Programme Areas
What We Do
Nine Programme Areas,
One Integrated Approach
A household's food, income and natural resource base rise and fall together, so ASDA delivers its programmes as one whole-system effort rather than as separate sectoral projects.
Climate-Smart Agriculture
Food and nutrition security through farming that copes with a changing climate.
Natural Resource Management
Participatory watershed development, climate adaptation and resilience building.
Biodiversity & Eco-Tourism
Community-based conservation and eco-tourism enterprise around protected areas.
Women & Youth Enterprise
Stove production, nurseries, poultry and trading groups that generate real income.
Disaster Risk Reduction
Humanitarian response, recovery and rehabilitation linked to long-term development.
Livelihood Diversification
Off-farm and on-farm income streams so one bad season is not a catastrophe.
Health & Social Protection
HIV/AIDS prevention, care for orphans and vulnerable children, child protection.
Urban Agriculture & SDG Clubs
Urban food production, and school and university clubs that carry the SDGs.
In Detail
What Each Programme
Actually Delivers
Climate-sensitive agriculture, food & nutrition security
Raising what a household grows, eats and sells — and making that production resilient to erratic rainfall and rising temperatures.
- Vegetable production under small-scale irrigation
- Poultry keeping, small ruminant and cattle fattening
- Nutrition-sensitive agriculture and a multi-sectoral approach to reducing stunting
- Research/academia — extension — farmer linkages
- Organic farming and the use of indigenous knowledge
Participatory natural resource management & climate resilience
Communities plan, build and own the soil and water conservation structures that keep their watersheds productive.
- Community-based participatory integrated watershed development
- Reclamation of degraded land and area closures
- Climate change adaptation and resilience building
- Reducing vulnerability to climate-induced shocks
- Promoting climate justice and food system transformation
Community-based biodiversity conservation & eco-tourism
Conservation works when the households next to a protected area earn from keeping it intact. ASDA played a leading role in upgrading the Dilfekar Wildlife Sanctuary to national park status.
- Park biodiversity enhancement around the Arsi Mountains
- Community-based eco-tourism enterprise and entrepreneurship
- Watering points that serve both livestock and wildlife
- Park access infrastructure built with community labour
Women & youth economic empowerment
Organised groups with a product, a market and their own working capital — the fastest route out of dependence for women and young people.
- Fuel-efficient stove production and marketing
- Seedling production and nursery management
- Poultry keeping and small ruminant fattening
- Petty trading groups and savings
- Gender equity mainstreamed across all programmes
Water, sanitation and hygiene
Reliable water close to home changes everything else — school attendance, women's time, herd survival and crop yields.
- Rural water supply schemes
- Small-scale irrigation development
- Water supply points for wildlife in park buffer zones
- Sanitation and hygiene promotion
Disaster risk reduction & humanitarian response
Relief that does not undo development: response, recovery and rehabilitation are linked back into the household economy.
- Disaster risk reduction management
- Humanitarian response, recovery and rehabilitation
- Green recovery and resilience building
- Coordination through the CCRDA Humanitarian Forum
Livelihood diversification
Multiple income streams per household, so a failed rain or a sick animal does not wipe out a year of progress.
- Agriculture-based livelihood diversification
- Off-farm enterprise and petty trading
- Access to new technologies through farmer organisations
- Market and value chain linkages
Health & social protection
Community coalitions that keep vulnerable children in school and in care, with prevention work built into every programme.
- HIV/AIDS prevention and community coalitions
- Care and support for orphans and vulnerable children
- Child protection mainstreaming
- COVID-19 prevention and awareness
Urban agriculture, school & university clubs
ASDA's mandate covers the urban poor as well as rural households, and its awareness work runs through young people in schools and universities.
- Promoting urban agriculture and backyard production
- School and university environment and nutrition clubs
- Promoting the Sustainable Development Goals through club networks
- Public awareness campaigns, including Earth Day events
- Theatre for social accountability and participatory video
- Citizen engagement in public service delivery
See These Programmes
at Work
