Pastoralist Survey Method and its application in Ethiopia

Action Contre La Faim (ACF) was among the first NGOs to use the Standardized Monitoring Assessment of Relief Transitions (SMART) method for conducting emergency nutrition surveys in Ethiopia. Pastoralist populations are vulnerable to nutrition-related risks caused by factors such as drought, animal disease, market disruption and border closure. Without a suitable method to conduct nutrition assessments, emergency response and development programmes may neglect pastoralist populations. The conventional nutrition assessments for sedentary communities are not appropriate for pastoralists in the Horn of Africa and the Sahel, because of differences in the people’s physique. Moreover, it is difficult to select a representative sample in an area with a low-density, mobile community where there are few reliable data on population size. To improve its approach to working on nutrition of pastoralist groups in the Horn of Africa and the Sahel, ACF developed an appropriate survey method for assessing under-nutrition or malnutrition in nomadic and transhumant populations. The 17-page report (2011) describes the Pastoralist Survey Method and its application in Ethiopia and Mali.

Posted on 21 September 2014 in Pastoralist Livelihoods & Nutrition