Shock steady: building the evidence base to support WFP’s resilience programmes
By Emma Frankham (Technical Writer, DIME, World Bank), Marcus Holmlund (Senior Economist and Research Program Manager, DIME) and Ola El Toukhi (Impact Evaluation Analyst, WFP) with inputs from colleagues from the Climate & Resilience Window
There is an urgent need to understand how families and communities can absorb and respond to shocks — such as conflict, climate change, and extreme weather events.
This blog focuses on the Climate and Resilience Impact Evaluation Window, and explores how the World Food Programme’s (WFP) Office of Evaluation and the World Bank’s Development Impact Evaluation department are assessing the impacts of WFP programmes on families building resilience to shocks such as conflict and climate change.
Shocks are “sudden or slow onset events that can have a substantial negative effect on a household or community’s well-being, livelihoods, assets, or ability to cope with future shocks”. Shocks can be natural (such as extreme weather); economic (including loss of assets, loss of income, and economic downturns); and political (including conflict). Shocks can have short or long-lasting effects, ranging from mild to catastrophic, and they can be frequent, seasonal (for example, fluctuations in rainfall), or rare. Shocks can affect individuals, families, or even entire communities.
In 2019, over three-quarters of the 135 million people identified as “acutely food-insecure people in crisis or worse” lived in countries affected by conflict or extreme weather events. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, this figure is projected to increase to 265 million.
WFP resilience programmes shift crisis responses from reactive to proactive to buffer families from shocks that can have long-term impacts on food security and well-being. For example, Food Assistance for Assets provides food assistance through cash, vouchers, or food transfers while families build or rehabilitate assets including water ponds, irrigation systems, and feeder roads that will strengthen their long-term resilience and food security.
To examine programme impacts, the Climate and Resilience Impact Evaluation Window will examine three types of questions:
- What is the overall impact of WFP’s resilience programmes?
For example, on food security, coping mechanisms in response to shocks (such as selling assets), mental health and well-being, women’s empowerment, savings and assets, time use, earnings, and migration. - What is the impact of combining activities in resilience programmes? For example, are asset creation activities (like Food Assistance for Assets) more effective when combined with nutrition, education, or health programming?
- How can resilience programmes be designed for greater impact?
For example, can WFP change the seasonality timing of asset creation activities on the one hand, and of cash, voucher, or food transfers on the other, to ensure families receive food assistance when they need it the most?
The following blog in the Notes from the Field blog series will explore how DIME and WFP assess WFP programme impacts in Africa’s Sahel region, which is highly vulnerable to shocks such as droughts and conflict.
Read more about WFP’s work on climate and resilience here.
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