Sahan, E., and Fischer-Mackay, J., 2011, Making Markets Empower The Poor: Programme perspectives on using markets to empower women and men living in poverty

2.4 APPROACHES TO ENHANCE LIVELIHOODS, EQUITY AND INCLUSION

2.4.2. Social inclusion promotion (awareness raising on social inclusion in IE)

Recommendation: 1) To reach their fullest potential, projects/programmes should actively address the power imbalance of and most vulnerable groups of people who are dependent on the IE.

Reference: Sahan, E., and Fischer-Mackay, J., 2011, Making Markets Empower The Poor: Programme perspectives on using markets to empower women and men living in poverty, General background document on issues in our research matrix, Oxfam Discussion Papers, OXFAM, Oxford.

Evidence sample: the analysis notes that development programmes can help people living in poverty to benefit from markets and lift themselves out of poverty but many such approaches do not pay attention to power imbalances that perpetuate marginalisation and poverty. To reach their fullest potential, projects/programmes should actively strengthen the power of marginalised smallholders and women. Major events in the market system, induced by changes in policy, regulation, social movements or business models can provide opportunities to intervene and rebalance power. Market-based programmes should also be complemented by non-market interventions that address poverty and sustainability issues in household and environmental systems.

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2.4 APPROACHES TO ENHANCE LIVELIHOODS, EQUITY AND INCLUSION

2.4.5. Strengthening IE with attention to gender issues

Recommendation: 9) When conducting training in for groups that are composed of types of IE work that are often dominated by men, verify the usefulness of organising women only training groups. Study the local context to determine the need for such separate groups and ensure that training content is adapted to cover women’ specific needs.

Reference: Sahan, E., and Fischer-Mackay, J., 2011, Making Markets Empower The Poor: Programme perspectives on using markets to empower women and men living in poverty, General background document on issues in our research matrix, Oxfam Discussion Papers, OXFAM, Oxford.

Evidence sample: the evaluation describes Oxfam’s project in Limu, Ethiopia. Oxfam worked with partners and local government to develop a Functional Adult Literacy (FAL) programme for smallholders to enhance women’s economic leadership, increase production and improve the quality of organic coffee. The programme combined literacy classes with training on agricultural and financial capacity-building. To increase attendance among women smallholders, women-only groups were established and class content was adapted to cover their specific needs and areas of interest and influence.