National Volunteering Models in Secure Livelihoods

Preliminary Research Report

CONTENTS

Introduction

National Volunteering Progress within VSO Secure Livelihoods Programmes .

Summary of Models ..

Models
o

Philippines:
Kapamagogopa, Inc.

India:
Virtual Academy for the Semi-Arid Tropics .

Kenya:
Wajir South Development Association

10

Fiji:
Fiji Locally-Managed Marine Areas Network ..

11

Philippines:
Philippine Business for Social Progress Business Advisory Program ...

12

Uganda:
National Agricultural Advisory Services

12

Ethiopia:
National UNV in Ethiopia .

13

Sierra Leone:
National Commission for Social Actions Peace and Development Corps .

14

Key Issues and Considerations for NV in Secure Livelihoods

15

Cover photo: Launching of the Women Extension Volunteers Programme supported by VSO Ghana
Photo from VSO Ghana

Introduction
National Volunteering (NV) remains a VSO corporate priority. All programmes, including Secure Livelihoods (SL),
are constantly seeking ways of integrating NV within the Programme Areas. VSO has a Secure Livelihoods
programme in 17 countries. Most of these programme offices have expressed the need for practical examples of
how to use national volunteers in SL. A research on what other countries or organisations are doing in this area
has been identified to provide information on how NV initiatives in SL have been developed, and are being
implemented. Experiences from other organisations are deemed useful, particularly concerning some of the issues
that VSO programme managers have encountered in exploring NV in SL, such as: how to identify volunteers in
Secure Livelihoods; what skills and expertise NVs in SL require; and, what competencies would enable
organisations to manage national volunteers in SL, and hence the types of VSO support needed.
National Volunteering Progress within VSO Secure Livelihoods Programmes
Programme offices are at different stages in scaling up the impact of VSO efforts towards more food, more
income and more control for disadvantaged people1 through NV.
VSO Ghana aims to increase the access of poor farmers, particularly women, to extension services. In partnership
with the Ministry of Farming and Agriculture, VSO is supporting the Ministry to enhance its capacity to manage
and train female volunteers who will serve as community-based extension workers. The Women Extension
Volunteers Programme was launched this January to reach out to more women in the chain of agricultural
production, and thus to better disseminate agricultural technologies to rural farm households.
In Guyana, VSO is working with the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs to keep young people from leaving their
communities. VSO volunteers are working alongside the Guyanese volunteers from the hinterland villages. VSO
provides training for the young volunteers and assists their formation into a network of local volunteers. As a
network, these young volunteers hope to provide support to their community members through setting up small
businesses, improving agriculture, and enabling them to access micro-credit loans.
VSO Zambia is supporting the Homeland Nutrition Group to improve the organisations capacity to work with
volunteer community nutrition demonstrators and business advisors. VSO Zambia plans to provide a similar type
of assistance to the Chipata District Farmers Society and the Mumba Farmers Association, which also work with
community volunteers.
VSO volunteers in Mongolia have trained local volunteers, who in turn are training other Mongolians on how to
set up small businesses. VSO Mongolia is also planning to establish a National Volunteer extension workers
programme for herders in rural areas, with a partner organisation.
In Sierra Leone, an STV and a small grant from VSO have helped the National Commission for Social Action
develop its Peace and Development Corps (PADCO) programme. PADCO is a government-led National
Volunteering programme that supports decentralisation through volunteering. The PADCO volunteers have had an
impact in breaking down regional and ethnic stereotypes through their placements, as they are recruited from
across the country and placed in different District Councils. PADCO has developed the capacities of the
unemployed youth through gaining practical experience in the field, and enhanced their opportunities for
permanent employment.
VSO Malawi has been supporting the Development Action for Marginalised Rural Areas, a local volunteer
organisation, for the past years. VSO volunteers are working with Malawian volunteers to deliver DAMRAs
volunteering services for food security and natural resource management projects.

