DISCUSSION PAPER NO. 1609 Household Enterprises in Fragile and Conflict-Affected States: Results from a Qualitative Toolkit Piloted in Liberia Volume 2 - Annexes Emily Weedon and Gwendolyn Heaner August 2016 Household Enterprises in Fragile and Conflict-Affected States Results from a Qualitative Toolkit Piloted in Liberia Volume 2 – Annexes Emily Weedon and Gwendolyn Heaner August 2016 Abstract Many policy makers across Sub-Saharan Africa, including in fragile and conflict-affected situations (FCS), consider youth employment a central policy issue. As the recent World Development Report (WDR) on jobs has highlighted, jobs are a key driver of development (World Bank 2012). Jobs matter for living standards, productivity, as well as social cohesion. Particularly in FCS, jobs mean more than earnings; feelings of exclusion stem from a lack of reliable, quality employment, not simply income (Rebosio and Romanova 2013). Volume 1 of this paper presents results from the application of a novel qualitative toolkit in Liberia, with the objective to improve the knowledge of the constraints to entry and productivity among nonagricultural household enterprises. It outlines lessons learned from the application of this research and makes policy-relevant findings on how to improve productivity in the sector in Liberia. In addition, the report contains methodological lessons that can inform the application of the toolkit in other contexts. Volume 2 of this paper presents a global review of the literature on household enterprises in FCS and the detailed methodology and tools for the research. JEL Classification: H53, I38, J22, J24, J49, O17 Keywords: Social protection and labor, fragile and conflict-affected states, labor market programs, household enterprises, entrepreneurship, livelihoods, informal labor markets, productive inclusion, graduation, trends, challenges Table of Contents Introduction .................................................................................................................... 6 I. Global Literature Review: Household Enterprises in Fragile and Conflict-Affected States .............................................................................................................................. 7 1.1 Summary ......................................................................................................................7 1.2 Introduction ..................................................................................................................9 1.3 The Role of HEs ...........................................................................................................13 1.4 Priority Areas ..............................................................................................................14 1.4.1 Urban and rural policy .................................................................................................. 15 1.4.2 Credit and finance ........................................................................................................ 16 1.4.3 Skills deficits ................................................................................................................. 18 1.4.4 Business environment .................................................................................................. 19 1.4.5 Attitudes ....................................................................................................................... 20 II. Research Methodology ........................................................................................... 21 2.1 Qualitative Research Toolkit Development ..................................................................21 2.2 The Research...............................................................................................................24 2.2.1 Desk .............................................................................................................................. 24 2.2.2 Field .............................................................................................................................. 25 III. Overview of Tasks per Community ....................................................................... 25 IV. Detailed Field Tasks ............................................................................................. 27 4.1 Hold Community-level Meetings ..................................................................................27 4.1.1 FGD participants ........................................................................................................... 28 4.2 Recruit Additional Day-hire Interpreters ......................................................................30 4.3 Introductions and Participant Selection .......................................................................30 4.4 Focus Group Discussions..............................................................................................30 4.4.1 ‘Tips’ for facilitators and notetakers in the field .......................................................... 37 4.5 Key Informant Interviews ............................................................................................39 4.6 Collect, Review, and Back-up Field Notes .....................................................................41 4.7 Quality Assurance Processes with Lead Researcher ......................................................42 V. Ethical Considerations in Field Research .................................................................. 42 VI. Data Entry, Analysis, and Reporting ..................................................................... 44 6.