The commitment of NETZ, local partners and the people on the ground is not a short-term help, but a common path.

The goal is to permanently improve the living conditions of the most disadvantaged people. But: When exactly is a project successful, and how does it become sustainable? This question accompanies us all the time. We examine our actions and learn from insights. This can be done in a variety of ways – for example, through meaningful figures such as the income generated by project participants in the „Climat-Resilient Livelihoods“ work focus. They earn money by selling chicken eggs, vegetables or reared livestock. We survey how this increases their income and contributes to the success of the families. This is because it allows parents to buy school supplies for their children, repair their homes and build up savings. But earning money is not everything. It is also important to look at how people‘s security of supply is developing. Questionnaires and roundtable discussions are used to find out how diversely families have been able to feed themselves over a longer period of time. In this way, it is possible to see how sustainably the most important goal of the NETZ approach is being achieved: to permanently overcome hunger. The Corona pandemic showed how important this multifaceted view is.

During the crisis, there were fewer opportunities to earn money because local markets remained closed. Project participants were able to sell less produce – yet their food situation improved significantly. The vegetable gardens with potatoes, eggplants and spinach, papaya or even jackfruit and lemon trees had their full effect during the crisis. Families were able to feed themselves independently and diversely as self-supporters. A study of a project in „Climate-Resilient Livelihoods“ showed that more than 90 percent overcame their acute nutritional emergency; more than 70 percent of people who previously could eat only once, and on some days not at all, now eat three nutritious meals a day.

NETZ regularly organizes events to present impact monitoring findings to the public. Local decision-makers and authorities call the poverty reduction exemplary.