VSO and Secure Livelihoods: 2008-2013

In collaboration with its Secure Livelihoods partners, VSO Namibia is now exploring different modes of skillsbased volunteering, particularly among retirees, academe and youth.
In Mozambique, Red Cross and the UNV are already responding to agricultural production issues through local
volunteers. VSO Mozambique has identified potential NV collaborations with its current Secure Livelihoods
partners.
VSO in Kenya and Nigeria are focussing their NV support through more Secure Livelihoods-oriented Volunteer
Management Systems trainings for partners. With the VSO position paper providing guidance on how to work
with the private sector, VSO Nigeria is now able to reconsider working with private companies, particularly in
agriculture food production.
VSO in Cambodia and Indonesia are developing their NV strategies within the Secure Livelihoods based on recent
feasibility studies.
In the Philippines, VSO is using NV as an exit strategy. By providing support to Secure Livelihoods and Disability
partners in developing, and strengthening, their respective volunteer programmes, local organisations and
government institutions are able to effectively manage other Filipino volunteers. VSO Philippines has helped set
up Kapamagogopa Inc., an organisation that works towards peace and development, by recruiting and placing
Muslim volunteers, with skills in livelihoods and sustainable natural resource management, in Mindanao.
Long before the merger with VSO, CUSO has been supporting National Volunteering programmes in Latin America
and the Caribbean. Servicio Pas in Chile is a nation-building form of National Youth Service for recent university
graduates. It involves a competitive selection of, and a civil programme for, university graduates with the goal of
decreasing rural poverty. Volunteers work in rural communities for 13 months to share their skills in small
business, housing, fisheries, and economic and environmental development activities. CUSO is also exploring the
feasibility of replicating a similar initiative in Bolivia and Honduras, through former Servicio Pas participants.
Most programme offices, whose ongoing NV efforts are focussed on other VSO goals, are still exploring more
appropriate ways of optimising local human resources for the benefit and development of their own communities,
and countries, within Secure Livelihoods. This research, to be done in two phases, aims to present existing
models of National Volunteering in Secure Livelihoods in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. It will
distill learning from the models identified, and be a resource for VSO programmes in developing their own Secure
Livelihoods volunteering strategy or in scaling up their work in this area. This preliminary report (Phase 1)
presents a range of roles that local volunteers can perform to support VSOs work in Secure Livelihoods, along
with the approaches and frameworks that promote the volunteering initiatives. Some of the models are pilot
projects which produced good outcomes and have been replicated elsewhere. Acquiring information for the
models featured in this initial research output entailed desk research (through the Internet and telephone) on
national, local or community volunteering among various organisations, programmes, agencies (within and
outside of VSO) within the research geographic coverage. Using a selection criteria, consultations with research
stakeholders, as well as with key informants (VSO country/federation member directors, NV and SL programme
managers/staff/volunteers, and partners) for referral of Secure Livelihoods National Volunteering programmes
were also conducted, mainly through email. Some of the key issues and considerations for NV in Secure
Livelihoods have also been discussed in this report for the deliberation of programme offices. A consultation with
the concerned VSO programme offices will be conducted prior to the next phase of the research. Based on the
outcome of the consultation, the second phase will provide case study information on selected models. The case
studies would enable programmes to gain further learning from the initiatives, and to reflect on best practices
from Secure Livelihood National Volunteering programmes that build on the poor and marginalized sectors
potentials, enabling them to improve their chances of making a living in a sustainable way.
Abby Mercado
Researcher-Writer
February 2009

Summary of Models
Implementing
Institution/
Organisation
NGO
Philippines:
Kapamagogopa,
Inc.

SL Focus

Volunteering Roles

Enterprise
Development,
Natural Resource
Management,
Food Security

Advising on savings, finance,

and bookkeeping
Promoting micro enterprise and
other livelihood projects
Promoting sustainable
agriculture

Base/ Volunteers

Skills-based

Volunteering
Process

Websites/ Links/
References

Capacity
building

www.ki-volunteer.org

Direct delivery
of services/
skills

www.vasat.org

Young Muslim graduates

with skills in sustainable
agriculture, livelihoods,
forest management,
enterprise development,
etc

Assisting in reforestation
projects
Setting up community
infrastructure to facilitate access
to safe drinking water and other
basic and social services
India:
Virtual Academy for
the Semi-Arid
Tropics

Food Security

Collecting technical information

on agriculture/ farming from
farmers, nearby markets,
government department and
traders

Disseminating information on
water, crop, livestock
management under drought
conditions in rural communities

Managing information system to

address rural farmers questions
and obtain expert answers from
partners (web-based learning)

Operating the Village

Information Centers in rural
communities

Community activity-based

Village network
assistants/ Adarsha
Welfare Associations
women volunteers
Skills-based

Trained youth
Women with collegelevel education

Capacity
building

www.icrisat.org

communities

Providing IT training to access

useful farming information
Kenya:
Wajir South
Development
Association

Community
Fiji:
Fiji LocallyManaged Marine
Areas Network

Food Security

Natural Resource
Management,
Food Security

Delivering
animal health and related
services in their respective
communities, focussing on
the livestock sector

Community activity-based

Monitoring coastal fisheries (fish

Community activity-based

Community animal
health workers

wardens, fishers)

Performing dramas/plays with

environmental themes (youth)

Composting or monitoring fish

Fishers
Youth
Women

Academe

Providing relevant trainings in

coastal resource management
(academe)

Government
Uganda:
National
Agricultural
Advisory Services

Enterprise Development

Skills-based

Business advising on
agribusiness, food processing,
small manufacturing, tourism,
information and communication
technology

Food Security

Facilitating access to agricultural

Professionals and retirees

with expertise in:
Organisation and
Management; Accounting
and Finance; Marketing;
Production/ Operations;
and ICT
Community activity-based

information and technologies

Being the link person between

the

community,

NAADS

and

www.khanya-aicdd.org

Direct delivery
of services/
skills

http://www.lmmanetwor
k.org/Site_Page.cfm?Pag
eID=37

Capacity
building

http://www.unv.org/en/c
urrenthighlight/environment2008/doc/volunteerismand-the-environment1.html

