LEARNING OBJECTIVES

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LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• At the end of the lesson, you will be able to
• compare the various food security baseline
  assessment methods and
• understand the criteria for defining an
  appropriate method, building on the options
  available.

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INTRODUCTION

• All baselines
• help understand livelihoods, risk/hazards
  and vulnerability/ resilience
• establish a benchmark from which to analyse
  similar issues under various food security
  contexts.

What are the features of different baseline
assessment methods?
How to determine the most appropriate methods for
your particular circumstances?
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INTRODUCTION
Baseline assessments can be used in three main
decision-making contexts
... To reduce the incidence or severity of shocks
and/or increase the resilience of communities and
households to these shocks, through planning
development or longer-term interventions.
... As a benchmark for understanding the impact
of programme responses (either short- or
long-term) on food security, and informing the
adjustment/re-targeting of ongoing interventions.
... As a benchmark for understanding how a
specific shock or hazard has impacted on the food
security of a specific population and so helping
to plan short-term humanitarian assistance.
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BASELINE ASSESSMENT METHODS
Major types of baseline methods used by different
agencies include
POVERTY AND VULNERABILITY BASELINE ASSESSMENTS
(WORLD BANK)
LIVELIHOODS ASSESSMENTS
(e.g. CARE,
OXFAM)
THE HOUSEHOLD ECONOMY APPROACH
(e.g. SAVE THE CHILDREN
UK, FEWS-NET, FOOD ECONOMY GROUP)
COMPREHENSIVE VULNERABILITY FOOD SECURITY
ASSESSMENTS (WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME - WFP)
PROGRAMME- AND PROJECT-SPECIFIC BASELINE
ASSESSMENTS (e.g. C-SAFE SOUTHERN AFRICA)
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Poverty and Vulnerability Baseline Assessments
(World Bank)
BASELINE ASSESSMENT METHODS
Poverty and Vulnerability Assessment (PVA)
methods are designed to guide macro policy
choices, which influence the overall levels of
poverty and food insecurity.

• Objectives of the PVA
• to make a thorough diagnosis of the prevailing
  situation,
• to understand the underlying causes of poverty
  and vulnerability
• of both rural and urban dwellers,
• to define constraints and opportunities in order
  to draw policy
• recommendations at a macro level for
  decision-making.

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Poverty and Vulnerability Baseline Assessments
(World Bank)
BASELINE ASSESSMENT METHODS
Some of the features of Poverty and Vulnerability
Baseline Assessments
A combination of secondary and primary sources of
information.
Survey method
Different types of expertise are needed at
various steps.
Skills and time required
Is variable and depends on several factors
including available resources.
Frequency of updating
The executive summary of the Zambian 2005 PVA.
Example of baseline product
The Zambian PVA as a main input in the
preparation of the Fifth National Development
Plan.
Usage
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Livelihoods Assessments (e.g. DFID, CARE, OXFAM)
BASELINE ASSESSMENT METHODS
Livelihoods baseline assessments are centred on
people and individuals.

• Their main objective is
• to understand the nature of livelihoods
  strategies and outcomes of the different
  categories of households, and
• to identify the principal constraints and
  opportunities that could be addressed through
  policies and programmes.

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Livelihoods Assessments (e.g. DFID, CARE, OXFAM)
BASELINE ASSESSMENT METHODS
Some of the features of Livelihoods Assessments
A combination of secondary and primary data,
quantitative and qualitative information.
Survey method
Skills and time required
A substantial amount of time and skills.
Is variable, and depends on the needs and
available resources.
Frequency of updating
The Kanai Nagar Community in the Mongla region in
Bangladesh.
Example of baseline product
For programme design and monitoring (CARE) or as
a context in emergency assessments (OXFAM).
Usage

See page 7 in the Learner Notes to read Extracts
of livelihood outcomes from a livelihoods
baseline for the Kanai Nagar Community in the
Mongla region in Bangladesh
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The Household Economy Approach (HEA)
(E.G. Save The
Children UK, FEWS-NET, Food Economy Group)
BASELINE ASSESSMENT METHODS
A type of livelihoods-based analysis centred on
the different ways a given population obtains
food and non food income, in order to make a
living.
An HEA baseline assessment is used as a reference
to identify the impact of a shock on household
access to food and non-food income, in order to
calculate a food gap.
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The Household Economy Approach (HEA)
(E.G. Save The
Children UK, FEWS-NET, Food Economy Group)
BASELINE ASSESSMENT METHODS
This approach follows several steps

• Characterization of a food economy zone
• definition of what a normal year is
• identification of different wealth groups and
  the livelihood strategies of a typical
  household in each wealth group.

