MODULE 2
Rapid livelihood and institutional diagnosis for missions

Much of project design, supervision and evaluation work undertaken on behalf of FAO, trust funds and international financing institutions is done through short visits ("missions") to developing countries by staff and international consultants in connection with teams of local counterparts. The typical duration of project design missions is around 3 weeks. Supervision and evaluation missions are usually even shorter - two weeks on average. Under such time pressure, does it still make sense to attempt a rapid diagnosis of local institutions and livelihoods in the context of project design, implementation support and evaluation missions? The answer is "yes": even a rapid diagnostic has the potential to make an enormous difference for development projects and their poverty outcomes.

The profile of a typical mission is the following:

• Advance preparation (duration varies with lead time and familiarity with the country^[3])
• Initial meetings with government and international donors in the capital city (2-5 days)
• Travel to project area and meeting with key officials (1-2 days)
• Field visits in the company of implementing agencies (7-10 days)
• Informal wrap-up meeting with officials in the project area (2 hours)
• Return to capital city (variable ½ day - 2 days)
• Additional meetings in capital city to reach agreement on the mission's recommendations
• Drafting of an aide-memoire (1-2 days)
• Wrap-up meeting(s) with key government officials and donors (2 hours)

• Report finalisation.

The challenge addressed by Module 2 in the Rapid Guide for Missions is to adapt the process required for analysis of livelihoods and local institutions to the time and resources available on a typical mission. The model we are proposing builds on what most missions are already doing. It involves the following elements and steps:

• Inception meeting with stakeholders (2-4 hours, either in the project area or the capital city)

  • Introduce mission members to stakeholders and vice-versa
  • Discuss the mission's TORs
  • Brainstorm on key questions to be addressed by the mission

  • Agree on what geographic areas and activities the mission should visit

• Key informant interviews at region, district and below district levels (1/2 day each district)

  • Relevant public administration officials and project implementation unit (if any)
  • Elected local government councils

  • NGOs, civil society organizations and private sector

• Community-level field work^[4] (5-10 days depending on time availability)

  • Select villages typical of different agro-ecological zones (AEZs), ethnic groups, production or livelihood systems (3 -7 villages)

  • Village-level investigations - 1-2 days per village

  • Continuous qualitative data analysis with team members followed by 1-2 days for cross-cutting analysis and brainstorming

• Wrap-up meeting to share findings and discuss implications with in-country stakeholders

Flow chart for rapid diagnostic study during a mission

The Rapid Guide that follows consists of 8 modules and corresponding sets of checklists that can be used to enable missions to understand local institutions and livelihoods in the context of project design, implementation support and evaluation work.