15
-
Understanding how that gap is usually filled in the non-emergency context to assist programme
decisions as to how to best rehabilitate assets (household and community), and income sources in the
short, medium and longer term
-
Establishing a baseline from which your programme impact can be measured
The challenge is knowing what level of detail is required. Rapid-onset EMMAs
require sufficient household
information to ensure the correct identification and quantification of needs and their duration. More detailed
information can be collected at a later stage.
Field based advice:
o
When there is an EMMA workshop/training alongside or just before EMMA field work, try and give enough training
to allow for good field work without overloading the EMMA team with information that may not be needed.
o
In agencies where there is a lack of EMMA knowledge or EMMA resistance/ scepticism, organise an
introduction/ briefing with those people and try and manage their expectations (positive and negative).
o
Make sure that the people (decision makers, policy and advocacy actors, donors etc…) you want to influence
with the EMMA results are aware of the EMMA, have viewed the TOR and been part of initial briefings.
o
EMMA organising can be hectic, especially if it is a multiagency EMMA. Try and delegate tasks such as basic
background research and administration and logistics to others not in the EMMA field teams.
o
Think carefully about the EMMA team composition and the correct balance will depend on the country,
languages spoken and experience available. You need to have a team that has technical competency, will
challenge and embrace new ways of thinking and is knowledgeable of the local context and languages. If you
are considering a multiagency EMMA, try and work with agencies that have similar mandates and
specialisations to reduce disharmony around market selection.
o
Be aware that you might need to include market actors beyond the geographical proximity of your target
area. This could be due to key market actors (producers, importers or exporters for example) being based far
from the affected area. This does not mean that you need to drive to these locations. As much as possible you
can call these actors or ask for colleague based in closer proximity to interview (with your guidance) the
actors on your behalf. Asking about the location of reference/ key markets and actors early on in your analysis
can help identify these locations in advance.
o
Knowing how many critical markets to analyse is dependent on various factors: (a) the number of staff
available (b) the knowledge and skills of the staff involved, (c) the financial resources available and (d) the
needs of the affected population and the responses planned. If an EMMA team comprises of 8 EMMA trained
and experienced staff with good knowledge of the affected area and the markets within it, then it would be
feasible to analyse between 4 critical markets. However, it is often the case that despite staff members being
knowledgeable of the affected area and the market, they are not EMMA trained or experienced. In such a
scenario, training is needed to accompany the analysis and fewer markets (maybe 2-3) can be analysed.
o
Multiple agency EMMAs. When the EMMA involves a number of agencies (11 organisations were involved in
the EMMA in Haiti 2010), there are advantages and disadvantages that need to be carefully considered. If you
are considering a multiple agency EMMA, it is worthwhile reading some case studies and reports from
multiple agency EMMAs to get a better idea of the challenges faced and potential solutions that could be
applied. Generally, the more agencies involved, the larger the EMMA and in some cases, the more general the
recommendations. If you are considering a multiagency EMMA, keep the following in mind:
-
Managing the expectations of the other agencies is important: make sure the EMMA TORs are clear
about what the EMMA can and cannot do, and what will be expected from the agencies in terms of
logistical and financial resources, staff numbers, staff linguistic, numeracy and technical skills, and
importantly too the length of time allocation to the EMMA etc…,
-
The EMMA leader/s need to have good leadership, communication skills and should be very
experienced in EMMA. Include Operations staff (see below) to assist with
the overall management of
the EMMA, the logistics and such like,
-
Include agencies that have a similar mandate, response plans and objectives. Otherwise this can make
critical market selection a difficult process,
-
Each agency is responsible for ensuring managerial buy in for the EMMA, thus
contributing to the
application of EMMA findings.
16
Taken from the ‘EMMA Leader’s Guide’ (includes ToR in annex), October 2011,
www.emma-toolkit.org
The EMMA Team Leader
3
: Having the right EMMA leader is critical. As a rule, a Team Leader should always be
EMMA trained and should previous EMMA/ market analysis experience. It is recommended that the EMMA
Leader have the following skills (see online version
http://emma-toolkit.org/practice/leading/
for more detail):
Market analysis or market development experience: Having a leader who has done market/value chain analysis
and knows good practices in market development programming is invaluable. It is especially critical at the
beginning and the end of the EMMA process, when it comes to focusing on the key analytical question and
guiding the scope of the research, and then during the market analysis and response analysis steps of EMMA
Leadership and facilitation experience (often the Team Leader has to lead and facilitate the process)
Analytical, decision-making and timeliness skills
Field experience (situation analysis, programme design and implementation)
‘Market team’ Leaders are crucial to EMMA success. Under the leadership and guidance of the overall EMMA
Team Leader, Market team leaders are responsible for leading a sub-team of several people focused on
conducting the fieldwork and analysis for one specific critical market. Previous EMMA experience is not as
essential as leadership, communication and analytical skills and programme implementation experience.
Contextual knowledge and the ability to visualise and understand EMMA process and purpose is ideal.
How do you know what technical profile EMMA field team members need? Not all members will have the same
experience and skills. In a team there needs to be a complimentary balance between technical skills and local
knowledge especially when expatriates are involved. EMMA field teams need members with the following
experience and knowledge:
-
Knowledge of the affected area, the target population and the local markets,
-
Programme and assessment field experience (and in the use of PRA techniques),
-
Experience in market analysis and ideally EMMA trained or previous participation in an EMMA,
-
Analytical experience,
-
Numeracy skills,
-
Language skills (local language and/or common language of communication between all team members)
-
Writing skills to prepare the assessment report(s)
Selecting an “Operational Person”: Experience has shown that it is beneficial to have someone whose job
throughout the assessment is to deal with the operational issues such as managing vehicles, hotels,
photocopying, security and supporting team members. The larger the EMMA, the more important this role is, and
may mean that more than one operational person is necessary. This person should plan to be in place 1 week
minimum prior to the rest of the assessment team arriving.
Training your Team; the assessment team will need to have some kind of orientation or training. The ‘EMMA
Leaders Guide’ gives an overview of sections to include and suggests planning for 2 days of training and
preparation. A rough outline of the training is shown below:
a)
Introduction – What information EMMA will and will not gather and how it will be gathered
b)
Defining/Refining Critical Markets, Target Populations, and Needs
c)
Review preliminary analysis
d)
Gap Analysis – Essentially looks at what is missing as a result of the emergency, and for how long is it
likely to remain missing
e)
Seasonal calendar
f)
Household income and expenditure
g)
Market Analysis
h)
Response Analysis
3
A suggested TOR for Team Leaders is available in Annex C of the EMMA Leaders Guide document on line
http://emma-
toolkit.org/practice/leading/