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................44 6.2 Qualitative Databases .................................................................................................45 6.3 Data Entry ...................................................................................................................46 6.4 Key Informant Data .....................................................................................................50 6.5 Analysis Tabs for FGD Data ..........................................................................................52 6.6 Key Quotes for Each Group ..........................................................................................54 6.7 Participant Information Databases ..............................................................................56 VII. Summary Report.................................................................................................. 57 7.1 Writing the Report ......................................................................................................57 7.2 Outline........................................................................................................................57 VIII. Data Collection Tools ........................................................................................... 60 8.1 Overview ....................................................................................................................61 8.2 Focus Group Discussion Guides ....................................................................................62 8.2.1 FGD participant data sheet........................................................................................... 62 8.2.2 CORE/general (for all FGDS) ......................................................................................... 63 8.2.3 Household enterprise operators .................................................................................. 66 8.2.4 Aspiring entrepreneurs................................................................................................. 71 8.2.5 Community members/consumers ................................................................................ 74 8.3 Key Informant Interviews ............................................................................................76 8.3.1 CORE/general (for all) KII questions ............................................................................. 77 8.3.2 Household enterprise operator supplementary KII questions ..................................... 78 8.3.3 Aspiring entrepreneurs supplementary KII questions.................................................. 80 8.3.4 Leader KII supplementary questions ............................................................................ 81 8.3.5 Stakeholder (government, NGO) KII supplementary questions ................................... 82 8.3.6 Marginalized youth interview guide (do not include CORE) ........................................ 83 8.3.7 KII participant data sheet ............................................................................................. 84 8.4 Methodology Development Notes ...............................................................................85 8.5 Additional Data Tables ................................................................................................89 8.5.1 Participant data ............................................................................................................ 89 8.5.2 General ......................................................................................................................... 93 8.6 Selected Narratives of Success ................................................................................... 101 Tables Table 1. Summary Research Activities/Days .......................................................................................... 6 Table 6.1. Fields in the Qualitative Database ....................................................................................... 49 Table 6.2. Screenshot for Analysis Tab Example Summary Community 1 ........................................... 52 Table 6.3. Screenshot for Analysis Tab Example Summary Community 5 and Total All Communities 53 Table 8.1. Activities to Complete in Each Community/Checklist – Liberia……………………………………… . 61 Table 8.2. Participant Data to Collect in Each FGD………………………………………………………………………….. 62 Table 8.3. CORE FGD Questions ........................................................................................................... 63 Table 8.4. Household Enterprise Operator FGD Questions.................................................................. 66 Table 8.5. Aspiring Entrepreneur FGD Questions ................................................................................ 71 Table 8.6. Community Member/Consumer FGD Questions ................................................................ 74 Table 8.7. CORE KII Questions .............................................................................................................. 77 Table 8.8. Household Enterprise Operator KII Questions .................................................................... 78 Table 8.9. Aspiring Entrepreneur KII Questions ................................................................................... 80 Table 8.10. Leader KII Questions .......................................................................................................... 81 Table 8.11. Stakeholder KII Questions.................................................................................................. 82 Table 8.12. Marginalized Youth KII Questions...................................................................................... 