Blogs

In April, the Africa Research in Sustainable Intensification for the Next Generation (Africa RISING) and Nile Basin Development Challenge (NBDC) jointly organised a Training of Trainers workshop in the use of SLATE: A tool for Sustainable Livelihoods Asset Evaluation. Held in Addis Ababa and in Jeldu woreda, 30 participants from the Africa RISING’s 4 project sites and NBDC Innovation platforms attended the training. The training combined both conceptual and practical sessions.

On the First day, Peter Thorne and Amare Haileslassie  shared the previous SLATE based survey processes and findings undertaken at Bekoje, Arsi and Steps on data collection and software demonstration. This was then followed by a group exercise to familiarize the participants with the software.
For the field work, trainees were divided up in to three Kebeles (Seriti, Kolu Gelan and Chelanko) in Jeldu woreda of the Oromia Region. During the first day of the field work, each group had a chance to meet and discuss with selected farmers to identify livelihoods indicators for their specific communities. With the selected farmers each group were able to identify 49-53 livelihoods indicators. On the second and third day individual household interviews were conducted with farmers (50 farmers in each kebele) to assess their asset status based on the already identified livelihoods assets indicators. The data collected from each household were then entered in the SLATE software to generate a set of livelihoods asset pentagons which gave a quick overview of the areas in which households and communities may differ.
On the last day of the training, participants presented review of the field exercise which covered the approaches they followed, the challenges and lessons learned , the results of their interviews as well as key issues for future considerations.Read More on wiki about the training http://africa-rising.wikispaces.com/SLATE+training