CARE Market and Livelihood Capacity Analysis

Erbil and Duhok Governorates - Iraq

March 2020
Table of Contents
List of Acronyms ............................................................................................................................ 1
Executive Summary ....................................................................................................................... 2
Background and Rationale ........................................................................................................ 2
Key Recommendations ............................................................................................................. 2
Scope of Assessment and Methodology........................................................................................ 3
Scope of Assessment ................................................................................................................. 3
Methodology............................................................................................................................. 3
Secondary Source Information .............................................................................................. 3
Primary Source Information .................................................................................................. 3
Data Analysis and Reporting ................................................................................................. 4
Data Sampling ........................................................................................................................... 4
Methodological Limitations ...................................................................................................... 5
Assessment Results ....................................................................................................................... 5
Livelihood Opportunities ........................................................................................................... 5
Business Opportunities ......................................................................................................... 6
Employment Opportunities................................................................................................... 6
Recommendations ................................................................................................................ 7
Livelihood for Women and Persons with Disability ................................................................... 7
Recommendations ................................................................................................................ 8
Vulnerabilities ........................................................................................................................... 8
Recommendations: ............................................................................................................... 8
Factors affecting local businesses ............................................................................................. 9
Community Perspective ............................................................................................................ 9
Recommendations: ............................................................................................................... 9
Annexures ................................................................................................................................... 10
List of Acronyms
CARE Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere
CRSM CRSM Consulting
FGD Focus group discussions
HHS Household survey
IDP Internally displaced persons
INGO International non-governmental organizations
KRI Kurdistan region of Iraq
NNGO National non-governmental organizations
BPRM Bureau of population refugees and migration
PwD Persons with Disability
TORs Terms of reference
UN United Nations organizations

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Executive Summary
Background and Rationale
CARE International in Iraq is designing a project for future sustainable livelihood, protection, and GBV
interventions in Erbil and Duhok Governorates. For this, it needs to better understand local
livelihood actors, private and public sector, existing knowledge and skillset of the target
communities, legal and policy obstacles, relevant migration patterns of beneficiary populations,
and the socio-political structures (such as land ownership, markets, ethnicity, gender etc.)
The purpose of this assessment is to inform the upcoming project about a holistic understanding
of the local private sector in the planned project locations, its dynamics, and the demand for
skilled labor. The assessment will also enable the CARE staff to better understand the specific
needs and concerns of women, girls, men, and boys, and how their roles/responsibilities in the
household and the community may have changed since the conflict.
The specific objective of this assessment is to identify market-based economic opportunities and
review existing value chains accessible to vulnerable target groups, with focus on women and youth.
This means the identification of up to three sectors that the most vulnerable people are working in or
offered work opportunities with considering the sectors of digital economy, sustainable green
businesses, and female small-scale social enterprises.
Key Recommendations
1. The project should offer employment and livelihood opportunities to the beneficiaries. A
matrix of livelihood opportunities, developed on the basis of employers’ recommendations,
human resources available in the community, and gender, is given below:

Sr# Livelihood Sectors Preferred Suitable for PwD

Gender
1. Animal farming Men Not suitable
2. Sewing Women Highly suitable
3. Beauty saloon Women Partially suitable
4. Grocery shop Men Partially suitable
5. Barber shop Men Not suitable
6. Digital marketing Both Partially suitable
7. Cooking/Baking and selling Women Highly Suitable
8. Online shop Both Highly Suitable
9. Mobile phone repairing Men Highly suitable

2. The project should develop a scoring system for the identification and selection of
beneficiaries. This scoring should include weightage for education, experience, poverty,
vulnerability/disability, and existing skills.
3. The project should design and offer livelihood opportunities in consultation with the
beneficiaries. These livelihoods should be flexible and should provide options to vulnerable,
disabled, and women beneficiaries in the project areas.
4. The project should include components of market linkages for these livelihoods through
local employers and business associations (i.e. chamber of commerce).
5. The project team should include livelihood options professionals and should engage
technical experts on the businesses offered to the beneficiaries.
6. For enhancing beneficiary employability, vocational training courses, related to the livelihood
skills and apprenticeships should be arranged and provided. All recommended courses should
include marketing and communication (including CV writing, interviewing, job hunting, and

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 English language courses) and computer education (like MS office etc., if relevant) as a part of
curriculum.

