Part A: Data collection at macro, meso, and micro level
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:
Characterization of the overall conditions responsible for the poverty situation;
Comparison between the province/district, or the city, and the rest of the country;
Identification of particularly needy regions, or urban districts;
Identification of communities for further assessments at the community level.
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
the overall conditions responsible for the poverty situation;
the problems of the provinces/districts, or the city, in comparison to those of the country as a whole;
the regions, or urban districts, which are particularly needy;
the communities recommended/appointed for further assessment at the community level.
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:
scientific literature
data from national reports and/or international institutions
empirical reports on the experiences of experts in the partner country.
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:
National average,
Provincial data from the province in which the project will be undertaken,
Rural district, or urban area, data from the district or area in which the project will be undertaken.
Comparing these data, compiled on the same form, facilitates the
identification of limited resources and problems in the projected province, rural district or urban area
selection of a very poor region where the community appraisal should take place
justification of the selected area for implementation of a future project.
These findings are compared later on with the average of the assessment findings in the 5 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):
the poorest communities with the least access to resources, and therefore the greatest need;
from among these poorest communities, the ones with the greatest economic heterogeneity to secure a broad picture about existing resource utilization.
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.