Needs Assessment

USAID’s Community Nutrition and Health Activity (CNHA) Report – Consultation (Meetings with Stakeholders, Households & Community People to Understand Information Sources, Media Access and Habits of CNHA Primary Target Groups to Inform CNHA SBC Strategy)

The USAID Community Nutrition and Health Activity (CNHA) is a five-year project (2023-2028) aimed at improving the nutritional status of women and children within the first 1,000 days of life in vulnerable communities across Bangladesh. Implemented in collaboration with CARE-Bangladesh and partners, the project spans 50 Upazilas in 14 districts and focuses on enhancing service delivery at the community level through health facilities and a strong Social and Behavior Change (SBC) strategy. The project aims to increase the adoption of family planning, maternal and child nutrition, and other health-related practices among its target population of 4 million direct and 10 million indirect participants. To inform its SBC strategy, CNHA conducted stakeholder consultations in February 2024, gathering data from various groups, including pregnant and lactating mothers, adolescents, and community health service providers, through individual and group consultations.

The consultations revealed key findings on the sources and trustworthiness of health-related information, with community health workers like CHCPs and FWAs emerging as the most trusted sources. Although many pregnant and lactating mothers received information on nutrition and family planning, adolescents and mothers-in-law were less informed. Common barriers to accessing accurate information included limited literacy, restricted access to health facilities due to poor transportation, and traditional beliefs that discouraged the adoption of new practices. Despite the widespread use of mobile phones, especially smartphones, media access was limited, with most women relying on family and community gatherings for information. The consultations also highlighted the need for improved communication flow from health facilities to the community, particularly for nutritional information and family planning services. The consultations also highlighted the need for improved communication flow from health facilities to the community, particularly for nutritional information and family planning services, emphasizing the importance of targeted interventions to bridge gaps in knowledge and access within these vulnerable groups.

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IMPACT OF SANCTIONS ON FOOD SECURITY AND LIVELIHOODS IN NIGER Rapid Analysis Results in Tillabéry

The humanitarian situation in Niger was already urgent prior to the July 2023 political crisis and the imposition of sanctions by the international community. 4.3 million people, approximately 17% of Niger’s population, are in need of humanitarian assistance and 3.3 million people are projected to be experiencing crisis or worse levels of acute food insecurity. CARE recently conducted focus group discussions (FGD) in Tillabéry to determine how the crisis has affected food prices, livelihoods, and coping strategies for communities. Eight sex-disaggregated FGDs with 64 participants were completed at the end of August 2023 to analyze crisis impacts, especially for the most vulnerable, and to inform age, gender and disability-responsive humanitarian response in Niger.
ANALYSIS OF THE IMPACT OF SANCTIONS ON FOOD SECURITY AND LIVELIHOODS:
Women and men reported facing challenges in sustaining their eating habits in the months and weeks to come, with women and girls reporting more difficulty maintaining current consumption patterns. 75% of the women’s FGDs reported that they would not be able to sustain current eating habits at all and only one all-women’s group estimated their normal food consumption to continue for only 2 weeks. All 4 men’s groups reported that they would all be able to maintain current eating habits, but only for approximately 30-90 days beyond survey time.
RISING FOOD PRICES: ⅔ of participants attributed the rise in food prices to the political crisis and subsequently imposed sanctions. Maize and rice, staple items in most household diets, are reported to have increased by 75% and 28% respectively one month after the crisis. Read More...

Afghanistan Multi Sector Needs Assessment 2023

According to Humanitarian Needs Overview 2023, a staggering 28.3 million people (two thirds of Afghanistan’s population) are in need for urgent humanitarian assistance in order to survive as the country enters its third consecutive year of drought-like conditions and the second year of crippling economic decline, while still reeling from the effects of years of continued disaster

In March 2023, CARE conduct the Multi-sectoral Needs Assessment (MSNA) to assess the condition of needs, vulnerabilities, and poverty in the selected communities within mentioned provinces to help inform proposals to potential donor for lifesaving responses in sectors of EiE, Health, Nutrition, Livelihood, WASH and some integrated GBV and nutrition interventions for longer-term support to address their ongoing vulnerabilities.
This research covered 381 people (50% women) in 9 provinces in Afghanistan. Most respondents were between 24-45 years old, and 83% were host community members. The other 17% were internally displaced people.
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N utrition Knowledge Attitude and Practice (KAP) Survey for DINU Program in North and North-Eastern Uganda