Skills-based

areas (women)

Private
Philippines:
Philippine Business
for Social Progress
Business Advisory
Program

Direct delivery
of services/
skills

Community-based
workers/ community
agriculture facilitators

Research on
combining new
technology with
traditional
methods of
fishing

Capacity
building

www.khanyaaicdd.org/publications/SL
SA9_Apr2003.pdf/

Village by Village:
Recovering Fijis Coastal
Fisheries,2005
www.pbsp.org. ph

Research on
product
development,
new
technologies

Direct delivery
of services/
skills

www.naads.or.ug
NAADS Annual Report,
2006

www.khanya-aicdd.org

other service providers;

www.khanyaaicdd.org/publications/SL
SA9_Apr2003.pdf/

Mobilising communities
Providing advice and training for
community members and followup support

Providing demonstrations from

own farm lands
Ethiopia:
National UNV
in Ethiopia

Food Security,
Natural Resource
Management,
Enterprise Development

Planning, management,
monitoring and evaluation of
programmes relating to food
security

Skills-based
Ethiopian professionals in
selected areas

Capacity
building
Direct delivery
of services/skills

Providing specialized training in

poultry, bee keeping and
management, cattle and small
ruminant fattening, and
resource and partnership
mobilization

www.unv.org
http://ethiopiandiaspora.
org/guideto.asp?CatID=2
31&ID=234&PaentID=23
1
http://mirror.undp.org/et
hiopia/unv/Doc/UNVImpa
ct AssessmentReport.pdf

Supporting small enterprises

through trainings in
entrepreneurship development,
micro credit, marketing and
business linkages

Providing technical support on

water resources development

Conducting surveys for

agricultural and rural
development sectors
Sierra Leone:
National
Commission for
Social Actions
Peace and
Development Corps

Food Security,
Enterprise Development

Working in district and town

councils, and local NGOs to
support the decentralisation
policy of Sierra Leone

Skills-based

Recent university
graduates/ youth

Direct delivery
of services/
skills

National Volunteering
Program in West &
Central Africa and
Guyana
End-of-Project Narrative
April 2007 to Oct 2008

Kapamagogopa, Inc.
Promoting Muslim Volunteering for Peace and Development in Mindanao
Context:
Kapamagogopa Inc. (KI) is the first and only institutionalized Muslim volunteer placing organisation in the
Philippines. Kapamagogopa means sharing or helping others in a Filipino Muslim language called
Maranao. KI volunteering serves as an opportunity for young Muslim professionals to provide specialized
services within their expertise in Muslim and non-Muslim communities. In a place where a five-century
old conflict rooted in religious-based differences continues to threaten the lives, and livelihoods, of people
in Mindanao, Muslim volunteering is seen as an effective way of addressing stigma and breaking down
social barriers, while responding to poverty issues.
Approach:
With main funding from VSO, organisational capacity support from VSO volunteers, and Volunteer
Management Systems trainings from VSO Bahaginan, Kapamagogopa, Inc. mobilizes 20 to 27 year-old
Muslim graduates in Mindanao to volunteer in the remote localities of Mindanao for one year. Many KI
volunteers share their hope of liberating their fellow Moro people from poverty through their
volunteering. Some volunteer to experience community work in the development sector, while practicing
their expertise.
Selected KI volunteers receive training prior to deployment in Mindanaos poor communities. KI
volunteers are hosted by local civil society organisations and government agencies, most of which are
strategic partners of VSO PEACE Mindanao. The month-long Volunteer for Development Training for KI
volunteers focusses on community organising, project management, networking and peace advocacy,
communication enhancement and values formation. Once in the field, KI volunteers receive a modest
monthly allowance and accident insurance.
KI volunteers working in Secure Livelihoods advise organisations in savings, finance, bookkeeping,
livelihood and micro enterprise; promote sustainable agricultural practices; assist in reforestation
projects; and help set up community infrastructure for internally displaced people due to conflict in
Mindanao, among other relevant roles.
Outcomes/Changes:
Through the efforts of KI volunteers, many families in Mindanao have been able to set up their own small
enterprises, generating income to send their children to school. Better infrastructures have allowed
communities to access safe drinking water, and other basic and social services. Through tree planting
projects, some municipalities have been spared from flooding, thus saving cattle, houses and lives.
Most KI volunteers share how the volunteering experience has enhanced their personal and professional
skills, and increased their confidence as Muslim individuals. KI has deployed 27 volunteers to date,
contributing a total of 56,000 hours of voluntary work, reaching about 600,000 people in the area, and
promoting peace and development in Mindanao.
Virtual Academy for the Semi-Arid Tropics
Linking Rural Farm Communities through Women Volunteers
Context:
The Virtual Academy for the Semi-Arid Tropics (VASAT) is a strategic coalition for information,
communication and capacity building, operating in South Asia, and in West and Central Africa. VASAT
sets up projects that combine the advantages of contemporary Information and Communications
Technology and Knowledge Management with the power of non-formal, open learning methods, for a
more efficient delivery of agricultural and development information to rural communities vulnerable to
droughts in the semi-arid tropics.

