Medair use of Cash Transfer through Disaster Risk Reduction activities

Transcription

1 Medair use of Cash Transfer through Disaster Risk Reduction activities

2 Medair experience in Afghanistan Medair has actively worked in Afghanistan since 1996 to bring life-saving relief and rehabilitation interventions to some of the most remote and vulnerable communities of Badakhshan and the Central Highlands. Since 2008, food security and food aid interventions have been adopted by Medair to better meet the changing needs of the rural population. Over the last four years, CfW projects have been carried out to help sustain individual HHs with activities tied into longer-term sustainable effects.

3 Overview of Medair projects with CBI Completed projects Food Assistance with pilot farmer training on land & water management & demonstration plots (2010, Badakhshan) Food Assistance with cash for training and cash for work with construction of water & land management structures (2011, Bamyan) Food Assistance / Cash for work, construction of water & land management structures (2012, Wardak) ERM (ECHO) taking lead on DRR in emergency response, DRR piloting in cash based interventions ( , ERM areas) Current project Food Security & nutrition includes WASH, community hazard mapping, cash for work and farmer training on NRM ( , Bamyan & Wardak)

4 Applying DRR in Medair AFG 3 year strategy Overall vision: Improved resilience for hard to reach vulnerable communities in Afghanistan. Whenever possible relief assistance activities will have to be conceived and conducted under a comprehensive Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) approach that should increase community preparedness to natural disasters Sector focus: WASH Food Security / Livelihoods, including food assistance and NRM The overarching approach is Disaster Risk Management (DRM)

5 From: A FRAMEWORK FOR MEASURING DISASTER RISK REDUCTION (DRR) INITIATIVES, Chris Piper (FDC)

6 Definition and objectives Cash Transfer Program: programs aimed at increasing the purchasing power of the beneficiaries Cash for Work: is a short term humanitarian intervention implemented by organizations to provide support through the participation of the beneficiaries in community projects. It s a way to address basic needs and to protect and re-establish livelihood The use of CTP through DRR activities: The selection of the community projects is done taking into account the mitigation of future disasters, and CfW activities include DRR construction (mitigation structures, catch dams, check dams, contour trenches, terraces, etc.)

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8 Medair approach Justification: Cash Transfers are best implemented when a shock has resulted in a decline of food access and income. Steps we take before implementing: 1. Community situation assessment 2. Market assessment 3. Technical assessment 4. Beneficiary selection

9 Community situation assessment: purposes 1. Understand the livelihoods trends in the community, how the people meet their needs, what resources are available in the area and who can access them 2. Determine the damages and the consequences of the disaster on the population (destruction of agricultural land, damage of roads, impact on food security, etc) 3. Understand what are the coping strategies of the people 4. Determine the needs of the population in terms of assistance 5. Identify who are the most affected HHs with the least resilience capacities 6. Identify the type of project needed

10 Market assessment Through interviews with the traders the market survey will help to: 1. Determine whether the market is functional 2. Determine whether a CTI is appropriate or not according to the market capacities (which commodities are available, if they are accessible locally, if they are available in sufficient quantity) 3. Determine the price of the commodities. A regular price monitoring is a necessary part of a market survey 4. Determine if there are any risks for a CfW to disrupt the local market 5. Determine the debt owed to the shopkeepers and if there are risks that the shopkeepers will claim their money back to beneficiaries (in which case another intervention could be more appropriate)

11 Technical assessment for activities After the identification of a potential CfW project our field engineers determine the technical aspects. The outputs include: 1. The pre -selection of the site, agreed on with the community 2. The bill of quantity of the material needed 3. The estimation of the number of workers needed 4. The length of time of work and the activities planning 5. The budget estimations

12 Beneficiary selection This process must be as transparent as possible to avoid future conflicts, and also to minimize errors of inclusion and exclusion. The selection criteria are always discussed with the community to ensure acceptance. In the process Medair makes clear that priority will be given to: 1. Disaster affected HHs: those who have lost productive assets, labor opportunities, food stock or shelter 2. The most vulnerable among the disaster affected HHs: those who don t have the capacity to recover from the disaster on their own, because they lack of external support, they have low number of bread winners or are extremely vulnerable (chronically ill, disabled, women and child headed households).

