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Baseline Food Security Assessments

Introduction to Baseline and Action-oriented Assessments

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

At the end of this lesson you will be able to:

understand what baseline and action-oriented assessments are;

identify differences in terms of purpose, scope and the use of information;

be aware of how baseline and action-oriented assessments complement each other; and

be aware of resources and capacity required for each type of assessment.

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Baseline Food Security Assessments

Introduction to Baseline and Action-oriented Assessments

INTRODUCTION

a given population, under specific circumstances (in a country or

region), at a particular point in time.

What are baseline and action-oriented assessments?

They are investigations to better understand the food security status of:

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Baseline Food Security Assessments

Introduction to Baseline and Action-oriented Assessments

WHAT IS A BASELINE ASSESSMENT?

They might include one or several of the following components:

Understanding their capacities to deal with riskUnderstanding their capacities to deal with risk

Understanding the risks and hazards they are facingUnderstanding the risks and hazards they are facing

Characterization of how the populations live (description of their livelihoods)

Characterization of how the populations live (description of their livelihoods)

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Baseline Food Security Assessments

Introduction to Baseline and Action-oriented Assessments

Baselines are conducted fairly infrequently, as people’s livelihoods typically change relatively slowly.

An initial baseline assessment should represent all the prevailing livelihood systems in the country.

The resulting comprehensive picture will help identify where the most vulnerable population groups (“hot spots”) are located.

5

YEA

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5

YEA

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Assessments

WHAT IS A BASELINE ASSESSMENT?

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Baseline Food Security Assessments

Introduction to Baseline and Action-oriented Assessments

To support programmes and projects for emergency preparedness and disaster mitigation.

WHY IS A BASELINE ASSESSMENT NEEDED?

A reliable diagnosis of a food security situation can be used:

1

2

3

Baseline assessments provide a reference point and rationale to guide various decision-making processes.

As a reference guide for understanding changes and trends.

To inform policies and programmes for long-term development and poverty/vulnerability reduction strategies.

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Baseline Food Security Assessments

Introduction to Baseline and Action-oriented Assessments

UNDERSTANDING CHANGES AND TRENDS

1WHY IS A BASELINE ASSESSMENT NEEDED?

Information provided through baseline assessments indicates the state of food security

at a specific point in time for a specific population.

Repeating this type of assessment at another point in time helps identify:

changes and trends; the explanatory factors; and indicators that should be monitored on a regular

basis.

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Baseline Food Security Assessments

Introduction to Baseline and Action-oriented Assessments

Baseline assessments help to find ways of addressing various constraints that can feed into policies and programmes for

long-term development.

LONG-TERM DEVELOPMENT – POVERTY AND VULNERABILITY REDUCTION STRATEGIES

2WHY IS A BASELINE ASSESSMENT NEEDED?

They help to identify mechanisms and key constraints, challenges and opportunities

towards achieving food security.

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Baseline Food Security Assessments

Introduction to Baseline and Action-oriented Assessments

EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS AND DISASTER MITIGATION

3WHY IS A BASELINE ASSESSMENT NEEDED?

Baseline assessments may help to understand the impacts of potential

disasters to better plan for emergencies.

Having depicted a situation before the occurrence of a shock helps to better understand:

the potential magnitude of the problem, how people could cope with it, the possible level of performance of the

institutions they can rely upon, and what type of external assistance may be needed.

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Baseline Food Security Assessments

Introduction to Baseline and Action-oriented Assessments

What triggers Action-oriented assessments?

a mid-term evaluation/the end of a project or programme, or

a monitoring or early warning assessment that indicates the occurrence of a problem, and the need for more specific information.

WHAT IS AN ACTION-ORIENTED ASSESSMENT?

An action-oriented assessment is used to address a specific issue or problem, and

to outline recommendations that could be immediately translated into actions.

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Baseline Food Security Assessments

Introduction to Baseline and Action-oriented Assessments

WHY IS AN ACTION-ORIENTED ASSESSMENT NEEDED?

DESIGN

IMPLEMENTATION

EVALUATIONAn action-oriented assessment can

inform decision makers on:

whether or not to intervene

the nature and scale of the intervention required

prioritization and allocation of resources

how effective the programme decisions have been.

