Appendices
1. Selected observations and questions
A list of key points is provided for observation by the surveyor team (I-1) as well as for the interviews (key informants of the community)(I-2) and the group discussions (community members)(I-3). Based on this list of key points the team members should discuss and select - before they start the community assessments - which topics are relevant and should be emphasized
At least two representatives in a community should be interviewed on each issue to avoid too personal views and interpretations on the subjects.
The survey team should decide beforehand:
which representatives from the community should be selected for the interviews
(I-2), and which of the
corresponding subjects are of primary interest and can be best addressed by
these particular respondents.
which points are most important for the group discussions (I-3). According to
the size of the survey team, several group discussions could be planned to run
simultaneously
which survey team member will interview which community representatives and
guide which group discussion & mapping.
Questions selected for use in a specific RAN must be adapted to the group being interviewed and the socioeconomic situation of the community.
The questions should be formulated during the course of conversation, based on the question guide, but should not be read.
I - 1 Observations by the Surveyor Team
1. Type of community
Type of settlement (urban, sub-urban, semi-rural, rural, dispersed, dense, etc.)
Type of economic activity (agriculture, agro-forestry, agro-fisheries, estates, etc.)
2. Living conditions (assessment based on three houses in the community)
General conditions of the house (ranking)
Size of house, number of bedrooms, location of kitchen
Building material used for floors, walls, and roof
Drinking water supply
Energy supply
Sewage disposal
3. Agriculture
Cultivation pattern
Food/cash crops
Horticulture, intensive or extensive agriculture
Livestock
4. Health services
Weight check cards
Immunization cards
Oral rehydration treatment salt packages
Scales
Books with disease statistics
5. Infrastructure in the community
School
Health posts and centers
Shopping facilities (shops, market)
Drinking water supply, sewage disposal
Refuse disposal
Energy supply
Transportation (roads, water)
Police station
Postal services
I - 2 Semi-structured Interviews
A) Questions for a community leader (L)
1. Demographic structure
Size of population (men/women, schoolchildren)
Family size
Ethnic groups
Religious groups
Existing governmental institutions
Other organized groups (NGO's such as saving and credit groups, political groups, mother clubs, boy scouts, etc. and their importance)
Spoken and written languages
2. General living conditions in the community
Changes in the community (during the last 10-20 years)
Main problems in the community (actual)
Main problems in living together in the community and family
Income situation
Migration to and from the community
Infrastructure in the community: (places of worship, schools, health posts and centers, agricultural bureau, shopping facilities (shops, market), drinking water supply, sewage disposal, energy supply, transportation (roads, water), police station, postal service)
3. Situation of the economically active population (by age and gender)
Economic activities (main types, major employers, unemployment and under-employment, daily wage, seasonality, gender specificity, rural and/or urban)
Migration pattern (seasonality, gender specificity).
