Social protection in Sub-Saharan Africa: A whole-systems approach to prosperity

Social protection is a central function of modern welfare states, yet it is defined and enacted differently across contexts, shaped by respective histories, political climates and institutions. Broadly, the term refers to the mechanisms and policies designed to mitigate vulnerability and shocks (Ellis, Devereux & White, 2009; ILO, 2020; World Bank, 2021; FAO, 2017; European Commission, 2020). A formal call for universal social protection by 2030, in support of Sustainable Development Goal 1.3, was made in 2019 by a coalition of national and multi-lateral partners including the African Union, the ILO, USAID and UNICEF (USP2030). This IGP working paper addresses social protection from a whole-systems perspective, exploring case studies from sub-Saharan African countries with their own histories of welfare policy and practice. The intersection of the climate emergency with changes in demographics, urban/rural life, technology and population health is creating a new landscape of vulnerability across the region, that presents social protection policymakers with a complex set of challenges. While there is a growing body of literature that explores how income support in particular can reduce vulnerability to climate-related risk, (Costella et al, 2023; Ulrichs, Slater & Costella, 2019; Etoka et al, 2021; Weingartner et al, 2019), we argue for a transformative approach. In response to new, intersecting vulnerabilities, and in light of historical injustice in the delivery of social protection, the mechanisms we implement today must be different. Social protection for the 21st century must not only mitigate risk but deliver the necessary conditions for prosperity. To do so, and to deliver sustainable justice on a social and planetary level, social protection systems must ultimately begin from a different perspective, operate proactively, and address the intersections between precarities

Conceptualising and measuring prosperity

This paper has been produced as an Issue-Based Contribution to the sixth Global Report on Local Democracy and Decentralization (GOLD VI): the flagship publication of the organized constituency of local and regional governments represented in United Cities and Local Governments. The GOLD VI report has been produced in partnership with the Development Planning Unit (University College London), through the programme Knowledge in Action for Urban Equality (KNOW). GOLD VI focuses on how local and regional governments can address the local manifestations of growing inequalities and contribute to create ’Pathways toward urban and territorial equality’. The GOLD VI report has been produced through a large-scale international co-production process, bringing together over a hundred representatives of local and regional governments, academics and civil society organizations. This paper is an outcome of this process and is part of the GOLD VI Working Paper series, which collects the 22 Issue-Based Contributions produced as part of the GOLD VI process. In particular, the present paper has contributed to Chapter 8 on 'Prospering’, which focuses on prosperity as a culturally specific and multi-dimensional concept: one that includes, but is not limited to, the concept of income. The chapter explores key drivers of urban inequality reflected in the scarcity of decent work and in social-spatial disparities in the location of different productive activities within cities. Through the lens of ‘prospering’, the chapter analyses how local and regional governments can increase decent work opportunities, and, drawing on the impacts of COVID-19, how they can mitigate the effects of future pandemics and of climate change on decent work, urban prosperity, and inequality

Thinking vulnerability infrastructurally: Interdependence and possibility in Lebanon’s overlapping crises

The notion of ‘vulnerability’ has gained growing traction in a range of different fields, from disaster risk reduction to feminist theory. This increased academic use has been paralleled by a rise in the use of the term as an operational concept in humanitarian and development policy. Using the incongruent deployments of the term as a starting point, this article examines the assumptions underpinning definitions of vulnerability in humanitarian programming in Lebanon, with a particular focus on the links between Lebanon’s crisis of public services and the mass displacement from neighbouring Syria since 2011. We show that, in the international response to Lebanon’s overlapping crises, ‘vulnerability’ is operationalised in ways that fail to address underlying causes, and thus resist meaningful transformation while even bearing the potential of additional harm. Based on the finding that vulnerabilities emanating from Lebanon’s public service crisis and from mass displacement are deeply entangled, the article proposes that an ‘infrastructural’ approach to vulnerability may better be able to address precariousness and precarity linked to basic service provision. An infrastructural approach, we posit, foregrounds dynamic interdependency and relationality with the human and non-human environment. Such a view allows us to acknowledge the power relations at work in both the production and alleviation of vulnerability and ultimately may better enable us to ‘think otherwise’ in situations of seemingly perpetual crisis and disruption