In India, most rural families have limited access to technical information on agriculture, resulting in
information poverty. In 2000, with drought affecting every part of the state, some regions went
completely barren and crops withered due to water scarcity. The will to survive mobilized rural villagers
to help farmers in monitoring attacks by a range of pests and to come up with preventive measures for
drought, through adequate farming information and technologies.
Approach:
VASAT set up a pilot information hub with low-cost Internet connectivity in Addakal Mandal,
Mahabubnagar District, through partnership with the Adarsha Womens Association (AWA). AWA is a
community-based, non-government federation of village level micro-credit societies. AWA operates in 37
villages (total population of approximately 45000) and has a membership of more than 5000 women.
VASAT provided trainings for village volunteers to build their skills in collecting questions from farmers
and passing them on to experts. The AWS women volunteers served as Village Network Assistants for
the VASAT project, and collected relevant information from nearby markets, government departments
and traders in the three villages within the hub. VASAT created Village Information Centers (VICs) to
serve as spokes to the central hub via telephone. The VICs in selected villages are located in buildings
that are provided by the community. Volunteers in the three villages receive locality-specific information
from the hub and deliver it to rural families through use of blackboards, public speakers, among other
available village facilities. Trained AWS volunteers also assist village farmers on how to use IT to access
farming information. Another group of volunteers, including trained youth and women with college-level
education, are involved to operate the hub.
Outcomes/Changes:
What started as a mission work for drought preparedness became the villagers way of translating
scientific know-how to field/farmer-level information.
The involvement of volunteer participants from the Adarsha Womens Association in the VASAT project
has strengthened both the federation and the individual members capacity, while making relevant
agricultural information and technologies available to rural farmers. In facilitating the flow of valuable
information in the villages, these women volunteers became more confident in their interactions with the
rural families, enhancing the quality of the extension and advisory processes to farmers. The active
members of AWA also received a prestigious distinction, bestowed by the President of India, for their
contributions in improving learning and livelihood opportunities among the rural families. Such national
recognition has led to a large number of young members joining the VASAT activities at the village level.
The lessons gained from this pilot model have been shared in various forums and with other VASAT
partners -- agricultural universities and other academic institutions, local NGOs, and research institutes,
such as the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, International Livestock
Research Institute and International Water Management Institute.
Wajir South Development Agency
Making Animal Health Services Available to Remote Communities
Context:
Wajir South Development Agency (WASDA) is a Kenyan non-profit organisation that supports the
improvement of livelihoods of the people of the horn of Africa, using a community-based workers (CBW)
system. The focus is on the livestock sector with emphasis on animal health, environmental conservation,
drought management, water development and conflict management.
The conventional animal health service delivery model consists of a veterinarian based at the district
headquarters, with a few para-veterinarians to support the veterinarian. However, the conventional

service is not available in the areas where WASDA works, which is the main reason the community animal
health workers (CAHWs) operate and have gained such prominence in the remote areas.
Approach:
The WASDA community-based workers system involves community animal health workers, who are
members of the pastoral communities motivated to deliver animal health and related services in their
respective communities. WASDA established proper systems for the CAHWs selection and recruitment
(involving community members), training, supervision and accountability. WASDA also considered the
issues on finance and linkages that would facilitate the work of the CAHWs. The CAHWs provide 80% of
the clinical services and 75% of the disease control services in the area, making the CAHWs the main
source of animal health services. While being of service to their communities, the CAHWs also explores
mechanisms, such as income generating projects, saving and revolving fund schemes, to sustain their
involvement in the delivery of animal health and related services.
Outcomes/Changes:
WASDA has trained 140 CAHWs, of which 80 are still active and work with the Veterinary Department.
The other 60 relocated with their livestock to other districts within the country, and even to Somalia and
Ethiopia, where they continue to use their acquired skills. By using the CBW system, WASDA has
succeeded in empowering communities by involving them in addressing their animal health problems.
This has improved and increased the skills base of the communities. It also increased access to veterinary
services while contributing to building community structures that address animal health and other
problems. Good linkages to professional services and government agencies have been created in the
process, improving emergency response capacity. Gradual changes in negative cultural practices, such as
livestock rustling, have also been observed. Benefits to CAHWs include increased skills and knowledge,
and improved social status. Since there are no qualified veterinarians working in these remote arid areas
due to distances and difficulties that make the costs prohibitive, it is clear that the Community Animal
Health Workers approach is proving to be more feasible. Veterinarians who are working with the CAHWs
see the value of the approach. However, other veterinarians are resisting this model, and this is where
policy-level intervention is needed.
Fiji Locally-Managed Marine Areas Network
Recovering Coastal Fisheries by Reviving Traditions
Context:
In the early 1990s, residents of the Ucunivanua Village on the eastern coast of Fijis largest island
discovered that their marine resources, the main source of their livelihoods, were becoming scare. The
son of a high chief, a student at the University of the South Pacific (USP), asked his teachers for
assistance in addressing some of the fishing problems in his village. With support from USP and two
years of workshops in environmental education and community planning, the village decided to set up an
experiment -- a 24-hectare tabu area on the mudflat and sea grass bed directly in front of Ucunivanua
Village.
Approach:
The Ucunivanua Village chose a group of volunteers, consisting of 20 men and women, to be on the tabu
area management team, as part of the experiment. The tabu area management team staked out the
boundaries of the proposed protected area. The team worked with the paramount chief and elders of the
village to hold a traditional ceremony declaring the area tabu or protected, for three years. The
hypothesis was that if the clam population recovered in the tabu area, more clam larvae would settle in
adjacent fishing areas as well, eventually leading to increased clam harvests in these areas, like a seeding
effect.
Residents and researchers in two other villages were also exploring local solutions to Fijis diminishing
marine resources. They were testing variations of the basic Locally-Managed Marine Areas (LMMA)

