The caisse de résilience approach revolves around farming and pastoralist communities, connecting and integrating productive, financial and social activities, which involve technical services provided and carried out by NGOs, as well as rural community members. This approach is appropriate for the sustainable restoration of forests and landscapes and includes three pillars: 1) Dimitra Clubs; 2) Farmer Field School (FFS); and 3) Village Savings and Loan Association (VSLA).

The Dimitra Club pillar raises awareness and mobilizes communities and local authorities around environmental issues, including impacts and the need to implement restoration. Dimitra Clubs contribute to reawakening community dynamics around restoration and strengthen inclusive engagement, collective action and gender equality. The Dimitra Club pillar also helps identify common problems and challenges, with restoration as an entry point, enables communities to analyse and discuss these to find local solutions, and encourages them to apply these solutions using their resources. 

The FFS pillar, otherwise known as Farmer Field and Life School pillar, is an education opportunity based on adult learning principles. It aims to build the capacity of producers on restoration opportunities through observation, action, experimentation and decision-making.The FFS follows a democratic system. Planning decisions and actions are made in teams, considering the ideas of all with the guidance of the facilitator. Such democratic processes led to the identification of three priority learning themes through the FFS approach: a) erosion control; b) agroforestry; and c) sustainable soil fertility management.

The pillar for VSLA or Association villageoise d’épargne et de crédit (AVEC) comprises a group of 15 to 30 people who save funds together, provide each other loans from said savings and develop income-generating activities. The added value of this approach includes awareness raising and collaboration among households within villages, strengthening social cohesion, improving the resilience of the affected people and residents combining forces to support the sustainable management of local resources. The VSLA pillar strengthens household economies and contributes to reducing the pressure on natural resources.