Resilience at Scale: Productive Inclusion Through Safety Nets in the Sahel

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00:06 The Sahel is one of the poorest regions in the world,

00:10 and it is severely affected by climate change.

00:14 Despite hard work,

00:16 millions of people struggle to make a living,

00:18 lacking capital,

00:19 living far away from markets,

00:21 and having limited education or skills.

00:24 For women,

00:25 gender norms pose an additional challenge.

00:29 To alleviate poverty and protect poor families from shocks,

00:33 governments in the Sahel and across the world are expanding social safety nets.

00:38 These programs provide regular assistance,

00:41 typically through cash transfers,

00:43 and help millions of families with their daily needs.

00:47 In recent years,

00:48 many governments have complemented safety nets with additional support to

00:53 help families improve their own livelihoods and build resilience.

00:57 Four countries in the Sahel,

00:59 Burkina Faso,

01:00 Mauritania,

01:01 ***,

01:02 and Senegal,

01:03 have developed an innovative set of productive measures to

01:06 help safety net beneficiaries thrive in their economic activities.

01:11 The productive measures have included coaching sessions,

01:14 savings groups,

01:15 a community sensitization session,

01:18 life skills and entrepreneurship trainings,

01:20 facilitation of access to markets,

01:23 and a cash grant.

01:24 They were delivered in addition to regular cash transfers.

01:29 Coaching sessions were organized for the whole duration of the program.

01:33 Coaches were trusted members of the community

01:36 and knowledgeable about local economic opportunities.

01:39 They provided regular mentoring to groups and

01:42 offered support to individuals when needed.

01:45 Community savings and loans associations were formed.

01:49 The groups met every week,

01:50 saved together,

01:51 and granted loans to members.

01:53 Weekly group meetings were on.

01:55 Opportunity to discuss,

01:57 learn from other members,

01:58 and develop trusted networks.

02:00 A sensitization video was screened for the larger community.

02:04 The video portrayed a wife and a husband that overcome challenges and tensions

02:09 and managed to grow their economic activities thanks to strong community support.

02:14 After the screening,

02:15 a group discussion was organized to ensure support for beneficiaries,

02:20 who are mostly women.

02:22 Groups of beneficiaries then received two week-long trainings.

02:26 One was a life skills training,

02:28 which focused on communication skills,

02:30 self-confidence,

02:31 innovation,

02:32 and relationships between genders.

02:35 A second training in micro entrepreneurship

02:38 covered fundamental management skills like bookkeeping,

02:41 supplier selection,

02:42 and advertising or pricing strategies.

02:46 To facilitate access to markets,

02:48 coaches delivered information sessions and discussed where to buy inputs,

02:53 how to choose suppliers,

02:54 and where to sell products.

02:56 Some coaches even acted as market agents for the group.

03:00 Finally,

03:01 beneficiaries received a cash grant equivalent to $150

03:05 to $250 to invest in their economic activities.

03:10 Between 2018 and 2020,

03:14 the productive measures were delivered successfully to 50,000 households.

03:19 Safety net programs used different combinations of government program staff,

03:23 community volunteers,

03:25 NGOs,

03:25 or private training firms.

03:27 They were able to leverage existing safety net systems,

03:31 which made implementation easier and kept costs

03:34 at about $300 US dollars per beneficiary.

03:37 The productive inclusion measures changed lives.

03:41 Communities built strong social dynamics,

03:43 beneficiaries grew their off-farm businesses and increased their revenues.

03:48 Food security improved.

03:51 The Sahel experience shows that productive inclusion programs can

03:55 be delivered effectively at scale through safety net systems.

03:59 They can be a powerful tool for countries that

04:02 seek to improve the livelihoods of the poor,

04:04 stimulate inclusive growth,

04:06 and build resilience of their more vulnerable populations.

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The Sahel is one of the poorest regions in the world, and it is severely affected by climate change. Despite hard work, millions of people struggle to make a living, lacking capital, living far away from markets, and having limited education or skills. For women, gender norms pose an additional challenge. To alleviate poverty and protect poor families from shocks, governments in the Sahel and across the world are expanding social safety nets. These programs provide regular assistance, typically through cash transfers, and help millions of families with their daily needs. In recent years, many governments have complemented safety nets with additional support to help families improve their own livelihoods and build resilience. Four countries in the Sahel, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, ***, and Senegal, have developed an innovative set of productive measures to help safety net beneficiaries thrive in their economic activities. The productive measures have included coaching sessions, savings groups, a community sensitization session, life skills and entrepreneurship trainings, facilitation of access to markets, and a cash grant. They were delivered in addition to regular cash transfers. Coaching sessions were organized for the whole duration of the program. Coaches were trusted members of the community and knowledgeable about local economic opportunities. They provided regular mentoring to groups and offered support to individuals when needed. Community savings and loans associations were formed. The groups met every week, saved together, and granted loans to members. Weekly group meetings were on. Opportunity to discuss, learn from other members, and develop trusted networks. A sensitization video was screened for the larger community. The video portrayed a wife and a husband that overcome challenges and tensions and managed to grow their economic activities thanks to strong community support. After the screening, a group discussion was organized to ensure support for beneficiaries, who are mostly women. Groups of beneficiaries then received two week-long trainings. One was a life skills training, which focused on communication skills, self-confidence, innovation, and relationships between genders. A second training in micro entrepreneurship covered fundamental management skills like bookkeeping, supplier selection, and advertising or pricing strategies. To facilitate access to markets, coaches delivered information sessions and discussed where to buy inputs, how to choose suppliers, and where to sell products. Some coaches even acted as market agents for the group. Finally, beneficiaries received a cash grant equivalent to $150 to $250 to invest in their economic activities. Between 2018 and 2020, the productive measures were delivered successfully to 50,000 households. Safety net programs used different combinations of government program staff, community volunteers, NGOs, or private training firms. They were able to leverage existing safety net systems, which made implementation easier and kept costs at about $300 US dollars per beneficiary. The productive inclusion measures changed lives. Communities built strong social dynamics, beneficiaries grew their off-farm businesses and increased their revenues. Food security improved. The Sahel experience shows that productive inclusion programs can be delivered effectively at scale through safety net systems. They can be a powerful tool for countries that seek to improve the livelihoods of the poor, stimulate inclusive growth, and build resilience of their more vulnerable populations.

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ASP Program Presentation Master Streaming EngSubt

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