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Christian Aid has been working in Ethiopia for more than 30 years, initially responding to emergencies, but gradually building a long-term development programme. Our work has focused on food security, resilient livelihoods, health, accountable governance, economic justice, energy and climate change. Christian Aid Ethiopia has substantial experience and a strong reputation for working in remote locations, particular with vulnerable pastoral and agro-pastoral communities. Currently we operate in 39 districts in four regions – Oromia, Gambella, Benishangul-Gumuz, and Southern Nation, Nationalities and Peoples’ Region (SNNPR).

Our vision is to see an Amazon region where communities are the driving force behind sustainable development, challenging unjust systems to strive for social, climate and economic justice. We envision an Amazon region where development is inclusive and respects the environment. With these conditions, we hope to see a place where indigenous, Quilombola and farming communities can thrive.

This assembly and accompanying ‘fairy tale’ explores how farmers in Malawi have overcome the challenges that climate change poses to their harvests.

A presentation illustrating the story of Frank and the Pea Stalk which can accompany the Harvest fairy tale.

A presentation illustrating the story of Frank and the Pea Stalk which can accompany the Harvest fairy tale.

Climate stories from black church leaders to inspire positive action.

Christian Aid’s Sierra Leone programme started in 1988 with a focus on service delivery and humanitarian assistance. Since the civil war ended in 2002, we have had a greater emphasis on building the capacity of local partners to challenge the systems and structures that perpetuate poverty and inequality. Our vision is a Sierra Leone where poor and marginalised women and men have equal access to resources and services and thrive within a responsible state.

A Christian Aid (CA) humanitarian response programme funded by the European Union’s Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations has reached more than 40,000 people affected by the conflict in Konduga area, within Borno State. Food Security and Livelihoods (FSL) and Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) are the major response areas which has targeted the most vulnerable persons. ECHO has empowered Christian Aid to support access to food for the most vulnerable persons in Konduga through cash based interventions. The food security response targeted 18,000 people through a cash transfer intervention to help the vulnerable access food. Those reached through food assistance are spread across five communities within Konduga Local Government Area, in Borno State.

Measuring resilience impact at programme and project levels

A debilitating drought may bring riots and social unrest in one country, but in a neighbouring country, the same problem may be dealt with by citizen mobilisation towards collective action solutions. To a large extent, governance capacity and community resilience explains the nature and structure of the response. In this report, three case studies – from Angola, Mali, and Honduras – of actual responses to climate change and conflict are presented.

For several years Christian Aid has worked through partners to build the resilience of pastoralist communities in Marsabit County in northern Kenya. The fieldwork was carried out over two weeks in May 2017 to assess the value of investing in resilience work. 

A Christian Aid and CAFOD policy paper investigating how agricultural transformation has become a development priority for African governments and the international development community. It is commonly understood as a shift from ‘low’ productivity subsistence agriculture to more commercially-oriented production. This shift is seen as the first step away from the continent’s continued dependence on raw commodity exports, and towards diversified and domestically integrated economies that provide sufficient employment opportunities to the world’s youngest and fastest-growing population.   This is to be welcomed. However, this report highlights the risk that agricultural transformation strategies already underway in some African countries could increase inequality and further degrade the environment. To prevent this from happening agriculture transformation strategies need to: integrate actions that will build the resilience of producer households and wider ecosystems to climate and economic shocks, instead of focusing predominantly on increasing the productivity of smallholders link smallholder producers to the wider domestic economy.  CAFOD and Christian Aid programmes that support small agro-enterprise development, climate resilience building and inclusive agricultural market development include deliberate actions to ensure equitable and environmentally sustainable outcomes. To further promote the integration of these principles in the design and implementation of government policies, we have initiated an on-going dialogue with our partner organisations in Africa to determine how agricultural transformation policies in their own countries can contribute to more equitable and sustainable development.

Christian Aid (CA) conducted this learning review to understand how Participatory, Vulnerability and Capacity Assessments (PVCAs) have helped communities pull funding, resources and services from actors such as the state, private sector, donors and NGOs in the context of the Programme Partnership Arrangement (PPA) programme.

Christian Aid’s resilience framework focuses on partnership, integration and empowerment. Watch this video from Christian Aid Kenya's country manager and community health programme adviser to find out more about our approach and to see examples of what resilience-building means in practice, for communities and our partners.  

A review of the Rice Watch Action Network's Climate Resiliency Field School (CrFS) - a season-long training programme with a focus on sustainable farm training, including increased access to weather and climate forecasts.

Our Resilience Framework sets out how we work with partners to support communities to identify the risks they face, access resources and effectively to achieve sustainable results.

The following nine case studies illustrate how we interpret resilience – as a means of putting communities and individuals at the centre of their own development.