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Prioritizing analyses
Q. What if there is not adequate time or access to do both HEA and political economy analysis? What should I do first? How should I prioritize my activities?
A.Both activities are inter-related, and there is no simple logical sequence to them. A basic amount of political economy analysis should be integrated within all HEA assessments. Most obviously, this should be done as part of the secondary data review prior to fieldwork. For more detailed field-based research in situations where resources are constrained, prioritization should be based on research objectives. If the objective is to estimate immediate food security needs, then the HEA takes priority. However, ignoring political economy in that situation may lead to recommendations for interventions (either in terms of approaches or targeting) that could worsen the situation. If the research objective is to understand and respond to root causes of food insecurity, then an iterative sequence may be most appropriate, i.e. do some political economy analysis to contextualize subsequent HEA analysis, with further political economy analysis used to investigate issues that may have been raised by the HEA.
