, the potential impact could be substantial.
Sustainable Livelihoods Referral and Response
Facility
A Referral and Response Facility has been established to respond
to the increasing number of requests from within FAO for assistance on
integrating sustainable livelihood and people-centred approaches into both new
and existing programmes and activities.
For further information on the Livelihood Support Programme, |