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Livelihoods
Why livelihoods? Secure livelihoods offer the extreme poor a pathway to forge their way out of poverty. According to the most recent figures, 736 million people in the world live on less than $1.90 a day. That equates to approximately 10% of the world’s population living below the global poverty line.
We implement our livelihoods programmes in some of the poorest and most vulnerable places in the world. Extremely poor people in developing countries face many risks, a number of which are associated with climate change. An increase in the incidence and severity of climate-related disasters are negatively impacting on crop yields and the availability of food for subsistence farmers. At the same time, people are increasingly migrating to crowded urban areas in search of more secure livelihoods and are facing increased competition for income-earning opportunities.
Daniel was a participant in Concern's graduation programme. Burundi. Photo: Chris de Bode/Concern Worldwide
Moni started her business after receiving a grant from Concern. Photo: Abbie Trayler-Smith / Concern Worldwide.
Isabelle has received training and cash transfers. Photo: Darren Vaughan / Concern Worldwide.
Hodan* stands inside the shop that she owns. Photo: Marco Gualazzini / Concern Worldwide.
Mika Abdu grew his with seeds supplied by Concern. Photo: Darren Vaughan / Concern Worldwide.
A closer look at our livelihood programmes
We aim to contribute to lasting improvements in the income and food security of extremely poor people through the implementation of high-quality, multi-dimensional programmes. Here we spotlight two of our approaches.
Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA)
Climate change is now an accepted reality – the earth’s climate is warming. More frequent and longer-lasting periods of extreme temperatures are now a reality, as are more frequent and less predictable flood events and dry-spells.
The communities that we work with are on the front line of these climate effects. Whether it be the Sahelian zones of Chad and Niger, or the flood plains of Bangladesh, most rely heavily on farming, fishing and livestock-rearing for their livelihood and find themselves in an increasingly precarious position. For example, many of the farmers we work with must now plant their seeds two or three times in a year because rains fail during the early stages of crop growth and final yields are harshly compromised.
We're supporting communities to adopt Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) practices which adapt their farming systems to become more resilient to a less predictable climate. The practices we are promoting include the diversification of crop varieties, increasing access to improved farming skills and technologies, and strengthening links with the private sector to facilitate access to agricultural inputs from seeds, to new equipment such as solar water pumps.
We are committed to rolling-out CSA to 600,000 farmers as part of our Strategic Plan (2016–2020) and as an active member of the African Climate-Smart Agriculture Alliance (ACSAA), we're supporting the African Union to roll out CSA to six million farmers in Africa by 2021.
Graduation programme
Publications on the theme of livelihoods
Research and insights from our livelihoods programmes in action around the world.
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