PROJECT · 2019–2020
Strategies to expand access to income and employment for refugees in Mozambique
Field research and three value-chain proposals, with the LSE and UNHCR.
Overview
In 2019–2020, I joined a London School of Economics (LSE) study, in partnership with UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, on livelihoods in Mozambique. The country was under acute humanitarian strain (the 2019 cyclones; conflict in Cabo Delgado), while the global refugee system was shifting from emergency aid towards economic self-reliance, the "graduation approach".
The problem
Refugees and host communities around the Maratane settlement, in Nampula, needed lasting livelihoods and income, beyond emergency assistance.
What I did
As a Livelihoods Research Assistant with the LSE, working alongside UNHCR, I ran field research (focus groups, interviews and market analysis), studied suppliers, logistics costs, legislation and customs issues, and developed three value-chain proposals: capulana artisanal products, poultry, and tomato processing, framed within the graduation approach (including a community savings-group component). I engaged public and private stakeholders and contributed evidence-based recommendations to the economic self-reliance and social-integration programme. The work centred on designing strategies to improve access to employment for refugees and host communities.