4. Agricultural situation
Cultivation pattern (food/cash crop)
Land ownership/access to land (average of agricultural land/ownership men/women)
Proportion of women engaged in agricultural work and paid employment
Rating of agricultural advisory services
Rating of credit system, if any
Availability of food at the community and household level (own production/purchased food, seasonality, food storage)
Food price fluctuations over the past year
5. Access to schools
Literacy rate (gender specific)
Formal/informal education, further schooling
Rating of school situation
6. Nutritional and health situation
Marriage age
Major illnesses
Main causes of death
Rating of health system (government, traditional)
Position of family planning
Rating of family planning program, if any
Rating of food program, if any
B) Questions for teachers (T)
1. School situation
Access to schools, longest distance from school (time and distance)
Number of teachers/school child & their professional background
Number of school children (male/female) (schooling rate, dropout rate, absence, reasons for dropping out and absence)
Illiteracy and formal school education in the community, detailed according to women and men, and economic, ethnic, and religious grouping
Further schooling (male/female)
Rating of school situation
2. Nutritional situation
Availability of food at the community and household level (own production/purchased food, seasonality, food storage)
Food price fluctuations over the past year
Rating of breast-feeding and infant nutrition
Rating of nutrition for pregnant women and nursing mothers
Comments concerning distribution of food within the family
Rating of food program, if any
3. Health situation
Marriage age
Major illnesses
Main causes of death
Rating of health system (government, traditional)
Position of family planning
Rating of family planning program, if any
4. Agricultural situation
Main problems in agriculture
Rating of advisory system, if any
Rating of credit system, if any
Proportion of women engaged in agricultural work and paid employment respectively
5. Situation of water supply and sewage and refuse disposal
6. General living conditions in the community
Changes in the community (during the last 10-20 years)
Main problems in the community (actual)
Main problems in living together in the community and family
Income situation
Migration to and from the community
Opinion as to whether women are adequately represented in society
C) Questions for a representative of the health system (H)
(government/traditional)
1. Health service situation
Number of permanent health staff
Professional background of staff members
Access to health station, longest distance and time to health station
Number of persons cared for
Daily visiting rate (infants, schoolchildren, women, men, the elderly)
Nearest hospital
Medicinal supplies
Rating of health system (government, traditional)
Cooperation between health centers/posts and traditional midwives and healers
Position of family planning
Rating of family planning program, if any
Rating of immunization program, if any
Rating of food program, if any
2. Health situation
Major illnesses and main causes of death, broken down by
- infants and women
- social groups
Proportion of undernourished children
3. Nutritional situation
Availability of food at the community and household level (own production/purchased food, seasonality, food storage)
Food price fluctuations over the past year
Rating of breast-feeding and infant nutrition
Rating of nutrition for pregnant women and nursing mothers
Viewpoints concerning distribution of food within the family
Rating of food program, if any
4. Situation of water supply and sewage and refuse disposal
5. General living conditions in the community
Changes in the community (during the last 10-20 years)
Main problems in the community (actual)
Main problems in living together in the community and family
Marriage age
Agricultural situation
Income situation
Migration to and from the community
Rating of the workload of women
D) Questions for religious leaders (R)
1. Religious situation
Access to places of worship, longest distance and time to place of worship
Number of members of the community who regularly attend religious services (reasons for absence: seasonality, gender or age specific reason)
Rating of religious situation
2. Nutritional situation
Availability of food at the community and household level (own production/purchased food, seasonality, food storage)
Viewpoints concerning distribution of food within the family
3. Health situation
Major illnesses
Main causes of death
Rating of health system (government, traditional)
Position of family planning
Rating of family planning program, if any
4. Agricultural situation
Main problems in agriculture
5. General living conditions in the community
Changes in the community (during the last 10-20 years)
Main problems in the community (actual)
Marriage age
Rating of the school situation
Income situation
Moving to and from the community
Rating of the workload of women
I - 3 Group Discussions with Community Members
The following questions are only suggestions and only the most relevant questions should be selected. The two first questions should always be asked in the RAN. Further questions and topic should be selected according to the interest/ the focus of your specific RAN. Your team should agree upon the most needed questions and formulate then the respective question guide. - If your RAN team consists of several members, you might initiate 2-3 group discussions and mappings at the same time.
General situation
Major problems of the community
Major problems of the household
Migration / seasonal migration
Income generating activities
Daily work distribution gender specific (work in agriculture, seasonality, child care)
Water / energy supply
Perception of services
Distribution of poverty
Food
Main staple foods and their availability during the year (enter in: "Agricultural calendar")
Frequency of consumption
Importance of food (valorization)
Own production/purchased - where?
Food storage
Water source and water availability during the year
Breastfeeding behavior (colostrum / weaning practices / food taboos)
Nutritional condition of the children and recommendations for improvements
Health
Ideal number of children for a family - gender difference
Age an infant receives a name
Signs of whether a child is healthy or sick
Major illnesses suffered by children and women in the
community (seasonality?), enter in: "health calendar"
Type
of illness
Symptoms
Incidence
Causes
Treatment
What can a pregnant woman do to have a healthy child?