Scope of Assessment and Methodology

Scope of Assessment
The scope of the analysis was to gain a holistic understanding of the local private sector in the targeted
project locations, its dynamics, and the demand for skilled labor. Additionally, the analysis looked to
better understand the specific needs and concerns of women, girls, men, and boys, and how their
roles/responsibilities in the household and the community may have changed since the conflict.
The assessment looked into the following areas:
1) What types of business / vocational opportunities are likely to exist in the target regions in
the near future?
2) What types of businesses / vocations are likely to decline in relevance / become over-
saturated in the near future?
3) Analysis of the major constraints for women and girls and youths in pursuing the identified
livelihood and vocational employment opportunities in the target locations, with a focus on
gender constraints.
4) What are the key success factors for different types of livelihoods / vocations investigated?
5) What types of behavior / skills / attitudes / attributes do successful business owners display
across the different sectors?
6) To understand how the conflict has affected/changed the traditional roles in this community
and what are/were the roles/responsibilities of women, girls, men, and boys before/after the
conflict? What are the main differences in roles and responsibilities within genders and ages
compared to before and during the crisis?
7) What are the resources in the household? What are the resources in the community? What
are the available technical skills in specific sectors of employment within the target
communities; the behaviors, values, and work ethics; teamwork and ability to cooperate well
with others; communication and leadership skills, decision-making and problem-solving;
customer-service orientation; business set up and marketing expertise?
8) What types of livelihoods are available to women? To men?
9) Who controls the household resources? Who decides on the use of the household resources?
What do women control? What do men control? What do children (girls/boys) control? Would
decisions over what the money is spent on be different if women in the household
received/earned the money?
10) What are the biggest types of vulnerabilities in the community and who is affected by them?
11) What are some potential areas in the labor market, that women and girls might have
opportunity to grow into, without enforcing traditional gender roles and norms?
The assessment was implemented in Sumel, Akre, Deraluk districts, Duhok Center, Erbil Center and
Qushtappa district.
Methodology
Secondary Source Information
A desk review of relevant studies/need assessments form other NGOs, UN agencies, and
governmental department in the area was completed.
Primary Source Information
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A team of ten enumerators collected qualitative and quantitative data from a selected sample in the
target areas. Due to the Covid-19 outbreak in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI), the KRI government
imposed lockdown. Due to this limitation on travelling, the team of enumerators collected the data
through phone calls using the following tools:
- Survey from beneficiaries, including persons with disabilities.
- Key informant interviews with employers, mayors, NGOs working in livelihood sector, Mukhtars,
and Human rights activists, etc.
Data Analysis and Reporting
On the basis of desk review and primary data, data was analyzed and compiled. The findings and
recommendations are presented in this report.
Data Sampling
The sample size was 384, calculated following a 95% confidence interval and 5% margin of error with
the attribute of unknown population. However, due to restriction in movement on account of Covid-
19 in the region, the enumerators could only collect data from 383 respondents with the following
details:
Location Tool Male Female Total
Survey - Beneficiary 43 41 84
Interview - Employer 3 0 3
Interview - Human Rights Activists 1 0 1
Sumel Interview - Mayor 1 0 1
Interview - Mukhtar 1 0 1
Interview - NGOs Working in Livelihood 0 1 1
Interview - Project/Partner Staff 1 0 1
TOTAL 50 42 92
Survey - Beneficiary 104 24 128
Interview - Employer 2 0 2
Interview - Human Rights Activists 0 1 1
Akre Interview - Mukhtar 1 0 1
Interview - NGOs Working in Livelihood 1 0 1
TOTAL 108 25 133
Survey - Beneficiary 6 47 53
Interview - Employer 1 1 2
Deraluk Interview - Human Rights Activists 0 1 1
Interview - Mayor 1 0 1
TOTAL 8 49 57
Survey - Beneficiary 25 27 52
Duhok Interview - NGOs Working in Livelihood 0 1 1
Center
Interview - Project/Partner Staff 0 3 3

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 TOTAL 25 31 56
Erbil Survey - Beneficiary 12 5 17
Center
TOTAL 12 5 17
Survey - Beneficiary 10 15 25
Qushtappa Interview - Human Rights Activists 2 1 3
TOTAL 12 16 28
Grand Total 215 168 383

Methodological Limitations
Enumerators were not able to visit the project locations for data collection due to lock down in Iraq
on account of Covid-19. The data was, therefore, collected through phone calls, limiting the
achievement of targets at certain locations.
Many of the beneficiaries, contacted by the enumerators through calls, did not attend the calls. This
has caused more than expected time to collect the data. The planned focus group discussions with the
beneficiaries were unable to be implemented.

