CARE's programming under this theme recognises the vulnerability of rural livelihoods in both South Africa and Lesotho. Nearly 80% of Lesotho's 2,2 million population live in rural areas. Remote from services, rural households are three times more likely to be poor than their urban counterparts and female-headed households are more likely to be food insecure than male-headed ones.

Poverty in South Africa is similarly geographic and gendered, with 74% of poor people living in rural areas and women more likely to be poor than men. To many rural people, the environment and natural resources are key to their livelihood, and land, agriculture and livestock are often seen as the backbone of development. But rural households face a number of challenges, including: macro-economic policies that result in higher food and transport prices; retrenchment; chronic illness which means increased expenditure on medical bills and funerals; poor agricultural practices and environmental degradation; and isolation from support services for advice, inputs or markets. In both countries, rural households rely on a number of coping strategies, often emphasizing off-farm income for household survival and development.

CARE's programming within this theme draws from its Household Livelihood Security framework. Livelihoods frameworks are common within development thinking, helping to sharpen perspectives on rural development and linking the community (at the micro level) with the broader institutional and policy framework at meso (local government) and macro (national and regional government) levels. CARE's livelihoods framework helps provide a holistic analysis of how households derive their livelihoods by drawing on capabilities and assets to develop their livelihood strategies composed of a range of activities. Click here for more on CARE's Household Livelihood Security framework.

CARE's work in support of improved livelihood and asset security for rural households is based on the following strategies:

1. Promoting sustainable food security for vulnerable households and groups

   The current food crisis in southern Africa highlights the vulnerability of rural households, and the importance of promoting food security based on long-term goals, such as improved institutional capacity (at household levels and above) and sustainable management of natural resources. CARE's focus is on homestead food production, with low reliance on external inputs and promotion of sound environmental practices that promote productivity. A homestead garden is the land or premises occupied and (usually) owned by a family, adjacent to the family home and over which the family has complete control. Its area is small — but it is often used for growing vegetables, some staples and fruit trees. Because it is within or near the home, gardening and home nursing are compatible and the labour demands can be lower than working in fields. Homestead vegetables and other crops are important in providing a nutritious diet that can promote positive living with chronic illness, and can provide a surplus for sale and income generation.
   
   CARE's work under this strategic direction includes building safety nets and rebuilding assets for longer term development goals. Read more about the current food crisis in Lesotho:
   
   

2. Supporting and promoting the delivery of quality services for poor and marginalised rural people by government, civil society and private sector

   The long-term sustainability of livelihoods depends on the provision of services by both government and non-state actors. Currently, and in spite of the move towards decentralisation in both countries, few services reach rural people. Many rural people are far from input supply chains, receive little technical advice or information, and are remote from markets for the sale of any surplus. CARE works within the government policy frameworks and promotes innovative models and approaches for delivering services to poor people, building the capacity of communities to demand and manage their own services using community-based approaches to service delivery. Community-based workers, such as the farmer extension facilitators promoted under the TEAM project, provide one such model, and the development of private nursery entrepreneurs under HCLP provides another.
   Read more about Community-based Service Delivery:
   
   

3. Advocate in local and regional debates for economic and environmental justice for poor, rural communities in developing countries
   
   

   This advocacy objective recognises that livelihood security in the developing world requires significant shifts in agreements, policies and actions at all levels, from the village community to the global one. Much of this work is local (at local or national government levels) — through providing working models to engage policy makers in policies and actions that have positive impact on the lives of poor people. National policy processes, such as PRSPs, provide important frameworks for advocating for development priorities that favour poor, rural people. But in a globalised world, CARE South Africa-Lesotho will increasingly work within its global structure to advocate within regional initiatives, from the formal inter-governmental to the informal networks of peer organisations. CARE Lesotho-South Africa's advocacy and information work draws directly from its practice and places the realities of rural poor in the context of the policy and institutional environment in which they operate.

• CARE's activities and initiatives:

• Community Based Service Delivery

• Food assistance targeting vulnerable groups in Leribe district, Lesotho