83 Table 8.13. KII Participant Data to Collect ............................................................................................ 84 Table 8.14. FGD Participant Counts by Gender, Participant Type, and Community ............................ 89 Table 8.15. FGD Participant Mean Ages by Community ...................................................................... 89 Table 8.16. FGDs with High Educational Attainment (Median of Some College or Finished College) . 89 Table 8.17. FGD Participant Education, by Gender, Excluding Highly Educated Groups ..................... 90 Table 8.18. Education Level by Participant Type and Gender, Excluding Highly Educated Group ...... 90 Table 8.19. KIIs by Community, Participant Type, and Gender ............................................................ 90 Table 8.20. KII Participant Education, by Gender ................................................................................. 91 Table 8.21. FGD Participant Job/Business Type, by Participant Type and Gender .............................. 91 Table 8.22. How is the Job Situation Here? By Participant Type and Gender...................................... 93 Table 8.23. Are There Certain Groups of Youth Who Are Better/Worse Off in the Transition from School to Work Than Others? What Makes Certain Group(s) of Youth Better/Worse Off Than Others? By Participant Type and Gender ............................................................................................. 93 Table 8.24. What is Keeping You from Expanding Your Business, HEOs Only, by Gender ................... 93 Table 8.25. What Are Some of the Risks You Face in Your Business? HEOs Only, by Gender ............. 94 Table 8.26. What Is Your Long-term Goal for Your Business - Thinking About in 10 or 20 Years, Where Do You Really Hope Your Business Will Be? HEOs and AEs, by Gender ............................................... 94 Table 8.27. What Are the Biggest Problems You Are Having Setting Up a Business/AEs Only, by Gender .................................................................................................................................................. 94 Table 8.28. Do You Feel Confident That Your Enterprise Will Succeed, Once Created? AEs Only by Gender .................................................................................................................................................. 95 Table 8.29. What Is Your Long-term Goal for Business in the Next 10–20 Years? AEs Only, by Gender .............................................................................................................................................................. 95 Table 8.30. What Are You Trying to Achieve in terms of Employment and Pursuing a Livelihood? CCs Only, by Gender .................................................................................................................................... 95 Table 8.31. What Is the Most Important Goal in Your Life? CCs Only, by Gender ............................... 95 Table 8.32. Do You Face Any Problems with Having Physical Space to Conduct Business? HEOs Only, by Gender ............................................................................................................................................. 96 Table 8.33. How Do Officials Treat You Trying to Conduct Business? HEOs Only, by Gender ............. 96 Table 8.34. Where Did You Get the Money to Start Your Business? HEOs Only, by Gender ............... 96 Table 8.35. Do You Feel Like You Have Enough Time to Start a Business? AEs Only, by Gender ........ 96 Table 8.36. Where Will You Get/Have You Tried to Get Money to Start Your Business? AEs Only, by Gender .................................................................................................................................................. 97 Table 8.37. How Important Is Education in What You Want to Do with Your Business? AEs Only, by Gender .................................................................................................................................................. 97 Table 8.38. Are You Aware of Any Projects or Programs Offering Support (Trainings, Funding, Job Creation, Facilitating Access to Market, and So On) to Youth Transitioning from School to Work? AEs Only, by Gender .................................................................................................................................... 97 Table 8.39. Do You Feel That the Education/Training You Received Was Useful in Getting a Job? CCs Only, by Gender .................................................................................................................................... 97 Table 8.40. Imagine a Scenario Where You Win a Lottery/Sweepstakes, and Your Name Is Published in the Newspaper So People Know That You Have Plenty of Cash (Insert a Value That Will Help Someone Significantly, But Not Make Them Extremely Eich) Suddenly. People Come Calling On You to Ask You to Help Them with 'Something Small', What Do You Do? By Participant Type and Gender .............................................................................................................................................................. 98 Table 8.41. Imagine You Have the Opportunity to Have a Salary Job, or You Have the Opportunity to Get a Start-up Grant to Run Your Business. Which Do You Want to Have? By Participant Type and Gender .................................................................................................................................................. 98 Table 8.42. [After Discussing an Example of a Successful Businessperson in the Community, Ask:] What Was the Main Thing That Made This Person Successful? By Participant Type and Gender ...... 