Assessment Results
Livelihood Opportunities
Majority of the respondents in the project areas depend on private jobs (IDPs – 59%, Refugees – 19%,
Host – 22%). These private jobs include working on daily wages or on the basis of
incentives/commission, for example, a delivery boy gets the commission/incentive on the basis of
number of orders delivered. One of the reasons for these petty jobs, being done by the respondents,
is the lack of industry or agricultural farming (corporate farming) in the project area that can offer jobs
to the beneficiaries and provide skills enhancement. There are a significant number of people who are
depending upon irregular sources of income, i.e. assistance from charity organizations/individuals and
retirement benefits. The respondents depending on charity from organizations and individuals are
mostly illiterate or less educated (maximum primary education) IDPs, 70% of them are living in camps
in Akre. These respondents didn’t mention any other source of income. Many of the respondents are
dependent on other family members, i.e. husband or father, for their livelihood.
The attitude of the people that were assessed, revealed that most of the respondents (60%) are
interested in employment and are looking for fixed source of income. The ratio of people interested
in employment is higher in Deraluk - 81%, Duhok Center – 65%, Qushtappa – 100% and Erbil Center –
88%. Yet, employers are seeking experienced, educated, and trained people for their businesses.
Therefore, there is a gap and experience that needs to be fulfilled.
Out of all respondents interviewed, 40% are interested in establishing their own businesses. The gaps
in this area are business/vocational training and availability of capital. It is worth mentioning here that
the number of respondents, interested in doing business, is higher in Akre (55%) and Sumel (52%).
The possible reasons for this tendency are higher percentage of male respondents: 81%, in Akre
compared with other locations and higher percentage of less educated respondents in Akre and
Sumel. Out of total respondents, 91% in Akre, and 87% in Sumel have below secondary education,
which is higher than in the other locations : Qushtappa (56%), Duhok Center (52%), Erbil center (76%),
and Deraluk (53%). Due to their lower level of education, their employability aspects are less than
beneficiaries of other locations, that is why they are more inclined towards doing the business.

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 Business Opportunities
Only 27% of female respondents reported wanting to be involved in business, compared with 50% of
male respondents. This is likely due to the cultural limitations for women: lesser mobility (especially
in non-urban settings) and dependency on other family members, normally men, for decision making.
The IDPs (52%) are more inclined towards business compared with refugees (31%) and host
community members (16%).
Women are mostly interested in the following livelihoods: beauty salon, sewing, and sales/marketing
and some of them have experience and skills in these sectors from prior to displacement. Men are
interested in, and having experience in, marketing, animal farming, and grocery businesses.
It is pertinent to mention here that the major factors (soft skills) for running successful businesses are
attitude, experience, and marketing/communication skills of the entrepreneurs. These soft skills
should be included in any curriculum to be developed for the potential entrepreneurs’ training. Other
factors, that success of an entrepreneur heavily depends upon, are business ethics, smart working,
socializing, planning, and the availability of capital.

Major challenges
Some of the surveyed beneficiaries informed that they have experience in business prior to
displacement and now their biggest challenge to starting their own business is lack of financial
resources.
In order to understand changing business and social environment and to update their knowledge and
skills according to the market requirements, the beneficiaries need vocational training (VT) or courses.
Employment Opportunities
The education level of 62% of the men and 60% of the women respondents is below primary level
(34% are illiterate and 27% have primary education) and only 23% of the respondents have graduation
or higher-level education. The level of education below primary in IDPs, host community, and refugees
is 78%, 29%, and 47%, respectively.
Most of the respondents are doing irregular jobs in companies and local businesses such as daily
workers (unskilled), drivers, and barbers, etc. There are limited opportunities for working in big
companies or factories due to lesser education and the civil status of being a refugee or IDP/host. It is
required by all refugees to have a work permit for any work or business, in case they want to register.
Those living in city centers have a higher possibility of employment, subject to the provision of
adequate training and apprenticeships. The potential for this project to provide employability and
market facing trainings and apprenticeship opportunities to the beneficiaries will increase their
chances of getting employment.