10

strategy to see if it could contribute to conservation and local livelihoods under differing conditions. Soon
team members from these three village experiments joined in 2001 to form the Fiji Locally-Managed
Marine Areas (FLMMA) Network, to serve as a forum in which Fijian villages with LMMA projects could
share methods and results.
The LMMA approach emphasizes the need to involve all sectors of the community through volunteering.
Apart from being a member of the tabu area management team, local fishers and other residents are
involved in monitoring their coastal fisheries. Ways of mainstreaming women and youth into LMMA
projects without violating traditional societal norms are also being explored. Young people are
encouraged to monitor the LMMAs or develop plays with environmental themes for presentation on
special village occasions or at workshops. Women are involved in waste management, such as
composting or monitoring of the marine areas.
Outcomes/Changes:
The FLMMA Network members presented the results of their coastal fisheries monitoring to Fijis Fishery
policymakers. The government representatives welcomed the idea of adopting Fijian customs to the
management of marine resources. The Fiji national government formally adopted the LMMA approach
and designated a division of the Fisheries Department to promote inshore conservation and to work with
the FLMMA Network.
The FLMMA approach has brought back to life fading traditional coastal resource management practices.
With government support, community coastal fisheries monitoring in Fiji has led to increased yields and a
revival of traditional volunteer-based social customs. The FLMMA Network received the prestigious UNDP
Equator Initiative Award in 2002. The success of the Ucunivanua experience has led to the adoption of
LMMA not only throughout Fiji, but also in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines and the
Solomon Islands.
Philippine Business for Social Progress Business Advisory Program
Helping Micro and Small Enterprise Grow through Volunteer Business Advising
Context:
The Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP) is a private, non-profit foundation dedicated to
promoting business sector commitment to social development. Organized in 1970 by 50 of the countrys
prominent business leaders, PBSP has since grown to become the nations largest business-led social
development foundation. The PBSP Business Advisory Program (BAP) is a business support scheme
where volunteer experts provide advisory services to micro and small enterprises to enhance their
operating efficiencies, thus improving livelihoods and creating jobs. BAP, originally called Corporate
Volunteers for Enterprise Development, started as collaboration between PBSP and the Canadian
Executive Services Organisation, through funding from Canadian International Development Agency. The
PBSP Business Advisory Programme localizes the CESOs Canadian experience, allowing Filipino micro and
small enterprises to have access to Filipino volunteer expert advisers. The establishment of BAP within
PBSP ensured the sustainability of the initiative beyond the CIDA funding support which ended in 2008.
Approach:
The Business Advisory Programme provides an organised way of extending business advice to
entrepreneurs through its roster of Filipino volunteer expert advisers. BAP prioritises support to
agribusiness, food processing, small manufacturing, tourism, and information and communication
technology.
A requesting entrepreneur in these sectors is matched with a volunteer expert adviser who has skills and
expertise specific to the entrepreneurs business needs. Business advising involves organisation and
management, accounting and finance, marketing, production/operations, and IT consulting. BAP screens
the applications of both volunteer advisers (qualifications, volunteering preferences) and clients (business