98 Table 8.43. Are You Happy with the Current Size and Profitability of Your Enterprise? HEOs Only, by Gender .................................................................................................................................................. 99 Table 8.44. Do You Have Any Competition from Other Business Owners Offering the Same or Similar Product? HEOs, by Gender ................................................................................................................... 99 Table 8.45. Who Do You Normally Deal with In Your Day-to-day Running of the Business? HEOs Only, by Gender ............................................................................................................................................. 99 Table 8.46. Do You Have Any Paid Employees for Your Business? HEOs Only, by Gender .................. 99 Table 8.47. How Do You Choose Which Business You Would Buy From? CCs Only, by Gender........ 100 Table 8.48. Are There Any Businesses That You Would Not Buy From for Reasons Other Than Cost/Quality? CCs Only, by Gender .................................................................................................... 100 Table 8.49. How Easy Is It to Find All of the Goods and Services You Need Each Day? CCs Only, by Gender ................................................................................................................................................ 100 Table 8.50. What Are the Best Jobs That People Have In This Community? By Participant Type and Gender ................................................................................................................................................ 100 Figures Figure 4.1. Example Field Form Page ................................................................................................... 33 Figure 4.2. Example of Excellent Notes, Page 1 ................................................................................... 35 Figure 4.3. Example of Excellent Notes, Page 2 ................................................................................... 36 Figure 6.1. Qualitative Database FGD Data Entry Tab Screenshot....................................................... 47 Figure 6.2. Screenshot of Qualitative Database Filtering Responses to CORE 1.1 Only ...................... 48 Figure 6.3. KII Data Entry Template for HEs (same format for other KII types) ................................... 51 Figure 6.4. Screenshot of Areas for (a) Describing the Percentages for Each Question; (b) Key Quotations for Each Question by Answer Type; (c) Summary for the Question ......................... 55 Figure 6.5. Box at Top of Each Analysis Tab for Overall Thematic Summary ....................................... 56 Acronyms AE Aspiring Entrepreneur CC Community Member/Consumer EPAG Economic Empowerment of Adolescent Girls and Young Women FCS Fragile and Conflict-affected Situations HE Household Enterprise HEO Household Enterprise Operator ILO International Labour Organization NGO Nongovernmental Organization SME Small and Medium Enterprise SWTS School to Work Transition Survey UNIDO United Nations Industrial Development Organization Introduction This toolkit provides all the relevant information that will enable a country team to conduct a full qualitative assessment of household enterprises (HEs) in fragile and conflict-affected situations (FCS). Table 1 provides a summary of activities that will need to be conducted to complete this work within three months. Following the table, a brief literature review of what we know about HEs in FCS is provided to give contextual background to the major themes that are explored in this research. Following that is the research toolkit, which explains the desk and field research, including data entry, analysis, and reporting followed by the interview guides (focus group discussions [FGDs] and key informant interviews [KIIs]) themselves. It is expected that all the materials in this document and e-annexes will be reviewed and understood in full before beginning any work. 1 Table 1. Summary Research Activities/Days LR FTL FT Activity Persons Responsible Pre-field Desk Based ) Review project documents, this toolkit, initial Lead researcher* and 5 1 0 meetings with the World Bank field team leader Prepare country-specific literature review on HEs, 10 0 0 Lead researcher identifying key data gaps in existing work Provide inputs to lead researcher on toolkit adaptation and community selection; Lead researcher and 1 4 0 recommend quotas for participant selection field team leader (education level, type of business, age); provide detailed proposal and work plan to conduct fieldwork Mobilize field team; plan logistics for field work; 0 4 0 Field team leader finalize field schedule Field Based Participate in country-level workshops with key Lead researcher and 1 1 1 stakeholders and lead researcher to refine toolkit field team leader Participate in community-level workshops with key 5 5 5 stakeholders to introduce the work, get feedback, Field team leader and solicit assistance in setting up research activities Refine toolkit, specifically the follow-up questions Lead researcher and 1 1 0 (guided by literature review and in-country field team leader consultations); prepare field testing forms 1 For the Liberia pilot, the lead researcher and field team leader were different people; for future work, the field team leader will take on both roles in his/her respective county, where possible; in such a case, lead researcher = field team leader days (not combined). 