SPARK

Region

West and Central Africa, South and East Africa, Asia an the Pacific

Countries

Burkina Faso, Malawi, Mozambique, India

Main Theme

Rural Inclusion, Disability

Partners

IFAD, Light for the World, ILO

Inclusive Rural Transformation

The project uses a systemic action learning approach to impact the lives of at least 7,000 persons with disabilities. This approach will enable them to become fully engaged in the economic activities of selected agricultural and pastoral value chains, increasing their incomes by 30%, thus tackling poverty and building on the commitments of SDGs and the CRPD. The project will also raise awareness on the potential, aspirations and needs of persons with disabilities by their communities and other stakeholders such as civil society organisations, governments and private actors.

persons with disabilities will be helped

Incomes increased by

We will deliver this by:

Putting persons with disabilities in the lead

We will build a sustainable network of Disability Inclusion Facilitators, who will support awareness raising of disability within IFAD’s implementing partners and stakeholders, sparking more inclusive projects, and support persons with disabilities in accessing support networks and services. Appropriate tools and techniques will be developed enabling disability inclusion to be integrated into existing projects and built into new projects.

Promoting disability inclusion as an integral part of IFAD project design and implementation

We will support IFAD’s understanding and capacities on including persons with disabilities throughout the project cycle. This will include capacity on disability inclusion at the level of program management and staff, partners and stakeholders, budgeting for disability inclusion and inclusive monitoring, evaluation and learning frameworks.

Facilitating innovation labs and co-creation spaces

We will strive to create and share learning regarding best practices in ensuring disability inclusion as well as providing proven best practice, tools and approaches and methodologies. The prototyping of enabling equipment and technologies will be carried out, preparing and sharing designs so that the production of tools can be scaled up in multiple locations.

Creating an enabling environment for the social and economic inclusion of persons with disabilities

We will build the capacity of relevant representative bodies, such as Disabled People’s Organisations (DPOs), farmers and enterprises association and cooperatives, women’s organisations, indigenous peoples’ organisations, and youth associations and networks, to understand the needs of persons with disabilities and to advocate for change, developing policy briefs and recommendations.

Coordination, monitoring and evaluation, communication and knowledge management

We will use an adaptive management approach within the frame of strong coordination and accountability between the partners and project stakeholders. We will promote action learning, document the stories of change and lessons learned along the way.

The project will work in Mozambique, Burkina Faso, Malawi and India where collaboration is sought with the IFAD projects identified in the Terms of References of the call for proposals. Through learning exchanges, dissemination of knowledge and a helpdesk, more IFAD projects can be engaged.

In selecting the consortium with Light for the World International, ILO and Procasur, IFAD will be able to tap into valuable global and country-specific expertise on disability inclusion and disability related networks, international expertise and networks on decent and meaningful jobs, as well as a thoroughly tested and scaled up learning ecosystem.

The project will leave a legacy through increased capacity, innovative approaches and customized tools that can be implemented and used in other IFAD supported programmes and projects to support accelerated inclusion of especially women and youth with disabilities.