Addressing the UK's livelihood crisis: beyond the price of energy

The UK is suffering a sustained crisis, as the cost of living and energy prices soar. In recent months, and across successive changes in leadership, the government has announced various policies to mitigate the effects, yet they have failed to act systemically. The government’s response so far has reflected a reactive fixation on the rising price of energy; but the UK is ultimately facing a deeper livelihood crisis, that exists at the nexus of rising food, transport and energy prices, high levels of inequality, and an unsustainable dependence on fossil fuels. This crisis demands a whole systems approach, underpinned by the principles of equality and sustainability. The Institute for Global Prosperity (IGP) has a plan for the UK. Since its inception, the IGP has been developing novel approaches to livelihood security. At the core of this work is Universal Basic Services (UBS), an expanded social protection system for the 21st century. This working paper analyses the cost of living crisis through a livelihood lens: exploring what the implementation of UBS could mean for the cost of living crisis, and how it could ultimately work to secure livelihoods in the long-term

Ethiopian Dairy and Animal Health Policy Sector: A Stakeholders' Network Analysis

አህፅሮትፖሉሲ ቀረፃ ስራ ብዙውን ጊዜ በርካታ ባሇድርሻ አካሊትን ያካትታሌ፡፡ በነዚህ በርካታ ባሇድረሻ አካሊት መካከሌ ያሇው ግንኙነት ይዘት ትብብርም ይሁን የመቀናቀን ሁኔታ ፖሉሲው የሚያስክትሇውን ውጤት ይወስናሌ፡፡ በምርምር ውጤቶች ሊይ ተመስርቶ የፖሉሲ ማሻሻያ እንዲዯረግ ተፅዕኖ ማሳዯር የሚፈሌጉ ተመራማሪዎች በፖሉሲ ቀረፃ ሊይ የትኞቹ አካሊት እንዯሚሳተፉ፣ የፖሉሲ ሇውጥ ሇማምጣት ያሊቸውን ፍሌጎት፣ የመሇወጥ አቅምና በመካከሊቸው ያሇውን ግንኙነት ሁኔታ ጠንቅቀው ማወቅ ይኖርባቸዋሌ፡፡ ይህ ጥናት የኢትዮጵያን የእንስሳት እርባታ ፖሉሲ ዋነኛ ባሇድርሻ አካሊትና በመካከሊቸው ያሇውን ግንኙነት በተመሇከተ የተዯረግ ጥናት ነው፡፡ ጥናቱ ተሳትፎአዊ የባሇድርሻ አካሊት ትንተና እና የግንኙነት መረብ ትንተና ዘዴን በመጠቀም በተሇይ በወተት ሊም እርባታ እና ተያያዥ የእንስሳት ጤና ጉዳይ ሊይ ያለ ባሇድርሻዎችን የመሇየት እና በመካከሊቸው ያሇውን ግንኙነት ተመሌክቷሌ፡፡ ውጤቱም እንዯሚያሳየው በኢትዮጵያ የወተት ከብት እርባታ ፖሉሲ ሊይ በርካታና የተሇያየ ፍሊጎት ያሊቸው ባሇድርሻ አካሊት የሚሳተፉበት ዯካማና መካከሇኛ ዯረጃ እፍግታ ያሇው በአስተዳዯራዊ መዋቅር ሊይ የተመሰረተ የግንኙነት