Part A: Data collection at macro, meso, and micro level

  1. Objectives of surveying information at national level

  2. Information from governmental officials

  3. Citing of secondary data

  4. Data input into analysis forms (AF)

  5. Selection of communities

  6. Structure of organizations (GO/NGO) at village/suburb level

  7. Institutions responsible for project

 

1. Objectives of surveying information at national level

The surveying of data relevant to nutrition in the national capital and, if necessary, a provincial or district capital has the following objectives:

 

2.  Information from governmental officials

Discussions with governmental officials from different, responsible sector departments and with the planning authorities (at national and provincial/district level) are necessary to clarify from their point of view

 

3.  Citing of secondary data

It can be assumed that in almost all countries some information is available on the nutrition and health of its population, the climate, agricultural production, and socioeconomic and cultural characteristics.  There are three sources of information which can be partly exploited before travelling to the partner country to carry out the assessment:

In the partner country in addition to government offices, the statistical bureau, the bureaus of multilateral and bilateral donor organizations, universities, research centers, and NGOs can serve as valuable sources of information.

These secondary data provide starting point information for the RAN and are important complementary information for analysis and interpretation of the data collected in the field.

Once again, it should be emphasized that the search for and analysis of secondary data requires that the specialists be well acquainted with developing countries in general and the national language in particular.  Knowing at which institution and from which person information is available, which information is credible and which is less plausible, how information is to be arranged, and how to set priorities demands fingertip sensitivity and a good "sixth sense."  Obviously, the perfect use of an instrument, such as a manual, can never substitute for these abilities.

 

4.  Data input into analysis forms (AF)

The Analysis Forms (AF-2 to AF-7) should be filled out step-by-step based on information gather at the  governmental level, institutions and NGOs before the survey starts in the communities. 

Data should be organized into three categories:

Comparing these data, compiled on the same form, facilitates the

These findings are compared later on with the average of the assessment findings in the 5 communities.

 

5.  Selection of communities

Before the multi-disciplinary team goes to the field, the communities for data collection have to be selected. It is obvious that data cannot be obtained from all communities in a potential project region. Instead, information can only be collected from a limited number of sample communities. Therefore 4 communities should be selected for assessing the nutritional and poverty situation.

The following criteria should be used for the selection of communities (villages or urban districts):

Data from impact indicators (e.g. nutritional status) as well as causal factors (e.g. availability of resources to cover basic needs), used in comparison with average data for the province or district, can serve as poverty indicators for the selection of communities. These data should then be entered onto a map (poverty mapping).

 

6.  Structure of organizations (GO/NGO) at village/suburb level

The organizational structure of Governmental (GO) and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) at the community level gives important information about the potential organizational support for developing a project proposal. If time is available, the different representatives of the communities (key informants as well as community members {male/female}) should be asked to rank the existing organizations according to their perceived importance. For this exercise Venn Diagramming is suggested.

 

7.  Institutions responsible for the project

Suggestions should be made about institutions which could potentially be responsible for the project, at the district level for implementation and at the national level for political responsibility.