Project Information
| Project Name: | Central Region Livelihood Security Program |
| Project Description: | |
| The Central Region Livelihood Security Program (CRLSP) is operational in six Traditional Authorities (TAs) in Lilongwe and Dowa District. Since February 1999, CRLSP has piloted a series of livelihood security protection and promotion activities with the overall goal of improving the food and livelihood security of 30,000 rural households. During participatory livelihood assessment exercises conducted in July 1998, communities identified four underlying issues that contribute to general food and livelihood insecurity: weak community and farmer organization; low agricultural productivity and poor yields; weak productive infrastructure (water catchment structures, water points, roads); and limited income earning opportunities. CRLSP addresses these underlying issues through four objectives. 1) Develop and strengthen organizational capacities and partnerships. Over time CARE seeks to strengthen community institutional decision-making and outreach capacity. This involves moving the community structures away from a dependency on external institutions and to an ability to deal with the world on a more equal social and economic basis. 2) Raise agricultural productivity (through crop diversification and improved farming systems). Access to seed to diversify food crop production, particularly legumes, reducing the cost of input requirements through promotion of organic fertilizers and green manure are some of the important elements of this component, as are promotion of soil and water conservation. 3) Improve water availability and use, and related natural resource management. This component aims to increase cultivation, particularly in the dry season, by constructing water harvesting structures and improved natural resource management. The construction these productive infrastructures are done via cash for work so that earnings could be saved and used as loan collateral for income generating activities. 4) Increase earnings through increased access to financial services and improve market linkages and nonagricultural income generating activities. This objective reinforces the other project objectives. The CRLSP has conducted in-depth participatory research on the impact of HIV/AIDS on agricultural production systems and rural livelihoods in central Malawi. | |
| Country: | Malawi (View Country Profile) |
| Sector: | Nutritional Support |
| Type: | Development |
| Project Number: | MWI002 |
|