Background: The Development Initiative for Northern Uganda (DINU) is a Government of Uganda integrated programme. It is implemented in districts that include the 11 of Kitgum (Acholi), Nakapiripirit, Amudat, Nabilatuk, Napak, Moroto, Kotido, Kaabong, Karenga and Abim (Karamoja), and Katakwi (Teso) sub-regions for three years from 2020 – 2022. The overall supervision is with the Office of the Prime Minister through local governments in partnership with a wide range of stakeholders. DINU supports interventions in three specific interlinked programs: (1) Food Security, Nutrition and Livelihoods (2) Transport Infrastructures and (3) Good Governance. The CARE consortium focusses on the sector of food security, nutrition and livelihoods with specific emphasis on community-based interventions. A survey was launched by the CARE Consortium partners with the overall objective of generating comprehensive gender sensitive Nutrition Knowledge, Attitude and Practices (KAP) information in the targeted 11 CARE consortium districts. It is intended to help inform the implementation of the nutrition component of the DINU project.
Methodology: The KAP survey was conducted from 17th November to 8th December 2020 in the 11 districts. The study populations were mothers and/or caregivers in household with children aged 0-23 months, adolescent girls aged 10 to 19 years with or without children 0-23months. Key district, subcounty and community leaders who played crucial role in programming for MIYCAN related interventions were reached. A cross-sectional survey utilising both quantitative and qualitative data collection methods was used. Sample size estimation was based on WHO Vaccination Coverage Cluster Survey guidance, July 2015. Household questionnaire comprising of 5 modules was adapted from the FAO manual for assessing nutrition related KAP. Semi-structured interview guides were used to facilitate the Key Informants Interviews and Focus Group Discussions. Quantitative data collection was done using mobile phones through Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) working on the Open Data Kit (ODK) platform and hosted on the ONA platform. Quantitative Data analysis was done using SPSS 26. Qualitative data analysis was done based on the interpretative approach that involved eliciting meanings from the collected information. A total of 164 clusters were reached, 1,139 households, 1,158 children aged 0 to 23months, 1,112 women and 452 adolescents from all the 11 districts. Meanwhile, 22 FGDs and 44 key informant interviews were conducted. Read More...

Development Initiative for Northern Uganda (DINU) Value Chains and Market Assessment report

The CARE consortium comprising of partner organisations such as Catholic Relief Services (CRS), Gulu Agricultural Development Company (GADC), Dynamic Agro Pastoral Development Organization (DADO) and SORUDA are currently implementing a three-year project titled “Inclusive Market Based Development for Small Holder farmers in Northern Uganda. This project contributes to the Development Initiative for Northern Uganda (DINU) – A Government of Uganda program aimed at consolidating stability in Northern Uganda, eradicating poverty and under nutrition and strengthening the foundations for sustainable and inclusive socio-economic development. Specifically, the project under the CARE consortium contributes to DINU’s specific Objective one on: ‘Improving livelihoods through increased production of diversified food, enhanced market opportunities and better maternal and child nutrition.’ The CARE consortium currently targets 11 districts including: Abim, Kotido, Karenga, Kaabong, Moroto, Amudat, Nakapiripirit, Napak, Katakwi and Kitgum. Given this background, the study sought to:
• Map out existing and new Agricultural and non-Agricultural value chains and assess their potential to promote women and youth economic empowerment, and community-based nutrition and household incomes.
• Identify challenges, specific entry barriers for women and youth into the VC and opportunities along the Value chains of; 1) crops such as Soybean, groundnuts, nutritious potato, vegetable, etc.); 2) Honey; and 3) livestock (small ruminants, and other non-Agricultural value chain) and propose ways of addressing these challenges.
• Develop an individual VCs, including mapping of actors, actions, supporting functions, institutions, policy issues, along each chain and propose recommendations for specific gender sensitive value chain activities that promote women and Youth participation and economic empowerment (employment opportunities as well as increasing their incomes along the chain).
• Assess the market structure (players, channels, sourcing), demand and supply (product specifications, prices, volumes, preferences), trends, market opportunities and challenges for the different value enterprises above Read More...

GAP ANALYSIS AND LINKAGE READINESS ASSESSMENT FOR YOUTH/VILLAGE SAVINGS AND LOANS ASSOCIATIONS (Y/VSLAs)

The Development Initiative for Northern Uganda (DINU), a Government of Uganda initiative with support from European Union, supervised by the Office of the Prime Minister is being implemented by a consortium led by CARE Denmark. The program is being implemented in the Karamoja sub region (covering 11 districts) as well as Kitgum and Katakwi districts. CARE Denmark commissioned gap analysis for Y/VSLA linkage to identify interventions aimed at contributing to improved access to credit through community saving and credit schemes.

The objectives of the study included gap analysis of Y/VSLAs, linkage readiness assessment for mature Y/VSLAs and evaluation “digital readiness” of group members. A representative sample of 773 Y/VSLAs from drawn from all the project districts were covered the study. The sample was classified in three categories: Mature groups totalling 350 (45.3%) Mature and ready for Linkage groups, 390 (50.5%) and Watch Category/Maturing groups and 33 (4.3%)

The analysis revealed that the gaps identified in Mature and Ready-for-linkage Y/VSLAs were closely similar to those in Watch Category (Maturing Groups) category and required more or less similar interventions.
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Understanding the Policy Environment for Scaling Farmers’ Field Business School in Nepal: A Gender Focused Context Analysis with a Focus on Local and Sectoral Governance

The objectives of the Rupantaran project are to enhance dignity and self-esteem with livelihood promotion of Farmer Field Business School (FFBS) groups especially landless, women and Dalits, and other marginalized communities. The project is transforming the knowledge and skills of Small Holder Women Farmers (SHWFs) through the ‘Krishak Pathshala’ (Farmer Field Business School) model based on the ‘Learning by Doing’ approaches at the community level, and beneficiaries are taking the project positively and participating in FFBS model in their respective community.

