A livelihoods-grounded audit of the Training for Environmental and Agricultural Management (TEAM) project in Lesotho

Abstract

The case study in this research was chosen for inclusion following a first phase review of the use of livelihoods approaches in Tanzania, Uganda and Southern Africa. Training for Environmental and Agricultural Management (TEAM) is a rural livelihoods project that has developed an extension approach that increases the knowledge and improves the practices of rural farmers, including their decision-making and problem-solving abilities. The Project is based on the principles of participation, experiential and adult learning, using teams and self-directed staff and ran from 1995 to 2002. The case study is analysed according to a 'SL-grounded audit' and is divided into two sections: the first a general introduction to the intervention; and the second, a structured response to a series of questions adapted from the sustainable livelihoods (SL) principles. SL principles are one element of sustainable livelihoods approaches. This research adopts these principles as a structuring tool and as a means of pinpointing the practical implications of adopting a sustainable livelihoods approach to development