11

needs). Selected advisers are included in the BAPs roster of volunteers which will be provided to clients
whose needs match their credentials. Both the volunteer adviser and client are given pre-engagement
orientation. BAP monitors the business advising activity and provides the necessary logistical support to
volunteer advisers. The BAP engagement is formalized through a signed work plan, drafted by and agreed
upon, between the volunteer adviser and the client. The volunteer adviser submits interim progress
reports to the client and to BAP for monitoring and evaluation purposes. At the end of the engagement,
BAP conducts a debriefing and an overall evaluation to determine the effectiveness of business advising
services and to assess the performance of the volunteer. To optimize the expertise of a volunteer adviser,
BAP also uses the clustering approach, by association, industry, product, process or geography, in dealing
with requesting entrepreneurs.
Most BAP volunteer advisers, totaling to more than a 500 to date, come from the PBSP member
companies, using their personal time to provide business consultancy services. The Business Advisory
Programme also welcomes volunteers from non-PBSP member organisations, including retired
professionals within the BAP-supported sectors. PBSP, which works with various NGOs in the Philippines,
is also able to attract volunteer advisers from its NGO affiliates.
Outcomes/Changes:
A local bakeshop, once famous for its peanut crunch delicacies, availed of BAPs volunteer services to
save its failing enterprise. After receiving mentoring sessions on marketing, packaging, pricing and even
on dressing up display areas, the client gained a 300% growth of sales, reviving the family enterprise,
and continued to provide employment to other members of the community. 450 other BAP enterprising
clients have had similar success stories.
Meanwhile, some BAP volunteer advisers have received recognition from their respective companies,
which incorporated the BAP scheme as part of their employee volunteering initiatives.
The Government of Ugandas National Agricultural and Advisory Services
Decentralising Agricultural Extension Services Using Farmer-to-Farmer Approach
Context:
Ugandas Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries Plan for the Modernization of Agriculture
(PMA) provides a framework for coordinated implementation of agricultural sector reforms. The PMA is
aimed at transforming smallholder agriculture from subsistence farming to commercially oriented
production. The National Agricultural and Advisory Services (NAADS) is a PMA core programme. NAADS is
designed to be a decentralised, farmer-owned and private sector service extension system. It was
created by an Act of Parliament in 2001 specifically to address constraints due to lack of access to
agricultural information, knowledge and improved technology, among rural poor farmers in Uganda.
Approach:
The National Agricultural and Advisory Services farmer extension programme rolled out with over 2000
community-based workers (CBWs). CBWs are essentially volunteer lead farmers and community-based
facilitators, selected by their own communities. Most of NAADS sub-counties have facilitated the process
of identifying community-based facilitators to offer advice to farmers. Lead farmers, on the other hand,
are community members who are at the forefront of technology uptake and adoption, and thus have the
capacity to serve as platform for farmer learning.
NAADS provides trainings for CBWs in specific areas relevant to service provision and group development.
Supervision and other support are also given to CBWs, including bicycles to facilitate their mobility. The
roles of CBWs include:
Facilitating access to agricultural information and technologies;
Being the link person between the community, NAADS and other service providers;
Mobilising communities;

12

 Providing advice and training for community members and follow-up support; and
Providing demonstrations from own farm lands.
Outcomes/Changes:
NAADS has revitalised agricultural extension services using farmer-to-farmer approach. A key principle of
NAADS is the empowerment of farmers to demand and manage advisory services. This was achieved by
increasing the farmers and communities participation in the programme through establishing farmers
forums and identifying community-based facilitators. Various evaluation findings indicated that the
NAADS Programme is increasing the availability of agricultural advisory services more effectively than the
previous extension system did. Studies also showed that farmers participating in the NAADS Programme
adopted technologies that have led to real improvements in yields and farm incomes. The findings
indicated that the relative cost-effectiveness of the programme compared to previous extension systems
is a demonstration of the greater efficiency of NAADS in reaching farmers and in assisting them overcome
barriers to improved technology access and adoption. The high farmer/community ownership and
enterprise approach of NAADS have been important factors in its success.
NAADS started in 6 districts and 24 sub-counties in 2001, and has expanded to 29 districts and 280 subcounties, directly benefiting about 393,000 farm households in 2005. The flexibility of the NAADS
programme design has survived emerging challenges as it expanded to more districts in Uganda.
National UNV Programme in Ethiopia
Mobilising Ethiopians for the Development of Ethiopia
Context:
The National UNV (NUNV) mechanism was established in pursuance of the UNDP Governing Council
Decision to harness the use of qualified nationals to serve as volunteers in their own country. NUNV was
conceived as an innovative and experimental approach to promote national volunteerism and its
contributions to development programmes, while strengthening national capacity. In 2003, the
Government of Ethiopia, in collaboration with the UNDP, deployed 120 National UN Volunteers in selected
regions of the country to offer a broad range of expertise in different sectors, including agriculture, HIV &
AIDS, ICT, GIS, water and environment, gender, private sector and enterprise development, nutrition,
education and humanitarian assistance.
Approach:
A Steering Committee, composed of the UNDP, UN agencies, Ministry of Finance and Economic Cooperation, other government agencies and international volunteer organisations, was set up to guide the
implementation and management of the scheme using a demand-driven recruitment approach. UNDP
provided the secretarial, management and administration aspects of the scheme, as well as leading the
recruitment, monitoring and evaluation. Host institutions, including government and non-government
organisations in the identified development sectors, covered counterpart costs.
In the Secure Livelihoods sectors, the NUNVs (deployed on a volunteer allowance for a minimum of one
year to a maximum of four years) performed the following activities:
Planning, management, monitoring and evaluation of programmes relating to food security;
Providing specialized training in poultry, bee keeping and management, cattle and small ruminant
fattening, and resource and partnership mobilisation;
Supporting small enterprises through training in areas of entrepreneurship development, micro credit,
marketing and business linkages;
Providing technical support on water resources development, including design, implementation and
M&E of rural water supply programmes; and
Conducting surveys for agricultural and rural development sectors

