USDA & USAID International Food Aid and Development Conference 2012

1. USDA & USAIDInternational Food Aid and Development Conference 2012 Kansas City

2. Defining Resilience “...the ability of individuals, households, communities or systems to bounce back or recover following a shock or stress, and build positively on this experience.” Frankenberger et al. 2007 “…the capacity to anticipate, manage, adapt to, cope with, and recover from risks to livelihoods…the capacity of a system to absorb a disturbance and reorganize so as to still retain essential functions, structure, identity and feedbacks.” FAO/WFP/UNICEF 2012 “…the ability of countries, communities, and households to manage change, by maintaining or transforming living standards in the face of shocks or stresses – such as earthquakes, drought or violent conflict – without compromising their long-term prospects.” DFID 2011

3. Why ‘Resilience’? • Continuous cycles of crisis in the Horn of Africa, the Sahel, south Asia; not enough time to fully recover between shocks • Crises not the result of weather-related events only; complex interactions between political, economic, social and environmental factors • Conflict and chronic poverty in many regions magnifies the impact of drought and other shocks • Current drought crisis exposed shortcomings of international aid practices and national/regional policies

4. Resilience: a strategy for addressing immediate and long-term problems • Given: droughts, conflict, price increases and other stresses/shocks are likely to continue • New Paradigm: climate change, political unrest, economic upheaval and other stresses/shocks do not need to become crises • When people are able to anticipate, cope with and respond positively to changes/shocks, the likelihood of shocks becoming disasters is minimized and the prospects for future livelihood security are increased. • It is estimated that “one dollar invested in disaster preparedness can save seven dollars’ worth of disaster-related economic losses

5. Resilience programming requires: • Projects implemented at scale and over long timeframes in order to have lasting impact. • Projects that empower communities, i.e., promote community engagement, solidarity, ownership of resources, and capacity to organize. • A shift from humanitarian responses to longer-term responses that build capacity to cope with current and minimize future stresses and shocks. • Mechanisms for long-term funding (e.g., sequencing, layering, pre-positioning). • Healthy ecosystems and effective governance structures.

6. Resilience programs reduce vulnerability by: • Addressing gaps in critical livelihood assets (e.g., cash, knowledge, health, food, skills, leadership, natural resource base) • Improving access to public assets (e.g., roads, water, power, schools, markets, health facilities) • Strengthening the operation and capabilities of formal and informal institutions within governments, the private sector and communities • Supporting livelihood diversification and women’s empowerment • Resolving conflicts and building peace

7. Understanding of the Conceptual Framework for Resilience Context e.g., social, environment, political, etc. Disturbance e.g., natural hazard, conflict, food shortage, fuel price increase Adaptive capacity e.g., ability to deal with disturbance Adaptive state to shock Reaction to disturbance e.g., survive, cope, recover, learn, transform Livelihood Outcomes Resilience pathway (-) Food Security Adequate nutrition Environmental security Food Insecurity Malnutrition Environmental degradation Shocks Bounce back better Exposure Context Bounce back Level of aggregation Structures/processes Livelihood Assets Livelihood Strategies Sensitivity Vulnerability pathway Stresses Recover but worse than before Collapse ( + ) TANGO 2012. Adapted from DFID Disaster Resilience Framework (2011) , TANGO Livelihoods Framework (2007), DFID Sustainable Livelihoods Framework (1999) and CARE Household Livelihood Security Framework (2002)

8. Core Principles for Resilience Programming • Shift the balance of programming and resources from humanitarian assistance to DRR, climate change adaptation, livelihood support and social protection • Recognize/respond to different needs, abilities, and aspirations of different groups (e.g., women, children, elderly, disabled, orphans) • Prioritize community involvement, engagement of customary institutions, and inclusion of local knowledge • Promote improved governance through responsive policies, transparent resource allocation, and greater accountability • Respond to ongoing change in environmental, social and economic conditions with coherent policy formulation and program design

9. Core Principles for Resilience Programming – continued • Promote improved capacity of formal and informal institutions (e.g., for equitable resource management, conflict mitigation, social protection) • Promote empowerment of women through increased involvement in decision-making processes and key institutions • Be collaborative (e.g., partnerships, alliances) and draw on comparative advantages of a wide range of stakeholders • Be owned at the country-level through linkages with national policies • Do no harm: ensure interventions/responses do not undermine resilience

10. Key Entry Points for Resilience Programming • Ecosystem-based planning for improved access to and management of natural resources; will require addressing cross-border issues • Compensate communities for conserving landscapes and ecosystem services • Effectively link humanitarian and development activities (e.g., PSNP, HABP, and value chains in Ethiopia) • Risk financing mechanisms (e.g., weather-indexed crop and livestock insurance) • Skills training for off-farm income generation, especially for vulnerable populations (e.g., women, youths, displaced)

11. Key Entry Points for Resilience Programming - continued • Increased opportunities for cash/voucher approaches • Address multiple aspects of malnutrition rather than just treating the symptoms • Support pastoralists/agro-pastoralists in livelihood diversification (e.g., value addition, out-migration) • Enable greater participation in markets by pastoralists and small-holder farmers through improved access to financial services, market information and infrastructure • Create opportunities for more public-private partnerships to increase investment

12. Key Entry Points for Resilience Programming - continued • Cluster investments for greater geographic coherence and economies of scale • More timely, efficient, and flexible procurement of resources (e.g., crisis modifiers) based on early warning trigger indicators • Scale-up initiatives with promising results to provide “quick wins” • Contribute to knowledge management by addressing research gaps, replicating and bringing to scale promising resilience programs

13. Measuring Resilience • Context specific • M&E systems must be tailored to the specific programming context and the nature of the shock (e.g., drought, price volatility, conflict). • Shock dependent • Resilience outcomes can’t be measured without adequate baseline assessments and in the absence of a shock. • Robust indicators • Learning “what works” and “what doesn’t” for building resilience is dependent on a robust mix of quantitative and qualitative indicators. • Outcome-oriented • Rather than focus on outputs (e.g., emergency programming) resilience programming must prioritize measurement of outcomes and impacts.

14. Promising Practices for Building Resilience • Pastoral Livelihoods Initiative (PLI) • Uses crisis modifier approach to fund support for improved livestock production and marketing, alternative livelihoods, and early warning systems. • African Risk Capacity Project (ARC) • Provides a framework to finance drought risk responses through the provision of fast-dispersing contingency funds to governments across Africa. • PSNP Plus • Combines food and cash transfers with market-oriented support to achieve beneficiary graduation. Lessons learned through PSNP+ will be scaled up through the Household Asset Building Program (HABP).

15. Promising Practices for Building Resilience - continued • Arid and Marginal Lands Recovery Consortium (ARC) • A consortium of five implementing NGOs, the program combines various funding streams (EC, USAID) to implement short- and long-term approaches for building the capacity of pastoralists to deal with drought-related shocks. • Hunger Safety Net Programme (HSNP) • The HSNP uses cash transfers to help communities build resilience through increasing asset retention, reducing the poverty gap, increasing social inclusion, diversifying livelihoods, stimulating the local cash economy and providing better access to health and education.