Description of the Modules

• Module One : Basic Terms and concepts in HRM

-Definition of terms and concepts related to
HRM
- Resources management
Module two : Poverty and Food Insecurity and Household
coping strategies
- Definition of basic terms and concepts
- Presentation of Case studies
Module Three: Field work
- Participatory tools for conducting Socio-economic ,
gender and food security analysis in rural households
- Conducting field work in nearby communities
 Module One: Definition of Terms and
concepts related to HRM
What is a household?
- A group of people, each with different abilities and needs,
who live together most of the time and contribute to a
common economy, and share the food and other income
derived from the common economic activities.
- Household is a basic unit for socio-cultural and economic
analysis
Note: There is difference between a family and a household!!
What is Household Economy?
Household Economy is the sum of ways in which a household
acquires its income, its savings and asset holdings, and by which it
meets its food and non-food needs. Note: Try to list different types
of economic activities which a typical household in your community
undertake
 Def Cont
What is a Resource
- An economic or productive factor required to accomplish an
activity or as means to undertake an enterprise and achieve
desired outcome.
- Three most basic resources are land, labour and capital; other
resources include energy, entrepreneurship, information, expertise
,management and time.
What are the Basic Household resources?
- human (physical labour, skills, knowledge, educational attainment)
- material (land, capital, technology, money), and
- time
Note: 1. Information and Time are important resources but most
people are not very conscious of this.
2. Capital include; Economic/Finacial, human and social capital
 Def of terms condt
Access, control and ownership (of resources)?
• Access to something means having the possibility to
use it, e.g. a resource such as land or production
equipment. It does not necessarily imply control or
ownership of this resource.
• Control. When someone has control of something it
means that he/she decides how it can be used and by
whom – it does not necessarily imply ownership
• Ownership can be joint (e.g. by more than one
household or community member) or it can be
individual (e.g. by one person). Ownership will
determine control and access to a large degree.
 Def of terms contd
Division of labour: It refers to who does what, when,
how, for how long, etc., and can be disaggregated by
gender, age and other socio-economic variables.
Work is usually divided among households or
household members.
Household head is the man or woman recognized as
such by other household members. This person
makes the decisions and has the primary
responsibility for managing household matters.
 Def of terms contd
• Gender refers to the social, economic and cultural roles
and relations between women and men, and takes into
account the different responsibilities of women and men
in a given culture or location and in different population
groups (children, aged people, ethnic groups etc.)
• Gender analysis is a tool that tries to answer
fundamental questions such as who does or uses what,
why, and how. It also involves looking at the division of
labour in and among households, examines the access
and control that men and women have regarding
resources, and analyse benefits obtained by the
households members .
 Def of terms contd
• Gender roles are the socially, culturally and politically defined roles and
responsibilities to which women and men conform. Gender roles are
dynamic and can vary among different societies and cultures, classes and
ages, and over time.
• Gender roles are divided into productive, reproductive and community
roles.
• Productive roles refer to work carried out by men and women for payment
in cash or kind.
• Reproductive roles involve childbearing, childrearing responsibilities and
domestic tasks, some of which are biologically determined (i.e. only
women can breastfeed) while others are gender-related (e.g. in some
households, men do most of the cooking, in others women do).
• Community roles are those activities that contribute to the welfare and
organization of the community, such as maintenance of common areas.
 Def of terms contd
• Gender -blind. Gender-blind describes extension or
development activities that assume results will automatically
be equally beneficial to both men and women; it also refers to
a lack of recognition or understanding of gender as an
essential variable that shapes livelihoods
• A gender-sensitive approach emphasizes that the capacities
and vulnerabilities of both women and men should be
identified and considered – neither should be dealt with in
isolation from the other.
• A stakeholder is any individual or group with a direct or
indirect interest in the outcome of a development
intervention, or anyone who is affected by or who affects this
intervention.
 Def of terms Contd
• Household resource management uses the household as an
entry-point to understand and address rural development
challenges. It focuses on management systems within
households, and include analysis of decision-making, resource
allocation, household consumption and time management in
the context of food security and economic development.
• Household resource management was also describe as “the
process of making decisions about how to maximize the use
of resources, such as land, water, labour, capital, purchased
inputs, inputs produced on-farm, cash, agricultural credit and
agricultural extension”.
 Management of Resources
Characteristics of Resources
• Resources are useful
• Resources are limited in supply
• Resources are inter-related
• Resources have alternate uses
• Resources can be substituted
Therefore, all resources ( both human and non-human,
tangible or intangible ) have these characteristics in similar.