መረብ ያሇው ሆኖ አግኝተነዋሌ፡፡ ከዚህ በተጨማሪ ክሌሊዊ የአስተዳዯራዊ መዋቅርን የሚሻገሩ የፖሉሲ መረብ ግንኙነቶች የላለ መሆኑን አረጋግጠናሌ፡፡ ነገር ግን አንዳንድ በአሇም አቀፍ እና በፌድራሌ መንግስት ዯረጃ ያለ ተቋማት ላልች በተሇያየ ዯረጃ ያለ ባሇድርሻ አካሊት በማገናኘትና፣ የፖሉሲ ውይይትና አንዲካሄድና ማሻሻያ እንዲዯረግ የማነሳሳት ከፍተኛ ማዕከሊዊ ሚና እንዳሊቸው አረጋግጠናሌ፡፡ ይህም ማሇት በኢትዮጵያ የእንስሳት እርባታ ፖሉሲ ቀረፃ የሁለም አካሊት ፍሊጎት ከግምት የሚገባበትና አካታች የማድረግ እድሌ መኖሩን የሚያመሇክት ሲሆን የፖሉሲ ማሻሻያ በዚህ ሴክትር ሲታሰብ ከእነዚህ በአሇምአቀፍ፣ በፌዯራሌና በክሌሌ ዯረጃ ያለ ቁሌፍ አካሊት ጋር መስራት እንዯሚያስፈሌግ ያመሇክታሌ፡፡AbstractPublic policy making often involves a multitude of actors. The level and nature of interaction among these actors, be it cohesion or friction, determines policy outcomes. For outsiders with the aim of influencing policy based on empirical evidence, it is imperative to know who are involved in the policy making process, the interest and influence of each actor as well as the nature and extent of their interaction. A study was conducted to analyze the Ethiopian livestock policy sector in terms of the main actors and their interaction in the dairy and animal health policy subsector. The study applied participatory stakeholders and social network analysis to identify the most important actors, their salience and network characteristics. The results indicate that a multitude of actors with diverse interests is involved in the Ethiopian dairy sector in a loosely connected network with medium level of clustering aligned along administrative tiers. The results also showed that in the existing federal administrative structure, there are no policy networks in the Ethiopian diary policy landscape that cut across regional boundaries. However, the international and federal level government actors play important role as central actors with bridging role connecting the decentralized regional and local level actors as well as in initiating policy engagement and change. This implies that there is a room for pluralistic policymaking and any attempt to influence policy in the livestock sector need to work with these international, federal and regional level actors

