Development of Alternative Livelihoods
The overall project objective is "to facilitate a transformative shift towards sustainable land and forest management in the forested landscape of Savannakhet Province in order to secure the critical wildlife habitats, conserve biodiversity and maintain a continuous flow of multiple services including quality water provision and flood prevention." This transformative shift to sustainability is predicated on the provision of adequate alternatives to unsustainable resource use. Previous unsustainable usages of the project's forested landscapes (e.g. logging, poaching) will not cease unless replacement livelihood activities provide an economic benefit and improve income generation for participating villagers.
- Integration with other project activities (e.g. if improved animal husbandry methods could keep cattle and buffalo near villager’s homes, then the manure from these animals could be collected and processed to make organic fertilizer which could be used for home gardens and rice production)
- Recruitment of support specialists
- Planning and preparation
- Needs assessments
- SWOT analyses
- Monitoring and Evaluation
- Conservation contracts
- The quality of livestock extension activities is vital
- Livelihood activities need to be integrated with all project activities, rather than siloed
- Targets and indicators should be adhered to
- Activities should be designed to identify how they address the overall goals and objectives of the project