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2
Analysis of the extent of the encountered problem.
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Identification of the impact of the problem on
households access to food (including the
sustainability of their coping strategies).
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Assessment of the outcome of households
strategies.
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The Household Economy Approach (HEA)
(E.G. Save The
Children UK, FEWS-NET, Food Economy Group)
BASELINE ASSESSMENT METHODS
Some of the features of the Household Economy
Approach
Secondary sources, primary data, mainly
quantitative information
Survey method
Skills required for an HEA analysis are quite
demanding
Skills and time required
Is variable, but every 4-5 years is the average
Frequency of updating
The Wolayita (Ethiopia) baseline assessment
Example of baseline product
One of the most frequent usesto identify the
food gap to be filled
Usage

See page 9 in the Learner Notes to read more on
the Wolayita (Ethiopia) baseline assessment.
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BASELINE ASSESSMENT METHODS
Comprehensive Vulnerability Food Security
Assessments (WFP)

• CVSA assessments provide an understanding of
• chronic food insecurity and vulnerability
  conditions, and
• how food aid can be used as an appropriate
  response.

• The CVFSA assessments also provide
• development of programming responses tailored to
  areas with the greatest prevalence of
  food-insecure households (through the
  categorization of the populations into different
  vulnerable groups).
• essential information on risks and their
  potential impacts on different population
  groups (for disaster mitigation and
  contingency planning efforts).

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BASELINE ASSESSMENT METHODS
Comprehensive Vulnerability Food Security
Assessments (WFP)
The first steps in the CVFSA
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To identify the vulnerable and where they are
located.
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• To collect primary data in order to understand
• why, when and how many people are chronically
  food-insecure and
• to what degree, and how to address their food
  insecurity and vulnerability.

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BASELINE ASSESSMENT METHODS
Comprehensive Vulnerability Food Security
Assessments (WFP)
Some of the features of CVSA
Both secondary data analysis and primary data
collection
Survey method
Usually conducted by international experts time
required is around 18 months.
Skills and time required
Frequency of updating
About 4-5 years
WFP conducted a CVFSA in Niger in 2005
Example of baseline product
Better targeting and contingency planning.
Usage

See page 11 in the Learner Notes to read more on
the CVFSA conducted by WFP in Niger.
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BASELINE ASSESSMENT METHODS
Programme-and Project-specific Baseline
Assessments (C-SAFE)
Baselines can be constructed around a specific
programme or project.

• These assessments help to
• understand the context of the programme or
  project, and
• identify benchmarks against which expected
  achievements can be compared and impact assessed.

See page 12 in the Learner Notes to read a case
study (Consortium for Southern-Africa Food
Emergency) which illustrates the use of baseline
assessments applied to specific programmes.
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BASELINE ASSESSMENT METHODS
Programme-and Project-specific Baseline
Assessments (C-SAFE)
The common characteristics of the methods
illustrated by the C-SAFE case studies
An approach based on a formal sample survey.
Survey method
Usually conducted by international consultants
time required is approximately 6 months.
Skills and time required
Example of product (1)
C-SAFE Zimbabwe
The C-SAFE in Iraq has been used by WFP for
better targeting and contingency planning.
Example of product (2)

See page 13 in the Learner Notes for more
information on the examples.
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STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF EACH METHOD
Lets see the purpose, strengths and limitations
of each method.
Poverty and Vulnerability Baseline Assessments
(World Bank)
Planning long-term responses to reduce
vulnerability and poverty.
Context/Purpose

• Examines effects of macro-level policies and
  governance on welfare.
• Strong analysis of risk and vulnerability.
• Large and representative sample data which
  other analyses can utilize.

Strengths

• Emphasis on national-level conclusions and
  lacks disaggregated analysis.
• Complex and expensive, requiring international
  expertise.

Limitations
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STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF EACH METHOD
Livelihoods Assessments (CARE, OXFAM)

• Organizing and empowering communities for
  providing responses to poverty and chronic food
  insecurity.
• Providing a context for emergency assessments.

Context/Purpose

• Comprehensive livelihoods analysis including
  ethnicity, customs, religions, gender,
  institutions.
• Empowers local populations for long-term
  development goals.

Strengths

• Detailed local analysis cannot be easily scaled
  up to the national level.
• Difficult to standardize within and across
  countries and regions for comparison purposes.

Limitations
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STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF EACH METHOD
Household Economy Approach (SC UK, FEWS-NET,
Food Economy Group)
Mainly providing a context for emergency
assessment of food needs.
Context/Purpose

• Transparent method for analysing food access and
  developing quantitative estimates of food gaps.
• Analysis disaggregated by livelihood zones and
  wealth groups.