Pathways to Urban Equality through the Sustainable Development Goals: Modes of Extreme Poverty, Resilience, and Prosperity

There has been a tendency for debates around the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to focus on particular Goals or Targets. What tends to get lost, however, is the bigger picture. In this paper we ask: to what extent and under what conditions do the SDGs offer a pathway to equality? Specifically, we focus on the potentials of the SDGs as a pathway to urban equality in the decade of delivery. We focus on the ways that three key interrelated development agendas, eradicating extreme poverty, promoting prosperity, and building resilience, are mobilised through the SDGs. Together these agendas reveal tensions and opportunities in the relationship between the SDGs and urban equality. In discussion, we reflect on the potentials of an urban equality lens to read the SDGs, and the conditions under which they might contribute to the realisation of fairer and more equal cities

Determinants of Milk Marketing Channel Selection by Urban and Peri-Urban Commercial Dairy Producers in Ethiopia

አህፅሮት  ይህ ጥናት ገበያ ተኮር የወተት ላሞች ርባታ ላይ የተሰማሩ የወተት አምራቾች የጥሬ ወተት ግብይት መንገዶችን ለማጥናት እና የአምራቾችን የመሸጫ (የግብይት) አማራጮች (ቻናል) አመራረጥን የሚወስኑ ጉዳዮችን ለመለየት የተካሄደ ነዉ፡፡ ጥናቱን ለመተግበር በዋና ዋና ከተሞች እና በከተሞች ዙሪያ በተለያየ የሥራ ስ የወተት ላሞች ርባታ ላይ ከተሰማሩ 475 አካላት ጥሬ መረጃ ተሰብስቧል፡፡ ትንተናዉም የተለያዩ ገላጭ ዘዴዎችንና በዛ ያሉ አማራጮችን መሠረት ያደረጉ ሞዴሎች (መልቲ ቫሪዬት ፕሮቢት ሞዴል) በመጠቀም ተከናውኗል፡፡ የጥናቱ ዉጤት እንደሚያሳየዉ ምንም እንኳን በወተት ርባታዉ ላይ የተሰማሩት አካላት የተለያዩ የወተት መሸጫ አማራጮች ቢኖሯቸዉም የወተት ሽያጩ በዋናነት የሚካሄደዉ በኢ-መደበኛ የግብይት አማራጭ ነዉ፡፡ የመልቲ ቫሪዬት ፕሮቢት ትንተና ዉጤቱ እንደሚያሳየዉ የወተት አምራቾቹ የትምህርት ደረጃ እና በላሞች ርባታ ላይ ያካበቱት የሥራ ልምድ፣ የሥራዉ ስፋት፣ የወተት መሸጫ ቦታ ርቀት፣ በወተት ላሞች ርባታ የኅብረት ሥራ ማኅበር አባልነት፣ በእያንዳንዱ የወተት መሸጫ አማራጭ የሚቀርበዉ የወተት ዋጋ እና የወተት ላሞች ርባታዉ የሚከናወንባቸዉ ቦታዎች የወተት አምራቹ የሚሸጥበትን ቻናል የሚወስኑ ጉዳዮች ናቸዉ፡፡ ስለዚህ አሁን ያለዉን ኢ-መደበኛ የወተት ግብይት ወደ መደበኛዉ ለመቀየር የሚቀየስ የግብይት ሥልት ግብይቱን ማዘመን ላይ የተኮረ መሆን እንዳለበት ጥናቱ አመልክቷል፡፡ ይህን ስልት ተግባራዊ ለማድረግ ከሚረዱ ተግባራት መካከል መደበኛና ኢ-መደበኛ ስልጠናዎችን ለወተት አምራቾች በመስጠት መደበኛ ግብይቱን እንዲቀላቀሉ ማድረግ፣ የወተት ማቀነባበሪያ ፋብሪካዎችን በማጠናከር እና በሁሉም ትላልቅ ከተሞች ላይ እንዲመሠረቱ ሁኔታዎችን በማመቻቸት ለወተት አምራቾቹ ጥሩ የገበያ አማራጭ እንዲሆኑ ማድረግ፣ የወተት አምራች የኅብረት ሥራ ማህበራትን አቅም በመገንባት ከወተት አምራቾቹ ወተት የመሰብሰብ ሚናቸዉን እንዲወጡ ማድረግ፣ የወተት ማቀነባበሪያ ፋብሪካዎች በከተማ ዳር እንደሚያደርጉት ሁሉ በትላልቅ ከተሞች ዉስጥም የወተት መሰብሰቢያ ጣቢያዎችን በማቋቋም በኢ-መደበኛ መንገድ የሚሸጠዉን ጥሬ ወተት ወደ መደበኛ ግብይት የመቀየሩን ሂደት ከማሳለጣቸዉም በላይ የማቀነባበሪያ ፋብሪካቸዉን ሙሉ አቅም በመጠቀም የወተት ዘርፉን ትርፋማነት መጨመር ይቻላል፡

From farm to table: exploring food handling and hygiene practices of meat and milk value chain actors in Ethiopia