The study is implemented by National Farmer Group Federation (NFGF) in partnership with CARE Nepal. The primary purpose of the study is to carry out a gender-focused context analysis to understand the policy environment and governance context with a focus on the local governance and sectoral governance of associated sectors with the FFBS scale-up, specifically agriculture, food security, climate change adaptation, nutrition, and markets. The study is focused on structure, institutional and governance arrangement, and the main change actors/stakeholders to enable the promotion of the FFBS model and identify the formal and informal institutions and opportunities that support upscaling of the FFBS model. It is found through the study that the structural barriers for women and Dalits are caste, class, gender, education, land size, ownership, and the traditional patriarchal mindset. Additionally, the study area's socially harmful practices include untouchability, child marriage, Gender Based Violence (GBV), dowry systems, and domestic violence from their intimate partner. Moreover, the care economy does not recognize women’s contribution to household chores.


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Drought Assessment Report – CARE Morocco

This report will study the overall situation in Morocco and the drought’s negative effects on agriculture, the economy, food security, etc., with gender lenses considering how different gender groups are affected differently on household and community levels. Additionally, the report will provide suggestions and information for the way forward at the local level and per gender group.
Key findings:
• Male community members in the rural areas who used to consider agriculture as their main income source decided to migrate to urban communities seeking temporary or permanent jobs.
• Women are the most affected during the drought season for several reasons:
▪ Women are primarily responsible for fetching water and with the drought, access to water is more challenging.
▪ When the male HHs members migrate to urban areas, female members step forward to take additional responsibilities on top of their existing daily tasks which put them in very overwhelming circumstances.
It is observed that over the past few years, farmers have progressively stopped using local seeds/seedlings/crops aiming for a higher yield using foreign inputs that showed low resilience to Moroccan climate and weather. Similarly, few profitable crops were cultivated in areas that suffer from water scarcity such as watermelon, avocado, and few other crops which led the government to intervene and restrict these crops in certain locations.
• It was reported that veterinary service expenses, which were already high, have increased even more due to inputs and fuel costs which pushed herders to reduce the frequency of veterinary
checks.
• Drought can have a significant impact on the macro economy, but through this study, it was confirmed that the most affected sector was the agricultural production and yields, and thus people’s livelihoods such as small farmers and rural workers with specific challenges women and girls were going through due to water and income shortage.
• water consumption was reduced despite the implications on the amount of yield they will harvest later but considering that irrigation expenses won’t be recovered by selling their crops later considering the high production cost and limited purchasing power. Read More...

Comprehensive Multisector Need Assessment South Kordofan State

The overall objective of need assessment is to assess the current situation, identify the gaps and needs of the targeted communities and recommend of key interventions that meet the real needs of the targeted people. The data was collected in four sectors:
➢ Food Security and Livelihoods (FSL): Covers the issues that relate to, and affect the livelihood of the targeted people, including the sources of income, capacity of people, opportunities, with giving special consideration to agriculture and animal resources as they are the main activities in the targeted areas.
➢ WASH: Hygiene promotion/awareness and hand washing practices, access to dignified, safe, clean and functional excreta disposal facilities, sufficient and safe water for domestic use, particularly in the targeted locations.
➢ Health and Nutrition: Situation and gaps in health services including public and maternity health. The assessment especially looked at the gap on children's nutrition, malnutrition among children, and mother’s capacity.
➢ Peace building: Existing conflicts in the assessed areas, including the types and drivers of conflicts and the existing mechanisms of conflicts transformation. The capacity of the targeted communities and need for improving peace. Read More...

Multi-sectoral and integrated humanitarian assistance for the conflict displaced and most vulnerable populations in East and South Darfur – Sudan

This needs assessment was conducted internally by CARE staff led by the MEAL coordinator at national level, MEAL team and program staff at field level. The survey took place in East Darfur state during the period 25th February to 20th March 2022. The primary data in the field collected during the period 6th -11th March 2022.

WASH: the assessment collected data on the different sub sectors of WASH including:
• Water supply: Assess the availability of and ease of access to safe water by the targeted communities, water consumption and gaps, contribution of the official authorities, the main factors affecting communities’ access to safe, easy and adequate water.
• Environmental sanitation: Focus on collecting information on communities’ access to sanitation, including availability and need of household latrines, need of solid and waste disposal system.
• Hygiene promotion: Assess the level of community knowledge and gaps and types of capacity needed to improve health and hygiene.
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