Thus we should; 1. Create and cultivate them to enhance their
availability and 2. Conserve them as they are limited in supply
 Res Mgt Contd
Ways of maximizing benefits from the use of resources
• Identify all the available resources.
• Make use of only the right amount of resources.
• Substitute the less expensive resources for the more expensive
ones.
• Develop the habits that can enhance the use of resources.
• Cultivate practices to increase the availability of resources.
• Learn to share resources so that you do not deprive others of their
use.
• Do not waste resources.
• Reduce, Re-use, and Re-cycle the resources to maximize utility
from their use (the 3-R’s).
 What is Management?
Management is simply defined as the process of using what
you have ( in the best way) to achieve what you want.
Management helps you to:
• reach your goals,
• achieve what you want,
• utilize your resources properly,
• make your life more systematic,
• avoid wastage of resources,
• increase efficiency in work situations,
• achieve a better standard of life.
 Mgt Contd
Steps in the Management Process
• Planning
• Organising
• Controlling
• Evaluating
 Mgt Condt
In working towards your goal;
- First you have to think about what to do and how it is to
be done, that is, you do the planning.
-Then you assemble the resources and assign the
responsibilities. In other words, you are organizing.
- After that you perform the actual task ( i.e. putting
your plans to action) and
controlling your activities so that it is according to your
plans.
- Once the task is over, you check to see whether
everything went according to
your plan or not. In other words, you are evaluating.
 Mgt contd
Planning involves;
• Listing activities
• Sequencing activities, and
• Providing flexibility for any adjustments
During planning think about the following;
• What is to be done?
• Who will do the work?
• How will it be done?
• When will it be done?
• What resources will be used?
 Mgt Contd
Organizing means assembling resources and fixing responsibilities to carry
out a plan.
But, while assigning tasks to other people, we must make sure that they
have the time and ability to do that work and are willing to do the same.
Organizing ensures that:
• all the planned work gets done,
• there is proper distribution of work,
• work gets finished on time,
• time, energy, and other important resources are saved, and
• your planning is successful.
Note: What will happen if you refuse to organise your work? Can you
think of what would happen if you assigned tasks to people who are not
willing or able to do them?
 Mgt Contd
Controlling is also known as putting a plan into action.
Controlling means carrying out the activities as planned and
organized earlier.
• As the plan is being carried out, you also have to check the
progress of your plan. When you do this, you may sometimes
find a changed situation which calls for a fresh decision.
• You make adjustments as the plan is being carried out or
implemented. You change or control your activities so that
your plan is not a failure. This is also called flexibility.
 Mgt contd
Evaluating. Evaluating means checking the progress of your
plan and taking corrective measures if needed.
• Thus evaluation helps you to understand your weaknesses
and mistakes so that it is checked and will not be repeated in
future. This is also called looking back or “feedback”.
• Evaluation is done at each stage of management i.e. planning,
organizing, and controlling. You have to evaluate at every
stage so that you do not regret in the end.
• Evaluation at each stage help you to bring a change in your
planning and/or organizing and controlling so as to improve
end results and complete the process smoothly and
successfully or learn to do a better job in future.
 Mgt contd
Motivating Factors in Management
There are three motivating factors in mgt;
1. Goals. Goals are the aims or objectives that we want to
achieve and work for. Goals grows out of our values, desires
and needs
2. Values. A value is a moral principle and/or belief that a
person holds about some aspect of life. E.g. honesty,
punctuality, kindness, sincerity, health, good habits,
happiness, etc. all these may be valued.
3. Standards. Standard is an accepted level of quality. Hence it
is a measure of values that compel individuals to perform
actions that will give the desired satisfaction.
 (Test)
Two Questions Answer All
Time : 5 Minutes
1. Categorize the Following Resources into
Human and Non-Human; Time, Money,
Land, Fertilizer, Seeds, House, Community-
Warehouse, Skills and Energy.
2. List the three ‘Rs’ that you should adopt to
get maximum utility from the use of
resources?
 Poverty and Food Insecurity
The Context
In spite of Nigeria's enormous economic potential and
growing economy;
• Poverty is on the rise, with 61 percent of the population —
almost 100 million people — living on less than $2 a day.
• Instability and insecurity have consistently undermined
Nigeria's development, due to a toxic blend of poor
governance, ethnic and religious rivalry, regional tensions,
economic inequality, and political exclusion.
• These problems are likely to intensify as the country is
squeezed by population growth, climate change, a
diminishing natural resource base, and recurrent political
strife.
 Module Two: Poverty and Food
security
Definition of Basic Concepts
What is food security?
• Food security is access by all people at all times to adequate
nutritious food to lead a healthy and productive life.
• Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical and
economic access to sufficient safe and nutritious food that meets
their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy
life.
• Note: From these definition four dimension of food security can be
identified as follows; physical availability of food, economic and
physical access to food, food utilization and stability of the other
three dimensions over time.
 The Four Dimensions of Food Security

