The author thanks the Livelihood Support Programme (LSP) and its Livelihoods Diversification and Enterprise Development (LDED) sub-programme for the opportunity to explore the experience of the pilot WIN project in livelihoods diversification and enterprise development. While LDED was not originally an intended focus of WIN, some Income Generating Activities (IGAs) did emerge and were fostered by WIN's multidisciplinary, people-centered approach. We hope that this review of the WIN experience will shed light on the practices behind their emergence, and be of interest to others who are working to support local communities in their livelihoods diversification efforts.
Special thanks to Siobhan Kelly (FAO), who provided key conceptual focus, very constructive comments, and editorial guidance. Thanks also to Florence Egal (who with Thierry Facon originally conceived the WIN approach) for her creative ideas, valuable suggestions and timely feedback. This report has also benefited from helpful comments and information from members of the WIN national teams, particularly Kanchan Lama, Niru Dahal Pandey, K. K. Shrestha, Pandey Bhattarai, Mak Soeun, Kean Sophea, Mwase Phiri, Eileen M. Imbwae, Lydia Ndulu and Dorothy Jere. I also thank the FAO headquarters staff who generously took time to review a preliminary draft and give useful comments. Thanks to Doyle Baker, Alice Carloni, David Kahan, and everyone else who facilitated the production of this document.
We thank WIN’s donor, the United Nations Foundation (UNF), for the opportunity to design and carry out this operational research project, and for the support and encouragement of UNF staff members Dr. May Yacoob and Victoria Dunning during WIN’s implementation. Thanks also to WIN’s partners GTZ, CARE, LWF, Women for Change, and the Zambia Chamber of Small and Medium Business Associations, with whom we were able to evolve combined approaches to livelihoods diversification and IGA promotion at local level in Nepal and Zambia.
