Nutrition
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Conservation and the Environment
In the developing world, many poor households rely directly on the natural environment for their survival and livelihood security. With population growth, increasing pressure will be placed on the natural environment to meet household food, non-food and income needs - depleting already scarce resources. This poses a challenge for conservationists as the desire to preserve, manage and protect the environment can conflict with the survival and livelihood security goals of households living on the periphery.
However, environmental conservation and livelihood security do not need to be mutually exclusive. In the long run, the sustainability of one is dependent on the other’s success. Having a nuanced understanding of the mechanisms, assets, and resources households normally draw on to make ends meet is essential for guiding program strategies, targeting program areas and beneficiaries, monitoring impact and assessing indirect costs and benefits.
FEG Consulting can assist conservation donors and program implementers in project planning, monitoring impact and social benefit, and in livelihoods-informed scenario modeling.
When used for project planning, HEA helps ensure charitable investments are maximized, targeting specific beneficiary groups living within and around project areas. HEA livelihood baselines illustrate and quantify household dependence on natural resources within project areas. If access to these resources is cut off, then a food and/or income gap may occur. In order to have a neutral or positive impact on surrounding communities, projects would need to fill the estimated gap or plan appropriate alternatives. Because it reveals households' income generating activities, it can help identify actions that could undermine project objectives and goals.
