Community Baseline: A Survey On Resilience In South Central Somalia

A comprehensive understanding of the socio-economic and environmental context of intervention is essential to the success of any resilience-building program. Based on this premise, the BRCiS has taken a series of steps to strengthen its knowledge and understanding of key variables and dynamics in its areas of operations in Somalia. The community baseline here presented is an integral part of this commitment to continuous learning and improvement. By informing the action of Consortium partners with up-to-date data analysis, this study contributes to enhancing the effectiveness of BRCiS intervention and, ultimately, it helps strengthen the resilience of beneficiary communities.

The report is divided into four parts. The first section presents the context in which the community baseline was designed and undertaken. This part clarifies the aims of the exercise and its role within the BRCiS program. The second section explains the methodology adopted to collect relevant data in targeted communities, including sample design, training of enumerators, data collection and analysis. The third part of the report focuses on the findings of the exercise, gathered under seven headings: 1) General household information; 2) Income, expenses, debt and saving; 3) Food security; 4) Shelter, water and sanitation; 5) Migration patterns; 6) Household responses to recurrent hazards; and 7) Key features of beneficiary communities. The final part of the report discusses the main lessons learned from the exercise.