The practitioners' guide to household economy approach

The Household Economy Approach (HEA) was developed in the early 1990s by Save the Children and the FAO. Its initial aim was to improve FAO’s ability to predict short-term changes in a population's access to food in case of famine. The HEA describes the way in which typical households, with defined asset/wealth group characteristics, live in ‘normal' times, and then tries to predict the effects of changes in the external environment. It is based on a wide range of sources (interviews, statistics, market prices).A set of 3 guides has been issued in 2008, designed for practitioners, policy-makers and trainers.

The practitioners' guide is aimed at those carrying out HEA assessments on the field. Each chapter, used as a ‘module’, contains material on a particular aspect of HEA, including how to lead a HEA assessment or how to analyse the results and which measures should be taken considering these results. All the chapters, as well as examples, are available on the webpage dedicated to this guide.

Save the Children - February 2008