Analysis of the Costs and Benefits of the HEA Sahel Regional Project

Since 2010, Save the Children and its partners (Action Against Hunger and Oxfam) implemented the regional HEA project in Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Chad, Senegal, Burkina Faso and (after 2012) in Nigeria. The HEA (Household Economy Approach) approach is an analytical framework that provides a better understanding of the populations’ livelihoods and builds food security actors’ capacities to predict changes in people’s access to food in the short and medium term. Before completion of phase VII at the end of July 2019 and the strategy and funding plan preparation for phase VIII, Save the Children commissioned this cost-benefit analysis of the HEA Sahel project. The aim of this study was to identify the uses and benefits of the HEA for humanitarian and development actors in the Sahel, define the cost structure of the approach to help design national funding plans and identify the drivers and opportunities for efficiency and effectiveness gains. The methodology developed by Aid Consulting included a literature review, qualitative interviews (KIIs), an online survey and financial data analysis.