A guide to indicators and methods for assessing the contribution of livestock keeping to Livelihoods of the poor

How can the ways in which livestock contribute to poor people&rsquo;s livelihoods be measured? What factors need to be considered in evaluating the impact of livestock-focused development interventions?This guide, produced for DFID&rsquo;s Livestock Production Programme, sets out a systematic way of investigating the many contributions of livestock keeping to poor people&rsquo;s livelihoods.<br /><br />It is intended as a resource for development workers engaging with poor livestock keepers, to help in assessing possible new technologies, prioritising and designing interventions to improve livestock keepers&rsquo; livelihoods, monitoring and evaluating specific projects, and impact assessment of changes in livestock keeping on livelihoods. The methods described build on an analysis of assets which draws attention to how the different characteristics of assets may contribute to livelihoods in a variety of ways, according to:<ur></ur>Their functions in production, consumption, as &lsquo;buffering&rsquo; or insurance mechanisms, and as savings and accumulation strategies. Their attributes &ndash; such as holding costs; durability; security; and convertability &ndash; and the reasons why certain attributes might be desirable or undesirable. The changing importance of functions and the changing effectiveness of assets and activities in fulfilling these functions over time in contexts of changing markets and technical and social opportunities.The publication emphasises that:<ur></ur>The matrices presented as steps in the methodology should be used not as a blueprint, but as a set of ideas from which other and better methods can be developed matching particular contexts. The utility and effectiveness of the indicators and methods will be compromised if they are not used in a participatory way.