HEA and Water

As processes of climate change accelerate and intensify the vulnerability of populations to hazards such as drought and flood, the development of more effective water-based monitoring and assessment tools is of increasing urgency.

FEG is spearheading the move towards more holistic analytical and response systems through its work developing household water economy assessment tools alongside, and integrated into, livelihoods-based food security information systems. The water assessment tools aim to:

• Integrate water and livelihoods-based food needs assessments to improve the sequencing, coordination, and effectiveness of food, water, and health-based relief operations
• Make traditional water assessments – which have until now remained largely centered on public health concerns – more comprehensive
• Assess, in quantifiable terms, the effects of changes in household water access on food and income sources
• Develop a better understanding of differential water access for various wealth groups, as well as of the nature of vulnerability of these groups to water-related hazards (e.g. access constraints vs. absolute water scarcity)
• Identify triggers for both quantifiable and appropriate outside water interventions

FEG water assessment methodology and HEA.

In fall 2008, FEG further developed and began implementing Household Water Economy Analysis (HWEA) in Ethiopia’s Oromiya Region as part of the DFID-funded RiPPLE Long-term Action Research Study to better understand the livelihoods impacts of water access and how this access may be affected by climate change.