Care Responsiveness of Livelihoods Programming: The Enterprise Development Programme, Oxfam Nepal

Abstract

Oxfam launched the Enterprise Development Programme (EDP) in Nepal in 2011. As a livelihoods programme, it aims to develop capabilities and markets for small rural enterprises, with a specific focus on women. The programme targets those agricultural sub-sectors that create opportunities for women at various levels, including at the levels of production, access to the market and leadership and management. This Programmatic Note examines Nepal’s EDP programme to understand how women’s economic empowerment (WEE) policy and programming can generate a ‘double boon’ – paid work that empowers women and provides more support for their unpaid care work responsibilities. It discusses what works for and what hinders a “double boon’, and makes suggestions on what steps can be taken in order to engender a double boon.