Secure livelihoods

VSO has secure livelihoods programmes in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. Our main objective in this area is to strengthen the ability of disadvantaged people to make a living.

Enterprise development

For many years, our volunteers have supported natural resource management and food production activities, but recently our strategies have developed and work is now underpinned by enterprise development initiatives. VSO supports communities not only to live healthily and sustainably, but also to enhance their ability to earn an income. This ensures they have the financial security to meet their basic needs and reduce their vulnerability to external factors such as natural disaster, illness or economic and political instability.

A secure livelihood is dependent on a number of factors including personal skills and expertise, physical assets and functioning institutions, policies and laws. We work with agencies, institutions and networks that support local communities, including Ministries of Agriculture and Fisheries, regulatory bodies, training institutions, umbrella organisations and local non-governmental organisations that represent and advocate on behalf of small-scale producers. Although many of our placements are still linked to natural resource management and rural communities, we are also exploring ways to support disadvantaged groups living in urban environments.

A range of volunteers

Volunteers working in the area of secure livelihoods come from a wide range of technical and professional backgrounds and can offer support in a number of areas, including enterprise and small business development, marketing, advocacy and lobbying, and financial planning, and in technical skills such as coastal resource management, horticulture and agriculture.

Identifying markets

A significant element of work is focussed on helping disadvantaged people identify markets for their products and making the most of the opportunities that the market offers. In Kenya, for example, handicraft producers are trying to market their products in tourist resorts, but lack of understanding about the quality expected by western tourists meant their businesses were not as successful as they could be. A VSO marketing expert helped them to understand the importance of market research, branding and quality assurance, which means they are now more successful in selling their products through high-end tourist resorts.

In some areas, enterprise development is closely linked to natural resource management, and volunteers work with communities to find ways to conserve their resources and find alternative ways to earn a living that won’t impact negatively on the environment or their ability to access food supplies. For example, in the Philippines, volunteers are helping communities protect their fish supplies by developing businesses in seaweed production, breeding mud crabs and producing coconut oil.

Support from Accenture

VSO’s secure livelihoods goal is supported by our corporate partner, Accenture. Through this partnership, Accenture is working with VSO to develop this goal area by supporting staff training and strategic development and by seconding staff to volunteers placements. Key to this has been the development of an Accenture learning centre in Tanzania, which focuses on a cluster of volunteers that are helping to establish good practice guidelines for our work market development with disadvantaged groups. Other VSO programmes are able to learn from Tanzania and further learning centres are under development in Malawi and Cambodia.

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