Nancy McCarthy POLICY SEMINAR Research Findings on Resilience & Social Cohesion in Burkina Faso and Niger Co-organized by IFPRI, World Food Programme (WFP), Institute for Peace and Development (IPD), and the CGIAR Research Initiative on Fragility, Conflict, and Migration (FCM) JUL 11, 2023 - 9:00 TO 10:30AM EDT

1. Next Steps: Adding Site-Level Context, and Pre-
Testing Collection of Social Cohesion Metrics
Nancy McCarthy, LEAD Analytics

2. Future Research: Data on Site-Level Characteristics
• Why: Additional information helps to situate individuals’ voices in the site-based
local institutional context, which shapes outputs, outcomes and impacts:
Simplified Theory of Change:
• daf
FFA
Activities Improved
Natural
Assets and
Agriculture
Productivity
Social
Cohesion
Greater
Resilience to
Shocks and
Stressors
Site Context:
• Land & Water Resources
• Rights to those Resources
• Local Governance Institutions
• Public Infrastructure
• Community Groups
• Markets
• Exposure to Weather Shocks
• Exposure to Violent Conflicts
Outputs Outcomes Impacts

3. Future Research: Compliment FGD’s and KIIs
with Site-Level Characteristics
• How:
• Concise, semi-structured questionnaire for FFA implementers to collect
details on FFA activities and beneficiaries (often collected as part of
M&E) but also basic community-level characteristics
• Site-Based Assessment of Climatic Risks. These can include GIS-based
indicators of: Droughts, Erratic rainfall through the season, Floods, High
temperature spikes
• Site-based assessment of Risk of Violent Conflicts, e.g. through data
provided by Armed Conflict & Event Data (ACLED)

4. Future Research: Pilot Test Site-Level Indicators
Related to Social Cohesion
• # FFA beneficiaries and other community members participating in facilitated
dialogues (e.g. CBPP meetings)
• # Cross- Religious, Ethnic, Community Events
• Incidence of disputes/conflicts over FFA activities and non-FFA Activities
• Metrics of Collaborative Conflict Management
• Density of Market, Social, Governance Networks
• Documented Responses to External Shocks (weather shocks, violence, etc.)
• Participation in Collective Action (e.g. borehole, school or road maintenance)

5. Summary of Future Research Needs
• Ruth
• Document land and water rights involved in FAA (ownership, details of acquisition),
and evaluate relationship with benefits and costs of FAA activities
• Deepen understanding of the extent to which women’s empowerment contributes to,
and benefits from, social cohesion
• Hippolyt
• Enlarge scope of voices and views geographically, non-beneficiary communities
• Deepen understanding of joking relationships, cousinhood, and religion in social
cohesion building
• Deepen understanding of equity and distributional justice of FFA activities
• Nancy
• Semi-Structured Interviews with FAA Implementers for Site-Level Context
• Geo-referenced data on major risks facing FAA beneficiaries (weather, violence)
• Pilot-test Site-Level Indicators related to Social Cohesion