Research has shown that poverty has the largest influence on an individual’s well-being and their ability to adequately access food, healthcare, and education. With limited resources, stressors like natural disasters, illness, or crop failure can create major obstacles for impoverished individuals, families, and communities. When people have to make extreme choices between sending their children to school or putting food on the table, everyone loses. UYO is committed to strengthening the resilience of poor and marginalized rural communities and those whose lives and livelihoods are affected due to degradation of their natural resources, climate change, and especially social exclusion by empowering these vulnerable communities with capacities to manage resources to meet their socio-economic needs. The department covers a broad area of activities that enable vulnerable communities to be self-sustaining including food security, income-generating activities, and urbanization.
The department’s economic empowerment programs are designed to strengthen household incomes and support sustained success in multiple ways, such as:
- Improving production and profits through stronger market linkages
- Promoting livestock production to build assets while enriching diets through the improved nutrition
- Developing the skills and capacity needed for non-agriculture income
- Encouraging the involvement of government service providers
- Supporting direct partnerships with private businesses
UYO also works through market systems to develop and connect local service providers, such as marketing groups and community animal health workers, with small producers to provide them with the critical networks they need to succeed. Bridging these “last-mile” gaps, while creating new jobs and income in communities that are typically in dire need, provide win-win economic gains for vulnerable communities.