Major challenges
The major challenge in seeking employment is the economic situation of the region, and the limited
education level and experience of the beneficiaries. The employers will also consider the civil status
of the beneficiary before hiring, which will effect on the amount of salary they receive - refugees and
IDPs are offered, and have agreed to, work on lesser remuneration compared to the members of the
host community.
The employability of women in the project areas is limited due to cultural and social norms. In most
of the cases, women are not allowed to travel out of their neighborhood or into the city for
employment. However, women have less restrictions on their mobility in the urban centers of Duhok
and Erbil, compared with non-urban project areas.
There is a change in the role of women in the society after the conflict, but still most of the decisions,
especially related to livelihoods, are taken by the men, who are normally the heads of the family. In
case there are no men in the family (father or husband), women take over responsibility for the
decisions and take care of their children and are also responsible for income generation.
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 Recommendations
1. The livelihood program should be flexible to meet the requirements of all levels of education,
especially for those beneficiaries with below primary level of education. For IDPs, VT courses that
require limited/no education levels should be designed. However, the IDPs are do plan to return
back to their home areas eventually, so focus on livelihoods that can support early return, with
less credit sale, and can be easily transferrable on their return to their hometown, like sewing or
marketing. Some of the examples of their preferred trades are sewing, marketing, animal farming,
etc.
2. As the level of education is higher in the host community, the VT courses that include some level
of education should be offered, i.e. trading business, digital marketing, etc.
3. The program should include both employment and business components.
4. As 63% of the respondents are of the view that business opportunities are more than the job
opportunities in the area, the project should allocate more resources for promoting
entrepreneurship in the project areas.
5. Below are the trades for businesses preferred by the beneficiaries and other respondents. These
are also suggested by the labor market assessments conducted by other organizations in the
project area.
- Beautician
- Barber
- Poultry and other animal farming (i.e. goats and sheep)
- Butchering
- Sewing and selling
- Cooking/baking at home and selling online or in offices
- Online selling of different products. This business is suitable for persons with disabilities
with some level of literacy.
6. From the employers’ perspective, the major skills required in the market are marketing/sales,
communication, and workplace ethics. Therefore, it is suggested that the marketing/sales should
be a part of all the courses and trainings.
7. For increasing employability, courses related to the following should be offered to the
beneficiaries on the basis of their experience, skills and qualification:
- English language
- Communication (written and verbal)
- Computer skills
- Employability trainings like CV making, job hunting, interviewing skills, etc.
- Marketing and sales. This is the most important and needed skill in all project areas. There
can be general and business specific training on marketing and sales including online and
digital marketing.
8. To increase employability, the project should offer internships or apprentices to the beneficiaries.
These apprentices will be paid and will be arranged in collaboration with local business
associations and chambers of commerce.
9. Project should train the beneficiaries and provide them market linkages opportunities through
seminars, meetings, etc. and provide seed money for business startups.
Livelihood for Women and Persons with Disability
The role of women has changed over the years and as a result of the conflict 18% of the respondents’
families are headed by women. They are responsible for livelihoods, health, and education of their
dependents. Women are also contributing in earning livelihood with the men in their families.
However, in traditional families, the movement of women and girls is limited or depending on the
permissions from head of family.
The proportion of disabilities in the respondents is higher in men (79%) than women (21%). As mostly
men are the bread winner of the family, their disability adds more burden to the family, as this may