13 Criteria definition: steps followed by Medair Medair defines criteria with community representatives and present the criteria to the all community possibly in a public meeting where all the members can witness the process and: Jointly draft with the community representatives a list of beneficiaries responding to the agreed criteria. Medair takes responsibility to cross-check the list with visit to individual households

14 Determining the wages The wages need to be determined based on the labor market, the estimated amount of cash needed, the length of the project and the number of daily workers required on the work. The wage rate is usually intentionally at or just below the market value, so that the benefit to participate is maximized only for those with an extremely low preparticipation income. This targeting approach ensures that only those who really need it will want to participate. Medair usually also check with other NGOs implementing CfW activities in the area what they have set as daily wage. Since the most vulnerable might not be able to participate (chronically ill, disabled, women and child headed households) it is important to identify them and guarantee an unconditional cash transfer.

15 Unconditional cash transfer for the most vulnerable households Chronically ill, disabled, women and child headed households Criteria verified by visits to individual households Chaman, deaf widow, recipient of cash gift

16 Cash for Training (CfT) When possible Medair tries to implement CfT alongside CfW activities, to reinforce the understanding that communities have of DRM and NRM. Conducting training at the first stage of the project could facilitate better implementation of CfW activities as beneficiaries have a better understanding of project objectives and rational (e.g. carrying DRR training before doing DRR construction) To increase the impact of CfT, it is important to explain to the participants how environmental topics are related and what they can do to reduce the impacts of hazards. It is also important to show to the beneficiaries how to physically implement DRR activities. Medair recommends to do 50% of the training inside the classroom and 50% outside in the field showing and explaining topics taught in the classroom.

17 Training curriculum developed

18 92 training slides, in Dari, on NRM and DRR, including land management for small scale farmers

19 Reaching the women The CfT activities are a very useful way to involve and reach women in a country where physical work is limited for female beneficiaries. In 2010 Medair implemented an ECHO funded project in Waras and Panjab Districts, where women where trained to make gabion cages. Following the training most women took the materials home to continue the work. Gabions where then used for dams construction. This was a successful example of gender inclusion in a CBI.

20 Food assistance (cash for work / cash for training): in drought affected areas building a range of simple structures for upstream water infiltration & recharge, complementary female CFW/CFT, simple messages on water recharge, integration with NRM training where possible

21 Monitoring the impact of the cash transfer Medair monitors the impact of the intervention with a post intervention survey to understand how the cash was used by the beneficiaries and what changes occurred in the households coping strategies, as well as to determine whether the selection criteria were adapted. Also information whether the CfW activities created some tensions in the community can be obtained with this survey. On the market level Medair checks whether the activities had an impact on the prices and availability of goods.

22 Monitoring the impact of DRR activities To monitor the impact of DRR activities on agriculture and production presents several challenges: The impact can be seen in the long run, most of the times outside the timeframe of a project Mitigation structures like check and catch dams are aimed at slowing water and improve upstream water infiltration and recharge. To measure water infiltration into the soil technical instruments are needed like tensiometers and irrometers Other factors interplay to determine soil humidity like rainfalls, snowfalls and weather, and therefore to measure the impact of a structure on soil humidity we should compare two years that presents the same climatic characteristics.

23 Next steps on DRM/DRR for Medair AFG Develop tools for monitoring the impact of DRR structures. Medair just hired a geotechnical engineer who will help with the development of these tools. Develop the technical knowledge of our national and international staff in NRM and DRM Continue to develop training resources and trial them with staff Put together resources specifically for Food Security and WASH project staff to help them to consider DRR in their planning and discussions with communities, including planning for CfW interventions.

24 Next steps on DRM/DRR for Medair AFG Continue involvement in DRR and CVBI working groups of Food Security and Agriculture Cluster Plan for projects with specific DRR outputs, also when implementing short term food aid/ CfW interventions Advocate within/through FSAC for providing technical expertise on DRM, NRM, and environment, for improving the design of future interventions and the integration of DRR in Cash based interventions.

25 Food security / livelihoods: hazard mapping with communities, farmer training incorporating NRM principles alongside production-focused training and seed distributions, sustainable kitchen gardening approach

26 Natural Resource Management (NRM): Water and soil management suitable for the context, reducing risk of flash floods and droughts