Livestock value chains constitute a source of livelihood for meat and milk value chain actors in Ethiopia, from dairy farmers to other associated value chain actors such as milk traders, abattoir workers, public health officials, veterinarians, butcheries selling meats, milk cooperatives, artisanal milk processors, and transporters. The development of these livestock value chains, however, is constrained by poor food safety and quality, while consumers are also exposed to public health risks due to milk and meat value chain actors' food handling and hygiene practices.This study used Photovoice and participant observation to explore meat and milk value chain actors' food handling and hygiene practices in suburban areas of Addis Ababa and neighbouring Oromia in Ethiopia. The results of this study reveal that milk and meat value chain actors' food handling practices are not aligned with the recommended Ethiopian food safety and quality standards. Low compliance with food safety and quality standards reflected a combination of factors such as lack of incentives, poor road infrastructure and low enforcement of food safety standards.Participatory and visual research methods enable a researcher to collect context-aware data that can lead to the development of policies and intervention strategies that reflect local needs and priorities. The results of this study affirm the need to identify socially acceptable and economically viable policies and intervention strategies that are acceptable to all chain actors; and suggest there is an imperative to train milk and meat value chain actors on good hygiene handling practices, improve road infrastructure, and facilitate access equipment such as fridges and freezers that can contribute to maintaining food safety and quality

Exploring animal husbandry in smallholder dairy systems in Ethiopia using photovoice

This study uses photovoice to explore smallholder dairy farmers’ husbandry knowledge and practices and document how they address constraints faced in pursuing their livelihood strategy. Currently, there is a paucity of farmer-led research in Ethiopia which captures farmers’ local knowledge and lived experiences. This study was conducted in April and May 2021 in Kaliti, a sub-city of Addis Ababa, and Holeta, located near Addis Ababa, in the Oromia region of Ethiopia. Farmers were selected through purposive and snowball sampling approaches based on their previous participation in a bovine tuberculosis study. Farmers selection was based on their experience in dairy farming and willingness to attend research-related meetings and to engage in photo-taking and subsequent group discussions. Farmers were trained on the use of the digital camera and asked to take pictures of their day-to-day activities, challenges faced in pursuing dairy production and how they overcome these challenges. The pictures taken by farmers indicated their attachment to their cattle, cattle disease symptoms, manure management, pest control practices, cattle housing, feeding practices, milking hygiene and storage. Discussions revealed that husbandry challenges faced stemmed from land-use change, declining farm sizes, poor access to veterinary and animal health services, low milk prices and high cattle feed prices. Farmers explained that they had developed knowledge of cattle nutrition, such as feed ration mixing and ways to deal with manure problems. The results of this study underscore that farmers have a good understanding of husbandry challenges and, additionally, have a wealth of local knowledge which can be leveraged, if captured through participatory and visual research methods, such as photovoice, by policymakers to develop context-aware policies and interventions and recommendations regarding improved practices which are economically viable, and socially and culturally acceptable

Sustained citizen science from research to solutions: a new impact model for the social sciences

Participatory research offers a valuable opportunity for collaboration between universities and citizens. It allows people with diverse educational and professional trajectories outside of academia to become partners in the research process, leading to multiple positive outcomes such as enhanced capacity building, contextually sensitive research design, and effective dissemination of findings. The chain of activities in the standard version of participatory research, however, stops short of developing solutions for improved quality of life, without making clear how enhanced capacities or locally embedded research findings will translate into tangible change for the communities where the research takes place. This shortcoming, we claim, is linked to the relatively short-term nature of most participatory research, as well as the scarcity of institutional structures and funding schemes to support the development of community-led solutions in the long run. The present article demonstrates that another model of research is both possible and desirable. It does this by presenting the outcomes of a sustained, long-term collaboration between university researchers and citizen social scientists in Beirut, Lebanon. The sustained nature of this work – running for over 3 years at the time of writing – has enabled our team to roll out a substantial programme of qualitative and quantitative data collection on prosperity and quality of life, and to subsequently use the findings and experience gained to create a set of interventions that address pressing challenges. We specifically argue that sustained, open-ended work on multiple activities – from research design and data collection, to data analysis, design of interventions and more – leads to accumulation of skills and experiences within the team, which can then be channelled towards implementing high quality interventions. This new model of impact for social science research prioritises partnership between universities and citizens, while highlighting the potential of such partnership to lead to solutions that make a real difference