Monitoring the livelihood platform: reflections on the operation of the Livelihood Asset-Status Tracking method from India and Malawi

Abstract

The Livelihood Asset-Status Tracking method was developed for monitoring the livelihood platform of households in large livelihood projects. It uses a locally developed assessment sheet describing the range of household situations for each of five livelihood capitals (natural, physical, human, financial and social). This facilitates the rapid conversion of a judgement by the enumerator into a centile score. After six years of operation in India and Africa, the paper evaluates the utility, and reliability of the method as well as some emerging issues. It discusses how the method might be further developed. Initial operational results seem very promising but caution is required in the application of a method based on calibrated judgement.

Keywords:

• monitoring
• impact-assessment
• livelihoods
• assets
• household