Sustainable Livelihoods Enhancement and Diversification (SLED)

4.2 Building confidence and appreciating strengths
For people, such as the poor, who are used to seeing almost any change as a threat, helping them to
recognise and mobilise their own strengths – such as adaptability, resilience, skills and knowledge – is often
a key step in building their capacity to deal with, and take advantage of, change. What is widely called
“empowerment” of the poor should consist of exactly this.
Coupled with this must be the process of building the confidence that people have in their own capacity, and
the capacity of others in their community to participate in and drive the process of livelihood change. This
process influences the very nature of the SLED approach and this is reflected by the emphasis on strengths,
past success and potential throughout the steps in the Discovery and Direction phases. However, there may
be specific activities that the project team can undertake with the community that are designed to do just this.
An example may be celebrating community culture, mobilising the community to undertake specific activities
or celebrating success stories within the community.
Though initiated at the beginning of the SLED process, this focus on confidence and appreciation of
strengths and potential will need to be continually reinforced, even as people begin to take steps towards
livelihood change in the Doing Phase.
Perceptions of SLED from the field:
Changing self perceptions and belief
Families belonging, to a traditional coconut collectors caste (Raveri) considered as low casts, had very
limited aspirations, based on a low level of self esteem.
Following a SLED visioning session they took stock of their strengths. They discovered that their strengths
lay within themselves. In particular while they had seen their status as coconut collectors as negative, they
realised that in fact the coconut was a very important component of the diet of Lakshadweep islanders.
As a result of the SLED sessions four women have started a Bonda (sweetmeat) making Unit in kendiparty,
Athiri Koluge. They now specialise in making, coconut jaggery, coconut, sweets called maliku bondi and
coconut vinegar. They have a turn over of around Rs30,000 – 40,000/month and a profit between 10-15
thousand a month.
CARESS, SLED field level implementer, Lakshadweep Islands, India
4.3 Establishing ownership of the process
Building a strong “internal engine” for change will provide an important impetus for SLED. This “internal
engine” will be formed by the individuals, groups and community as a whole, who are empowered to take
part in and ultimately lead the SLED process. This presents the project team with a significant challenge.
Helping people to take ownership means that interventions should focus on people, as opposed to what they
produce, the resources they exploit or the tools and equipment they use. SLED teams need to focus on
promoting:
Community empowerment - Interventions that are empowering are likely to be implemented using
participatory approaches, with their intended “beneficiaries” or “target groups” playing at least an equal role
in both identifying what sorts of interventions are appropriate and in managing their implementation. This
means that development agencies are more likely to adopt a more catalytic and facilitating role, sharing the
responsibility for implementation with the people who they are working with. Being participatory means
valuing and making use of the contributions of the different people involved (not just our contributions) and
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