• Physical AVAILABILITY of food; this is determine by level of food

production, stock levels and net trade
• Economic and physical ACCESS to food; adequate supply may not by itself
guarantee food security at household levels because access could be
influence by incomes, expenditure, markets and prices.
• Food UTILIZATION; this determine the nutritional status of individuals
/households. Utilization is determine by good feeding practices, food
preparation, diversity of the diet and intra-household distribution of food
combined with good biological utilization of food consumed by the body.
• STABILITY of the other three dimensions over time; Adverse weather
conditions, political instability, or economic factors (unemployment, rising
food prices) may have an impact on your food security status.
Note: For food security objectives to be realized, all the four
dimensions must be fulfilled simultaneously.
 Conceptually
• National Food Security: Food is available in
market throughout the country from domestic
production, commercial imports, or food
assistance; and
• Household Food Security: All household
members have affordable access at all times
to the food they need for a healthy life.
 Typology of Food Insecurity
In terms of duration there are two general types of food
insecurity;
1. CHRONIC FOOD INSECURITY
2. TRANSITORY FOOD INSECURITY
In between the two there may be what is term as Seasonal
Food Insecurity ( intermediate )
 Chronic Food Insecurity
• Chronic food insecurity occurs when people are unable to
meet their minimum food requirements over a sustained
period of time. It is long-term or persistent in nature.
• Chronic food insecurity is often the result of extended periods
of poverty, lack of assets and inadequate access to productive
or financial resources.
• Chronic food insecurity can be overcome with typical long
term development measures such as education or access to
productive resources, such as credit etc
• But in the first instance chronically food insecure people may
need more direct access to food to enable them to raise their
productive capacity
 TRANSITORY FOOD INSECURITY

• It refers to a sudden drop in the ability to produce or access

enough food to maintain a good nutritional status. Transitory
food insecurity is short-term and temporary
• Transitory food insecurity is primarily caused by short-term
shocks and fluctuations in food availability and food access,
including year-to-year variations in domestic food production,
food prices and household incomes.
• Transitory food insecurity is relatively unpredictable and can
emerge suddenly and this makes planning and programming
more difficult and requires different capacities and types of
intervention, including early warning capacity and safety net
programmes
 Seasonal Food Insecurity

• It is an intermediate type of food insecurity which occurs

when there is a cyclical pattern of inadequate availability and
access to food.
• This is associated with seasonal fluctuations in the climate,
cropping patterns, work opportunities (labour demand)
and/or prevalence of diseases.
• In rural communities it is common to talk of “hungry periods”(
e.g pre-harvest periods) and “periods of plenty” (e.g harvest
periods)related to the agricultural calendar and/or cyclical
availability of employment
 Typology Contd
In terms of severity the following types of food insecurity are
identified;
• Acute food insecurity which is used in describing a severe and
life threatening situation.
• Famine which is used in describing the most extreme
situation of food insecurity usually associated with
substantial loss of life.
Direct Indicators of Food and Nutrition
Security at household level
• Food Consumption ( Food Consumption Score (FCS),
Household hunger scale (HHS), Household Dietary Diversity
Scale (HDDS), Survival Deficit(SD), Livelihood Deficit(LD), Proxy
Calorie, as sub-indicators)
• Livelihood Evolution (change in asset, income etc as sub-
indicators)
• Nutritional Status (Global Acute Malnutrition (GAM), Severe
Acute Malnutrition (SAM), MUAC etc as sub-indicators)
• Mortality ( Under 5 mortality rate etc, Maternal mortality
rate, Crude death Index etc as sub-indicators)
Note: See UNICEF SMART Survey/Tools, FEWSnet IPC report,
CH reports by CILSS and FAO -FSVA Reports for more details
on these indicators
Indirect Indicators/Contributing factors
of Food and nutrition security
• Hazards and Vulnerabilities ( drought, Flood,
Diseases and pests outbreaks, Fire, etc
• Food availability ( domestic production,
imports, stocks, food aids etc)
• Economic Access to food ( prices, income etc)
• Food Utilization including access to water
• Stability ( seasonal calendars, etc)
 Factors that would reduce household
food insecurity

• Increased Agricultural Land Productivity

• Investments in Market Infrastructure
• Investments in Irrigation Infrastructure
• Provision of education/skills to Smallholder farmers
• Extension Services
• Social Safety Net Programs
Note: High Food and Input Prices worsen Food Insecurity
 How to Measure and report food
Insecurity situation
• To accurately describe the intensity of food insecurity, different scales or
terms have been developed using different indicators and cut-off points or
benchmarks.

• Until recently, there was no commonly used scale and thus making it very
hard to compare the severity of different food security crises.

• This in turn makes it hard for government and other stakeholders to prioritize
between different contexts and respond proportionately to needs.

• Recently the Cadre Harmonise framework (developed by CILSS-

AGRYMET/FAO) was adopted in the ECOWAS region as a standard tool for FS
analysis and reporting .

• There is also the IPC (Integrated Phase Classification) used by FEWSnet/WFP

and other development partners in analysing and reporting FS situation.