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Baseline Food Security Assessments

Introduction to Baseline and Action-oriented Assessments

WHY IS AN ACTION-ORIENTED ASSESSMENT NEEDED?

Action-oriented assessments provide:

an understanding of the magnitude of the problem

how long it will last

who are the most vulnerable groups

what is the best response in terms of what is needed, how much and for how long

what would happen if no action was taken (or if there was an inadequate response).

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Baseline Food Security Assessments

Introduction to Baseline and Action-oriented Assessments

as a mid-term evaluation (in order to check whether previous actions are producing the expected outcomes), or

IMPLEMENTATION

EVALUATION

DESIGN

HOW IS AN ACTION-ORIENTED ASSESSMENT USED?

An action-oriented assessment in the course of a project can be performed:

after the occurrence of a specific shock.

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Baseline Food Security Assessments

Introduction to Baseline and Action-oriented Assessments

HOW IS AN ACTION-ORIENTED ASSESSMENT USED?

In a food security emergency assessment, problems might be related to:

lack of food availability (in the

event of crop failure due to drought)

An action-oriented crop assessment will assess the extent of the crop failures

lack of food access (in the event of market failure)

A market assessment will understand the causes of the shock and the impacts

on the most vulnerable, and identify solutions.

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Baseline Food Security Assessments

Introduction to Baseline and Action-oriented Assessments

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN BASELINE AND ACTION-ORIENTED ASSESSMENTS

In terms of purpose, differences are:

Multi-purpose exercises with broad objectives. They:

help decision makers have a better knowledge of a given food security situation,

are focused more on informing medium- and longer-term development planning, programme and project design, monitoring and evaluation, and

provide a reference point to compare situations during a crisis.

They are focused on analysing a problem and identifying what the outcomes and impacts are, in order to trigger a response or corrective action.

BASELINE ASSESSMENTS

ACTION-ORIENTED ASSESSMENTS

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Baseline Food Security Assessments

Introduction to Baseline and Action-oriented Assessments

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN BASELINE AND ACTION-ORIENTED ASSESSMENTS

The difference in terms of scope is threefold, including:

They look at a range of issues affecting the food security status of a given population, to provide a comprehensive understanding of the prevailing situation.

They focus on problem analysis in order to come up with specific recommendations calling for corrective and immediate actions.

BASELINE ASSESSMENTS

ACTION-ORIENTED ASSESSMENTS

1. Issues:

1. the range of issues involved

2. the timeframe

3. the geographical area of intervention

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Baseline Food Security Assessments

Introduction to Baseline and Action-oriented Assessments

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN BASELINE AND ACTION-ORIENTED ASSESSMENTS

They might be used as a reference guide for at least four to five years if the prevailing situation is not subject to a dramatic change.

They are organized on an ad hoc basis, according to specific needs. The information:

is particular to that point in time, and it usually becomes quickly outdated.

They intend to cover a more representative part of the country.

They are usually limited to the specific area(s) where the problem has been identified.

2. TIMEFRAME

3. GEOGRAPHICAL

BASELINE

ACTION-ORIENTED

BASELINE ASSESSMENTS

ACTION-ORIENTED

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Baseline Food Security Assessments

Introduction to Baseline and Action-oriented Assessments

• the number of people who potentially could use the outcome of each assessment type, • the way the information is used.

They have a larger potential number of users. The objective is often to design medium- and long-term development policies, and academic research.

Their objective is often: to change the course of a project, to save lives, or to improve the nutritional status of affected

populations.

BASELINE

ACTION-ORIENTED

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN BASELINE AND ACTION-ORIENTED ASSESSMENTS

In terms of use of information, the difference lies in:

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Baseline Food Security Assessments

Introduction to Baseline and Action-oriented Assessments

HOW ARE BASELINE AND ACTION-ORIENTED ASSESSMENTS RELATED?

Baseline assessments provide an important context for understanding the results of action- oriented assessments.

Baseline assessments provide benchmarks and references as criteria for judging severity in an action-oriented assessment.

Baseline assessments also help differentiate between chronic and transitory food security status.

In particular:

Baseline and action-oriented assessments are different, but closely related in their use and application.

