Food Security and

Livelihoods (FSL) –
Needs Assessment tools

Wednesday, November 30, 2022

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WHY DO WE NEED AN FSL ASSESSMENT
Identify the impact and the situation
after an emergency
After a crisis, whether rapid or slow-onset, it is
necessary to identify the current situation and
the expected evolution, as well as the main
impacts on population’s food security and
livelihoods and its capacity to recover from
them.
A lot of this information could be obtained
through secondary information. Based on this,
the NS and the IFRC cluster/country office
should decide whether or not to participate in
the response.
If it decides to participate (in the response), an
FSL assessment needs to be carried out: this
can be,
• Rapid FSL needs assessment, focusing on key
informant interviews (at national or district
level), and (especially in the case of EA),
community representative interviews and
focus groups discussions, or
• In-depth FSL assessment, in which, in addition
to increasing the number of communities
visited, household surveys are also carried
WHY DO WE NEED AN FSL ASSESSMENT
Understanding existing/planned FSL
responses and gaps
Collection of secondary information, interviews
at the national level (key informants), or
participation in clusters or humanitarian
coordination mechanisms will allow us to
identify response plans, the positioning of
actors (4W) and existing gaps in immediate and
medium-term needs.
This information is essential to define the
intervention (in outline) and to identify the area
where to carry out the FSL needs assessment
(step 1).
Asses main needs and population
priorities
At the community & local level, in order to design
an appropriate intervention tailored to short- and
medium-term needs, it is necessary to identify:
which are the most vulnerable groups affected by
the crisis, what are their needs and priorities in the
short term and to recover their livelihoods,
whether a cash (or voucher) response is feasible or
implies risks of any kind, etc. (Step 2).
A deeper community-level assessment is strongly
recommended and necessary if an emergency
appeal is to be launched.
 ** FSL Assessment tools overview
**
• Overview of the Steps and different tools
• Guidance to the tools
• Notes on what the collected data can be used for
• Links to the tools

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 STEPS IN THE FSL ASSESSMENT
Design stage
Step 1 National level
Secondary data
Design stage - qualitative
Step 2 District level
Community level
Markets
Design and implementation – quantitative
Step 3 Household survey
Baseline
Targeting
Monitoring
Endline
Step 4 PDM
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Markets
 Step 2: Qualitative data

Distric Community
Specialists Markets
t level level

Health Protec Repre-

Live- Agricu Trader Obser
KIs KIs FGDs Centre tion senta
stock lture s actors
s vation
tives

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 ** Mandatory areas **
• Consent
• Protection, gender and inclusion (PGI) including access
• Community engagement and accountability (CEA)
• Cash and voucher assistance (CVA)
• Markets

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 Step 3: Quantitative Data
• Household survey tool for needs assessment
• By the next 2 weeks

• Household Targeting / Vulnerability Assessment and

Verification tools  

• Household survey tool for baseline, including Food

Consumption Score (FCS), Household Dietary Diversity Score
(HDDS), and Coping Strategies Index (CSI)
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 Step 4: Monitoring
• Household survey tool (Mid-line, Quantitative), Post-Distribution
Monitoring (PDM)

• Household survey tool for endline, including FCS, HDDS, and CSI

• Focus Group Discussion Guide, PDM, affected population

• Key Informant Interviews, Community level

• Market Monitoring Interview guide

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 PMER support
• Further guidance/explanation on methodology
• Analysis of collected data
• Setting up Monitoring and Evaluation for the operation
• Monitoring and Evaluation plan
• Indicator tracking tool
• Developing questionnaires
• Developing ToR for Evaluation
• Conducting or managing Evaluation

• Converting tools to Kobo/ODK (Working with IM).

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• IM for operational dashboard.
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 Timeline
• Steps 1 + 2: Ready to use
• KoBo version upcoming
• Step 3: Within the next two weeks
• Step 4: End-July

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 Q&A

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 Thank you!
Tools on sharepoint here
Requires IFRC email account, download and share Zip with
relevant NS
DO NOT EDIT TOOLS IN SHAREPOINT!

Contacts: Marko.Korhonen@ifrc.org (DRM)

philip.kahuho@ifrc.org (PMER)
Please reach out for technical inputs, guidance on tools and
sampling, support for analysis
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