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Outcomes/Changes:
According to the latest NUNV Impact Assessment Report, the National UN Volunteers provided valuable
contributions in terms of improved service delivery at the grassroots level, and bridged the critical
capacity gap in support of the development process of Ethiopia. The NUNVs assigned in host government
agencies have helped improve institutional performance and public service delivery. The National UNV
programme went beyond implementing UNDP or UN agencies programmes to include those of the
government and other development partners in Ethiopia. Although the programme has expanded, there
is still a need to upscale it to cover the entire country. Resource and partnership mobilisation is also key
to ensure the continuity of the NUNV activities.
National Commission for Social Actions Peace and Development Corps
Addressing Two Goals through a Single Action
Context:
The Government-led Peace and Development Corps (PADCO) is alleviating poverty and consolidating
peace in Sierra Leone through National Volunteering. VSO Sierra Leone, through partnership with the
National Commission for Social Action (NaCSA), the implementing government institution of the PADCO
programme, is contributing to this remarkable NV undertaking. Although the VSO collaboration with
NaCSA is within the Participation and Governance Goal, the employment of young people through
volunteering, primarily aimed at supporting the decentralization process, is significantly addressing
Secure Livelihoods issues.
Approach:
NACSA, through its PADCO Secretariat, selects, trains and places young Sierra Leonean men and women
in host institutions across the country for two years, on a volunteer allowance. PADCO volunteers work in
specific sectors, such as sustainable development, peace promotion, governance and health. PADCO
volunteers are highly-motivated young graduates deployed in district and town councils, and local NGOs
across the country to support the decentralization policy of Sierra Leone.
One of the key objectives of the PADCO volunteering initiative is to break down the strong ethnic feelings
in the country and to promote a stronger national identity among Sierra Leoneans. PADCOs overall goal
is to accelerate the pace of poverty reduction by increasing the absorptive capacity of development
institutions that are fighting poverty, and creating work and learning opportunities for unemployed recent
graduates.
Outcomes/Changes:
The majority of the PADCO volunteers have found employment in either government or the NGO sector
after completing their two-year volunteer placements. Many of the volunteers were hired to continue
working with their host councils.
In a country with an extremely high unemployment rate among young people, PADCO is fulfilling its
objective to build the capacities of the unemployed youth through gaining practical experience in the
field, and enhancing their opportunities for permanent employment. The skills gained through
volunteering have qualified the PADCO volunteers for proper employment, and hence to earn a proper
income.
A short-term VSO volunteer was placed with PADCO to assist in improving the PADCO programmes
volunteer management systems and procedures, resulting in better defined volunteer roles, clearer
responsibilities among parties involved, and updated recruitment, selection, training, and monitoring and
evaluation tools. The outcomes of the VSO volunteer support provided to PADCO proved to have
considerably enhanced the experience of the succeeding batches of PADCO volunteers.

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Key Issues and Considerations for NV in Secure Livelihoods