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increase child labor and negative coping strategies to earn livelihoods by their families. PwD specific
business and employment opportunities should be explored by the project.
Recommendations
1. Women friendly businesses should be designed and offered according to their locality, age,
qualification, skills and experience. Some of the women respondents confirmed that they have
experience of doing business but due to lack of finances and other family reasons, they are unable
to do the business. Some of the preferred businesses for women are:
a. Cooking/baking at home and supplying the food to restaurants or offices.
b. Online selling
c. Beautician
d. Sewing
e. Marketing and sales
2. To encourage women’s participation in the livelihood activities, women from the communities
should be part of planning and implementation activities. They should be involved in:
a. Selection of beneficiaries for employment and business program.
b. Addressing women specific complaints.
c. Encouraging women to attend training and apprenticeship programs.
3. Special courses should be designed for persons with disabilities like tutoring, sewing, cooking and
online businesses etc.
Vulnerabilities
The vulnerabilities of the population in the project area are higher in the camps setting compared with
the city centers. Vulnerability was assessed according to the following indicators:
- Number of persons earning in the family
- Number of disabled persons in the family
- Women headed family
- Family living in unfinished homes
- Number of earning persons in family
Vulnerability is higher in Akre where 37% (IDPs and refugees) are living in unfinished homes. The
ownership of land is also lower in Akre among the responded (only 10%).
Below are the biggest vulnerabilities in the project areas:
- Women headed families (18%): The age of the head of the family is also an element to assess
vulnerability
- Families with disables persons (17%)
- Living in unfinished home (5%)
In total, only 6% of respondents own land (45% women and 55% men) of which 10% are using this
land for revenue generation. Similarly, the decisions related to livelihoods, finances, family
relationships, and external issues are being taken by men. In order to engage women in project
activities, it is vital to engage men in the family to make the project activities culturally adaptive. The
boys and girls under the age of 18 have very limited control or decision making powers in the family.
Most of their decisions are taken by their elders however, in some cases they work as child labor to
support their families.
Recommendations:
1. While designing the criteria for selection of beneficiaries for employability or livelihood training,
vulnerability should be assessed and must be a part of selection criteria.
2. The vulnerability should be assessed on the basis of:
- Number of persons employed in a family
- Women headed families including age of head of family

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 - Children headed families
- Families living in unfinished homes or camp settings
- Number of orphans in a family
- Per person income in a family
- Families with persons with medical/mental conditions, disability or old age
Factors affecting local businesses
In recent past, there have been drastic changes in the economic outlook of the project region. The
current outbreak of Covid-19 and lockdown in the project area has caused an economic meltdown of
the region with a dire limit on livelihood opportunities. Due to this rapidly changing environment, the
selection of appropriate livelihood options for the beneficiaries will be highly critical.
The project should incorporate the risk management process in all stages of project. The risk areas of
project as a whole are:
1. Political Risk: the changes in political environment of Iraq and KRI, in specific, may hinder the
project activities or may cause delays. The political change may cause significant increase in
the number of refugees in the region.
2. Legal Risk: the change in legislation may effect project activities or the scope of these
activities. The change in government policies and donor’s priorities can affect the activities in
positive or negative ways.
3. Security Risk: The security risk is a matter of concern for NGOs working in the areas due to
escalation of rivalry among the countries having stakes in the region. This is a critical area and
needs a thorough assessment before the start of project activities.
Community Perspective
The community perspective, about local businesses, in particular those that receive seed money from
the project, will play a vital role in the success of the project. The behavior, understanding of local
context ,and designing the appropriate business models will be a challenge for the project. It is highly
recommended that the selected beneficiaries should be trained in the following aspects of the
business:
- Business ethics and behavior
- Understanding the business models
- Business sustainability
- Business expansion
Recommendations:
1. Due to the uncertain economic situation on account of Covid-19 outbreak, the project should take
prudent decisions about all the aspects of the project cycle especially about the selection of
businesses/livelihoods for beneficiaries.
2. The following courses should be offered to the beneficiaries opt for doing their own businesses:
- Understanding currency and money market
- Business planning
- Financial planning
- Bookkeeping and accounting
- Market research and linkages
- Sales and marketing techniques
- Savings, business expansion and sustainability
- Quality assurance in business
3. The monitoring system should provide updated information about key indicators to make sure
that businesses are running as per plan. The project should have businessperson in project team
with good market knowledge and linkages in the business community.

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4. It is highly recommended that the beneficiary should invest some portion of equity in the business
in case project will be providing seed money. The equity from the entrepreneur may be in kind, in
cash, or in form of time and efforts.

Annexures
❖ Annex-1 Inception report
❖ Annex-2 Data Collection tools
❖ Annex-3 Raw Data

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