The role of evidence in humanitarian assessment: the Seed System Security Assessment and the Emergency Market Mapping and Analysis

Abstract

This paper reviews advances in the development and use of two evidence-based assessment toolkits: the Seed System Security Assessment (SSSA) and the Emergency Market Mapping and Analysis (EMMA). Both were created in the past five years and have been employed in a range of acute and chronic stress contexts across Africa, Asia, and parts of the Americas, in periods of civil strife, displacement, and drought, as well as following earthquakes, flooding, and political instability. The aims of this paper are threefold: to review advances with regard to each tool; to compare how each toolkit gathers and uses evidence, while considering possibilities for greater complementarity; and to reflect on the nature of 'evidence' used to guide humanitarian response in sudden-onset and chronic crisis situations. A comparison highlights the importance of triangulation and informed analysis for drawing conclusions from imperfect evidence, understanding the limitations of each assessment methodology, and confronting tacit assumptions.

Impacts of natural disasters on smallholder farmers: gaps and recommendations

“…Contrary to the above reports, there is limited literature which concludes that seed systems were relatively resilient to political and civil conflict (Zimbabwe and South Sudan), earthquake (Haiti), and drought (Kenya), at least in terms of meeting farmer's planting needs for the upcoming season [2,24]. The authors note that factors that helped local seed systems to be resilient included: social networks (e.g.…”

“…When structures are damaged and there are seasonal rains, precious seeds that are stored in homes or mud granaries may become wet, causing loss to livelihoods and generations of associated indigenous knowledge [2,14]. Such damage further weakens/destroys the local seed supply mechanism [24] making farmers vulnerable to seed crisis in the long term To allow farmers to produce protein rapidly and prevent consumption of sowing seeds $1.50…”

“…The current literature regarding natural disasters has not focused on coping efforts to assist farmers, but rather on the post-disaster impacts on rural livelihoods [12], household economy, food and nutritional security [12,[20][21][22], seed systems security [23,24], soil fertility [25], physical and mental health [26,27], population displacement [28], and long-term human migration [29] from the affected regions. A few studies have discussed government and non-governmental humanitarian systems [30,31] and the efficiency of their distribution channels [32].…”

Seed systems smallholder farmers use

“…Such SSSAs are a relatively new method of analysis (Byrne et al 2013;Sperling 2008) and examine the functioning of all the seed systems farmers use. These include the 'formal channels' that give farmers access to modern varieties and certified seed (from the government, commercial seed companies, sometimes relief providers); and 'informal channels' (from farmers' own harvests, social networks, or local markets) that provide farmers with a range of varieties (modern, new local, local) and seed (or 'potential seed') of varying quality.…”

Ownership and Participation in Local–Global Partnerships: The Recovery of Shelter and Settlements after Humanitarian Crises

“…Markets assessment considered local markets for what and how they can contribute to humanitarian response. The markets approach was born out of the food security sector (Byrne et al ., ) and therefore considers commodities. Shelter and settlements actors now collect markets data, for example, looking at bamboo in the Royhinga Crisis in Bangladesh (Martin, ), but more recently, they have begun to consider its application to assess sources of labour, which could include labour capacities of affected households themselves.…”