Health service, (distance, expected/existent quality of service, recommendations for improvement)
Agriculture
Tenure structure of farmed arable land
"Agricultural calendar"
Main
crops - cash/food crop
Main
demand for labor (men/women, children, seasonal changes)
Diseases
Fertilizer
Marketability
Livestock
Property
& responsibility
Main
demand for labor (men/women, children, seasonal changes)
Diseases
Feeding
Marketability
Access to credit system (male/female), recommendations for improvement
Access to agricultural advisory system, recommendations for improvement
The survey forms which can be downloaded here (survey-forms.doc) should assist in the implementation of surveys. The survey forms should be considered as an aid. If necessary, they should be adapted to the specific situation of a survey, and not be considered binding.
The survey forms are provided to
guide you again on the points considered as important for observation, interview and group discussion
fill in the results of the observation, semi-structured interviews and group discussions with community members of all communities.
visualize the results obtained in all communities, to compare them and to identify weaknesses and strengths.
include the available resources and existing habits in the analysis of alternatives
The Analysis Forms compare data from National Average, Province and District to identify limited resources and problems, and to help justify the selected area for the future project/program implementation. These data are later compared with the assessment findings in the 5 communities. They can be downloaded here (analysis-forms.doc)
In general at the District and Communities level, the socioeconomic situation of the population and the supply of resources should be worse than at the National Average and Province level, to be sure/justify having selected an area with poverty conditions.
A picture of seasonality in the future project area is given on the summarizing form (AF-1), which includes data about climatic conditions, agriculture, health conditions, nutritional status, and gender specific work load. The seasonality data should be obtained at the district level from the different sectors (agriculture, health) and be verified by the assessment data at the community level. The form shows the interrelation between climate, agricultural production and food prices, availability of food, and health and nutritional situation of the main target groups. The work load of women influences their caring capacity and limits further income generating activities.
4. Measurement of body stature of schoolchildren
The standing body height (stature) of the schoolchild is measured in a standing position (Survey Form SF-10). The child should stand without shoes on a level floor and should lean with its back against a wall. The child then draws himself or herself to full stature without raising the shoulders, with hands and arms hanging relaxed, with the feet flat on the ground. The legs and heels should be placed against each other. The buttocks, shoulder blades and head should rest against the wall. The estimated line between the eyes and the auditory passages should be level with the floor.
The stature should be measured using a microtoise fixed to the wall (to the nearest 0.1 cm). If a microtoise is not available, a wooden rule or a measuring tape (preferable a tape made out of fiberglass) should be placed against the wall. When measuring stature, the measuring tapes or wooden rules in which a device is placed on the head when the tape or rule is fixed to a wall should not be used, and the scale should commence at 0 cm at the floor. Otherwise the result can be about 1 cm short.
A wooden or metal right angle should be employed in measuring. This instrument is places lengthwise against the measuring tape on the wall and is pressed gently against the head so that the stature can be read on the measuring tape in cm.
Measuring tapes are sometimes calibrated in inches and centimeters on the same side. These can be confusing during measurement.
5. Literature for further study
Beaton G. et. al. Appropriate Uses of Anthropometric Indices in Children. ACC/SCN State-of-Art Series Nutrition Policy Discussion Paper No. 7, UN, 1990.
Jelliffe D.B. Community nutritional assessment. Oxford University Press, 1989.
Nagel U.J. et al. Focussing formal surveys. The use of rapid appraisal for designing a survey in Nam Lang (Thailand). Center for Advanced Training in Agricultural Development, Technical University Berlin, Department Serial Publication No. 123, Berlin 1989.
Nagel U.J. et al. Workshop on rapid rural appraisal. Center for Advanced Training in Agricultural Development, Technical University Berlin, 1989.
Scrimshaw S. & Hutardo E. Rapid Assessment Procedures for Nutrition and Primary Health Care. UNU, Tokyo, 1987.
United Nations. How to weigh and measure children. Assessing the nutritional status of young children in household surveys. National Household Survey Capability Program. Department of Technical Cooperation for Development and Statistical Office. DP/UN/INT-81-041/6E. New York, 1986.