The Sustainable Livelihoods approach and programme development in Cambodia

Experiences are presented of using the SL approach at CSP and programme level in Cambodia. The sustainable livelihoods approach (SL) was used in the context of a study which aimed to identify options for a programme to support rural livelihoods in Cambodia. The study fed into the wider process of developing a country strategy paper (CSP). The study drew primarily on secondary information sources and discussions with key people, both in and outside Cambodia. The author of this paper used the SL approach to facilitate a process of exploring the issues affecting rural livelihoods. The framework was used to structure information drawing out key linkages and as a checklist, to ensure major issues were covered and the main information gaps identified.

Strengths of the SL approach It is important to emphasise that a detailed understanding of people’s livelihoods can only be established through participatory analysis. Nevertheless:

• The SL approach also places people at the centre, in an environment where analysis has hitherto focused almost exclusively on resources or institutions
• The SL approach facilitated a process of stepping back and looking at the wider issues affecting rural development. It extended the menu for support to livelihood development both in the short and long term
• The SL framework proved to be a useful tool for structuring a review of secondary information sources and offered a way of organising the various factors and making relationships between them
• It specifically highlighted the links (or lack of them) between the macro and the micro level and highlights that higher level policy development and planning is being formed with little knowledge of peoples’ needs and priorities

Has taking a SL approach had any real impact on the way DFID works?The draft CSP builds on the findings of the SL study, and maintains a focus on livelihood enhancement. The proposed purpose of DFID support is improved access by the rural poor to opportunities and resources that will contribute to securing sustainable livelihoods. As important is the process by which it seeks to promote sustainable livelihoods. It will:

• Adopt a long term strategic approach to programme development
• Be consistent with needs-based priorities of supporting rural livelihoods - invest in poor people in rural areas - build but not undermine local capacity, focus on people and their needs, learn lessons and establish mechanisms to feed back into policy
• Be holistic - seek to explore a wide range of options and not close doors for DFID involvement in different sectors
• Strengthen local development processes and work in support of civil society
• Not undermine government efforts, priorities and approaches to rural development
• Adopt a systematic lesson-learning approach. It stresses the importance of drawing on lessons from DFID experiences elsewhere in SE Asia

A key question now surrounds the extent to which the SL approach and framework will feature in the development of the programme of support:

• As a project planning tool to ensure the ‘fit’ of individual projects
• As a management tool to provide a common framework for rural development
• Or more pro-actively sharing the approach with partners with the aim of having an impact on rural policy. Whatever the way forward this paper has highlighted that adopting a SL approach implies changes in the way programmes and projects are developed and managed [author].