A critical review of approaches to assesing and monitoring livelihoods in situations of chronic conflict and political instability

This Working Paper forms part of a series that reviews the range of ways in which livelihoods approaches are currently used in situations of chronic conflict and political instability (SCCPI). The aim of the series is to document current practice so that useful lessons can be learned and applied to ensure for more effective policies, needs assessment, and aid programming during protracted conflict.

This paper reviews emergency livelihoods assessment approaches in SCCPI. This review starts with an analysis of the conceptual and theoretical basis of common assessment approaches. The majority of assessment approaches reviewed are emergency food security assessments, rather than livelihoods assessments, as the former are common in emergencies. An examination of anthropological approaches and how they have been used in SCCPI is also included.

This review is followed by an analysis of the practical application of assessment and monitoring approaches in situations of SCCPI. This section examines the practical constraints to assessing livelihoods in SCCPI, and how assessment approaches were adapted.

The final part of the paper presents conclusions on the application of a livelihoods framework in SCCPI, assessment approaches and interventions.

 S. Jaspars, J. Shoham, ODI - December 2002