An important part of its brief has been using sustainable livelihoods approaches to promote asset/vulnerability concepts of poverty within non-specialist sectors - e.g.: Engineering, Aquaculture; Conservation, Health, and Beekeeping - through providing briefing papers and presentations, capacity building, institutional support and programme implementation.

Recent CDS SL related work has concentrated on:

• providing social analysis inputs to take forward thinking on SL
• using SL principles in the design and implementation of poverty assessments with national governments, research institutions and multi-laterals;
• providing long-term support to civil society partner organisations in India, Botswana, Philippines and Cameroon implementing, monitoring and evaluating livelihood approaches to NRM;
• Sector reform (including policy development, impact assessment and the institutional change process);
• Social appraisal, planning and evaluation.
  

CDS has been active in developing curriculum, training materials including case studies and short courses related to sustainable livelihoods. It is also working on integrating rights based approaches to development with the SLA through on-going research and dialogue with development partners and donors.