Based on the information gathered during the initial phase of the research, this report has identified a
number of key issues that programmes may need to consider when planning, implementing or scaling up
National Volunteering in Secure Livelihoods.
Types of SL national volunteers. Different types of volunteers are emerging in this sector: including
those that offers specific expertise in different areas of Secure Livelihoods, often outside of their own
communities; those that acquires skills and access to a secure livelihood through volunteering; and those
who volunteer within their own communities (community activity-based volunteering, more commonly
referred to as community volunteers).
It takes specialized knowledge and experience to be able to provide business advise on agribusiness, food
processing, small manufacturing, tourism, micro enterprise, and information and communication
technology. Certain qualifications are required to conduct trainings in poultry, bee keeping, cattle and
small ruminant fattening, or to provide technical support to rural water supply programmes. Professionals
in these fields can easily profit when rendering the same services. The featured initiatives in this research,
however, shows that professionals in these areas the young and the experienced-- have sought ways to
share their much-needed expertise, in an effort to create a more enabling environment for the
disadvantaged sectors to survive, as well as to compete, in a profit-oriented and power-dominated market
industry. With proper avenues and schemes, business advisers, natural resource managers and other
livelihoods specialists, are willing to volunteer their time and skills for the benefit of the local marginalized
women, men and youth, outside their own communities.
Other types of volunteer in Secure Livelihoods are members of the marginalized sectorthe unemployed
youth, farmers and fishers, entrepreneurs and marginalized women. Community volunteers are acting as
a conduit for information, and serving as the link person between the community and service
providers/facilitating agents. Farmers are leading other farmers in the remote areas for effective and
sustainable farming technologies. Women are organising savings groups through cooperatives or village
banks. Fishers are reviving volunteer-based traditional customs to recover their coastal resources.
Community volunteers have the specific advantage of understanding the context and needs of the
communities that they are serving, and hence are able to apply local practices to unique situations. Often
selected or recommended by the village leaders, they also have the trust of the members of the
communities, which is vital to the effective delivery of voluntary services. Given the right trainings and
institutional support to facilitate their participation, members of the disadvantaged communities are
volunteering to ensure the sustainability of the efforts of facilitating agents or service providers.
Volunteers in this category are helping other members of their villages and improving the livelihoods of
their communities, while building their own capacities. Monetary incentives are often required if
community workers are working on a full-time basis. To promote volunteerism, programmes should be
looking into other forms of incentives (e.g. trainings, income generating projects), while providing
transport or food allowance to facilitate the volunteering services.
Whether as a community member, service provider or facilitating agent, each type of SL volunteer has a
different motivation for volunteering. When designing a volunteering programme, organisations,
corporations or agencies must therefore take into great consideration the impetus behind the
volunteering movement, and build on this.
Areas of SL National Volunteering. The volunteering activities in this report are supporting efforts
towards safe water supply, sustainable approach to coastal resource management, environment-friendly
farming methods, production of more-marketable products of small- and medium enterprises, and other
various initiatives to food security and production, enterprise development and natural resource
management. Thus, it is evident that volunteering is happening in almost all of the different stages of the
market and value chains, and within the VSO Secure Livelihoods framework.

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Organisations, institutions and governments with ongoing efforts in this sector can be tapped, through
networking, for the further exploration of NV within VSO Secure Livelihoods. Whether in Asia, Africa, or
the Caribbean, the models from these regions offer significant learnings for VSO programming.
Defining VSOs support for NV in SL. VSO has set its non-negotiables when it comes to volunteering
and para-professionals to ensure that volunteers are not exploited by virtue of power, poverty, disability
or gender. Programme managers must refer to VSOs position paper on volunteering and paraprofessionals when assessing potential NV partners in the Secure Livelihoods area. VSO works with
programmes where volunteers are not made poorer by volunteering and supports mechanisms that uses
volunteering to build the capacity of unskilled, unemployed marginalized sectors.
Youth, unemployment and volunteering. VSO programmes are supporting partners that engage
young people in volunteering for the development of their own countries. These initiatives provide the
vital structures and institutional support for the unemployed youth to enhance their skills through
volunteering placements, which facilitates their entry into the formal labour market. There are many
ongoing volunteering initiatives in this report that place utmost value on the potentials of the youth in
addressing multiple poverty issues through a single response. Mobilising the unemployed youth to
implement a decentralization process or to promote peace, is also resulting in employment and
development, while breaking down social barriers due to religious and ethnic differences. National
Volunteering increases the chances of young people of getting employed through experience gained by
the volunteering, and this can be supported across the different VSO programme areas, including Secure
Livelihoods.
Institutional support. Community-based workers must adhere to certain standards of working,
particularly in areas of natural resource management. These community volunteers must be equipped
with appropriate training to avoid mistakes and maintain quality production. Academic and vocational
training institutions can be tapped for this support. Accreditation for such trainings is also an incentive
that most community volunteers are clamoring for.
Community volunteers in all sectors are vying for more institutional support to change the usual
perception of being at the bottom of the resources, rather than being frontliners in service delivery. While
VSO is providing assistance to partners in terms of building organizational capacity or through volunteer
management systems trainings, policy-level support from government institutions requires as much
attention. Appropriate policies, guidelines, rules and regulations must be worked out with ministry
partners for a more enabling environment.
In some countries, programme offices must also look into the legal implications of using volunteers to
facilitate the services of a non-profit organisation in the communities. VSO Namibia offers lessons on
addressing a legislative issue in the country, which is deterrent in promoting Namibian volunteering.
Counterpart pair approach. This VSO way of working has produced good results in other VSO goals,
and is now being explored in SL, as well. VSO volunteers are supporting partner organisations and
government agencies in Secure Livelihoods in improving their capacities to manage National Volunteering
programmes. Some VSO volunteers are also working alongside local volunteers through mentoring,
helping them develop their skills through their volunteering activities.
This preliminary Report showed that various National Volunteering opportunities exist within Secure
Livelihoods. This can be explored through further research to guide VSO programme managers in
developing their own NV programmes within Secure Livelihoods, while taking into account the issues and
considerations raised above.

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