Food Security and Livelihoods -Agriculture & Inclusive Markets

More than half of the people living without enough food are smallholder farming families. Income from agriculture, livestock and fishing can be irregular due to price fluctuations, climate change and seasonality. (PCVO) aims to address these challenges by helping to enhance productivity through improved practices and technologies; reducing the susceptibility of farming to shocks through climate-smart and environmentally sustainable approaches; improving business practices to make farming more profitable; facilitating links between producers, intermediaries, markets and last mile service providers; and, directly supporting firms and social enterprises to develop models and products appropriate for smallholder producers. While direct support such as providing seeds or training to farmers is an important short-term measure, we transition from these activities to more systemic interventions through approaches that strengthen markets and institutions as soon as possible. Household Economic Strengthening Since traditional livelihoods such as agriculture may not provide the means to address the root causes of poverty and food insecurity for many households, particularly as populations grow, (PCVO) also promotes alternative livelihood strategies by analyzing household economic assets and prospects and working with members of these households to diversify livelihoods through non-farm employment and entrepreneurship options. Our employment and entrepreneurship initiatives help the income earning prospects of at-risk women, men and youth by assessing high-potential employment and entrepreneurship opportunities and providing vocational/technical education, life skills training, functional literacy and numeracy education, entrepreneurial training, business start-up support and job linkage support. We also help program participants to apply their new skills through apprenticeships or enterprise groups, where they can gain confidence and credibility with employers and clients.