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Baseline Food Security Assessments

Introduction to Baseline and Action-oriented Assessments

HOW ARE BASELINE AND ACTION-ORIENTED ASSESSMENTS RELATED?

BASELINE ASSESSMENT

ACTION ORIENTED

ASSESSMENT

Baseline assessments provide understanding of current situation.

Action-oriented assessments rely upon the results of the baseline assessment to gain a thorough understanding of the current situation.

Results from action-oriented assessments can serve as a basis for updating a previous baseline assessment.

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Baseline Food Security Assessments

Introduction to Baseline and Action-oriented Assessments

RESOURCE CONSTRAINTS

require a substantial amount of human, logistical, technical and financial resources.

are usually under severe time constraints (but require less human and financial resources).

BASELINE ACTION-ORIENTED

Resource constraints can emerge, including:

time constraints,

staff requirements,

logistical requirements, and

financial resources.

practical and financial constraints.

In particular:

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Baseline Food Security Assessments

Introduction to Baseline and Action-oriented Assessments

IF...

The organization conducting the assessment has a good knowledge of the area and has already been working previously in the region...

The organization does not have a good knowledge of the area...

RESOURCE CONSTRAINTS

What to do if an action-oriented assessment is needed, but there is no baseline assessment to guide the process?

Group discussion

What could be done?

IF...What could be done?

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Baseline Food Security Assessments

Introduction to Baseline and Action-oriented Assessments

ASSESSING CAPACITY

Baseline have flexibility in time to allow a thorough assessment of the existing capacities, through an inventory of:

resource persons from academic institutions, local and international NGOs, and civil servants at national and decentralized levels.

multi-agency initiatives are usually required to combine different expertise and mobilize resource persons at local and decentralized levels.

BASELINE ASSESSMENTS

ACTION-ORIENTED

ASSESSMENTS

It is important to know the general level of performance of existing institutions to understand the potential role they can play in supporting

the assessment process.

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Baseline Food Security Assessments

Introduction to Baseline and Action-oriented Assessments

ASSESSING CAPACITY

Several people and institutions may take part in both types of assessments:

• local and international NGOs, • national and local administrative officials,• leaders and staff, • representatives from the private sector,• civil society, • academic and research institutions, etc.

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Baseline Food Security Assessments

Introduction to Baseline and Action-oriented Assessments

Using external resources may also be considered in order to take advantage of an

independent opinion.

In both cases:

ASSESSING CAPACITY

In an emergency situation,timeliness and utility of the assessment may be traded against quality and accuracy.

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Baseline Food Security Assessments

Introduction to Baseline and Action-oriented Assessments

•A baseline food security assessment is a comprehensive description of the food security status of a given population in a country or region at a specific point in time.

•Baseline assessments can be used: as a reference guide for understanding changes and trends; to inform policies and programmes for long-term development and poverty/vulnerability reduction strategies; or to support programmes and projects for emergency preparedness and disaster mitigation.

•An action-oriented assessment is used to address a specific issue or problem in order to come up with recommendations that could be immediately translated into actions.

•In the case of a project evaluation, the outcomes of an action-oriented assessment can help fine-tune current and future actions and lead to a new orientation of the project. In a food security emergency, an action-oriented assessment may be required to assess the extent of the problem.

•Baseline and action-oriented assessments are closely related in their use and application. Baseline assessments can provide context, benchmarks and references for interpreting the results of action oriented assessments.

SUMMARY

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Baseline Food Security Assessments

Introduction to Baseline and Action-oriented Assessments

Online resources:

• Mali Rural Community and Household Food Security Profiles. WFP. http://vam.wfp.org/main/docs/vulnerability_Analysis-some-Examples-Final.pdf in Technical Paper Vulnerability Analysis: concepts and case studies in emergency, recovery and development settings. January 2004. WFP-VAM-Rome.•Concepts and Principles of Household Food Security and Relief Food Management. SCF/UK www.savethechildren.org.uk.•FEWS NET technical note, guidance, baselines: www.FEWS.net.•A review of emergency food security assessment practice in Ethiopia: www.odi.org.uk/hpg/papers/HPGWFP_Ethiopia.PDF •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/documents/networkpaper036.pdf

Additional readings:

•Shoham J., Food Security Information Systems supported by Save the Children U.K., a review. 2005. London.

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