An Integrated Approach to Livelihoods and Family Planning

Climate change will disproportionately affect the poor in the future, nowhere more so than in the fragile ecological zone known as the Sahel. The Sahel has been plagued with droughts, decreasing crop yields, and increasing environmental degradation (World Bank, 2013). This paper will empirically demonstrate that an integrated intervention, coupling access to family planning (FP) and livelihoods interventions will lead to food security and better health outcomes in the Sahel. The hypothesis outlined in this paper will show that by combining FP and livelihood interventions, a successful program can be designed for food-insecure areas of the Sahel that will meet women’s demand for contraceptives while eventually reducing the food burden on families. FP is a global undertaking, though it receives only one percent of foreign aid from rich to poor countries, as measured by the OECD. This paper will propose an integrated framework that follows the Family Planning 2020 goals, but incorporates greater community buy-in by linking reproductive health (RH) with alternative livelihoods methods to combat and prepare for the effects of climate change.

http://bixby.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Livelihoods-FP-Food-Security-White-Paper-Celia-FINAL-FOR-WEBSITE.pdf