Strengths

• Inadequate framework for linking community-level
  and macro-level analysis.
• Does not analyse intra-household dynamics, e.g.
  how gender affects access.

Limitations
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STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF EACH METHOD
Comprehensive Vulnerability Food Security
Assessments (WFP)

• Examines causes of chronic vulnerability and
  food insecurity.
• Provides a basis for targeting and contingency
  planning.

Context/Purpose

• Provides a rationale for internal policies and
  programmes of the implementing agency.

Strengths

• Weak ownership of results by the wider
  humanitarian community.
• Requires substantial financial resources for
  survey implementation and high technical skills
  for data analysis.

Limitations
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STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF EACH METHOD
Programme- and project-specific baseline
assessments (C-SAFE South Africa)

• Assesses impact and allows fine tuning for
  implementation of project and programme.

Context/Purpose

• Geared to the needs of decision-makers in a
  specific project or programme context.
• Integrated with arrangements for regular
  monitoring.

Strengths

• Limited relevance to the broader food security
  and development community.

Limitations
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BLENDING METHODS
The baseline approaches often combine or blend
similar analytical methods and information
sources.
They also utilize a combination of secondary and
primary data sources.

• National surveys, like the World Bank surveys,
• Living Conditions and Monitoring Surveys,
• Population Census, and
• Demographic and Health Surveys.

Example of sources of secondary information
Secondary information is complemented and
triangulated with data collected through
Formal surveys or semi-structured interviews at
focus group, key informant and household levels.
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BLENDING METHODS
The baseline approaches often blend quantitative
and qualitative data.
Quantitative data
Qualitative data
Enable to systematically measure the food
security situation and provide a representative
snapshot.
Enable to capture the processes and interactions
between social, political, institutional and
economic factors(which determine vulnerability
to food insecurity over time).
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BLENDING METHODS
Another possibility
to identify the approaches with the most
appropriate strengths, and incorporate them into
your specific baseline assessment methodology
(according to your circumstances).
Example

If HIV/AIDS and socio-cultural constraints are
critical issues in your particular environment,
the strengths of the C-SAFE methodology could be
combined with those of CARE HLS, in order to come
up with an adequate baseline assessment method.
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DEFINING AN APPROPRIATE METHOD
The choice may also be based on the following
criteria
The information gap which should be analysed, to
identify the best methodology to provide the
missing data.
The institutional capacity to implement and
sustain the selected method (including staff
skills and logistical and financial resources).
The existing food security information system, on
which the methodology should rely.
Constraints in accessing local populations (for
example, due to security reasons).
Different institutional settings and objectives,
which lead to adopting different options.
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DEFINING AN APPROPRIATE METHOD
Finally, some issues to consider when selecting
an appropriate methodology include
Buy-in of main institutions
Maintain a balance between compromise and dogma
Building local capacity for sustainability and
ownership
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SUMMARY

• Baseline assessment methods differ in scope and
  purpose but they all provide a means to establish
  a benchmark from which to analyse similar issues
  under various food security contexts.
• Five main examples of food security baseline
  approaches have been identified
• Poverty and Vulnerability Baseline Assessments
  (World Bank)
• Livelihoods Assessments (e.g. DFID, CARE, OXFAM)
• Household Economy Approach (e.g. Save the
  Children UK, FEWS-NET, Food Economy Group)
• Comprehensive Vulnerability Food Security
  Assessments (WFP)
• Programme- and project-specific baseline
  assessments (e.g. C-SAFE, CARE, WFP)
• In practical terms, baselines often use a
  combination or blend of methods.
• One way to blend methods is to use an appropriate
  combination of secondary and primary data
  sources. Quantitative and qualitative data can
  also be blended to complement each other.
• A second way may be to identify within the
  different methods those which have the most
  appropriate strengths and could be incorporated
  into your specific baseline assessment
  methodology according to your circumstances.

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IF YOU WANT TO KNOW MORE...

• Online resources
• The Food Economy Approach A Framework for
  Understanding Rural Livelihoods. Boudreau
• www.odihpn.org/pdfbin/networkpapers026.pdf.
• WFP Iraq food security baseline
  http//www.womenwarpeace.org/webfm_send/508
• Young H., S. Jaspars, R. Brown, J. Frize, H.
  Khogali, Food security assessments in emergency
  a livelihoods approach. Humanitarian Network
  Paper 36, ODI, June 2001. http//www.odihpn.org/do
  cuments/networkpaper036.pdf
• Additional readings
• Shoham J., Food Security Information Systems
  supported by Save the Children U.K., a review.
  2005. London.