Save the Children commissioned FEG to lead a baseline assessment in the western highlands of Guatemala, in the departments of Huehuetenango and Quiché. The area, known as the Dry Corridor, has been affected by the El Niño for a number of consecutive years, causing crop losses and the loss of agricultural labour opportunities, and, as a result, increased vulnerability to food insecurity. The HEA baseline provided key data to help quantify the food and basic needs gap faced by poor households, to inform Save the Children’s targeting strategy for a cash transfer programme and to calculate the cash transfer amounts themselves. The HEA baseline was complemented by the development of a Minimum Expenditure Basket (MEB) for the livelihood zone as a measure of household resilience.