6 LR FTL FT Activity Persons Responsible Lead researcher and Participate in field team training activities—one day 2 2 2 field team leader and in office and one day in the field (testing site) field team Adapt qualitative and quantitative field forms and Lead researcher and 2 2 0 databases based on experiences in field testing; print field team leader final field notebooks and additional logistics Lead researcher, field Launch data collection activities in first community 5 5 5 team leader, and field with in-person oversight of lead researcher team Data collection activities in 4 remaining communities at 5 days per community (including travel to) with Field team leader and 0 20 20 virtual oversight of lead researcher (and in-person as field team needed) Post-field Desk Based Debrief with lead researcher on toolkit and suggested Lead researcher and 1 1 0 revisions and findings from researcher field team leader Transcribe field notes into predeveloped qualitative Field team leader and 0 2 8 databases data transcription team Complete preliminary analysis and summary report 0 15 0 Field team leader (guided by outline prepared by the lead researcher) Finalize report; as needed by lead researcher, provide Lead researcher and 15 5 0 inputs to analysis and reporting field team leader Lead researcher and 48 68 41 Total days (if LR and FTL are separate) field team leader Lead researcher = Field 0 92 41 Total days (If LR = FTL) team leader I. Global Literature Review: Household Enterprises in Fragile and Conflict-Affected States 1.1 Summary In FCS, conflict impedes economic recovery, and lack of economic recovery increases the chance of conflict. FCS have difficult business environments. Youth unemployment is a particular internal economic challenge in fragile countries. Employment is effective in providing incomes and increasing demand for goods and services. However, quality employment is essential for this to happen. HEs mitigate some of the risks in FCS. HEs are secondary operations that supplement other income, reducing poverty. Owners and other members of the household spread risk by engaging in a variety of activities. The market needs they meet are small, they are risk averse, 7 and their plurality is significant. In circumstances of informality, underemployment, few ladders to formal employment, limited social safety nets, and a risky operating environment, HEs are flourishing and benefit those operating them. However, • national and local authorities are often biased against HEs. The day-to-day business environment for HEs is generally determined by local authorities, who are responsible for zoning and other regulations which determine access to workplaces, infrastructure, and support structures. These can compound the problems of weak, inaccessible institutions, and lack of legal enforcement by police who are at times also perpetrators of harassment and extortion. • FCS generally have poorer access to credit, and HE’s largely rely on savings or loans from family or friends to initiate business. Accessing and managing capital to start and operate an HE is especially complicated. Innovative credit and savings mechanisms can be important and grants can facilitate entry. • the informal sector disproportionately comprises individuals with a low level of education and skills. Relevant and responsive education and training is key to addressing this. Entrepreneurship is a means of bypassing failing institutions and state bureaucracy, although it is unclear what entrepreneurship is and whether it can be taught. • HEs face mistrust from partners in business and customers themselves. Clustering can assist cooperation, which can contribute to or be enhanced by improved trust. Clusters offer shared fixed costs and proximity fosters mutual knowledge and trust. • HEs must be seen as a valued option, otherwise interventions will not lead to take- up of opportunities. Expectations may appear out of step with reality though. HEs also need to be seen as viable and worthwhile in a cost-benefit analysis. 8 1.2 Introduction This literature review provides a background to consultants and World Bank staff in FCS as a starting point for thinking about research on HEs. It is intended as a broad overview and a way to highlight key themes that should be considered in additional desk and field research. Local work will provide a more complete picture for each context, depending on what information is or is not available in a country. This review should also be used together with a qualitative toolkit that is designed to elicit exactly this information: the current nature and scale of HEs in a given FCS and the interventions which will be most effective in developing the sector. HEs respond to clear, small-scale market needs. They fit into markets that lack a modern service sector. They offer services such as hairdressing and repairs and locally and internationally produced goods (secondhand clothing, household supplies, groceries, and so on). These activities take place in households in which members live and where reproductive (non-income generating and consumption) activities take place. HEs are particularly well suited to FCS. In circumstances of informality, underemployment, few ladders to formal employment, limited social safety nets, and a risky operating environment, HEs are flourishing and benefit those operating them. Forty percent of households rely on HEs in Sub-Saharan-Africa and an eight-country analysis shows that HEs are generating most new jobs outside agriculture.2 HEs bypass some of the problems that businesses face. The role of HEs was highlighted in recent research on Youth Employment in Sub-Saharan Africa 3 in both urban and rural areas. HEs are common in developing nations, even more so in FCS, due to the absence of industry and the relative difficulty in establishing a legitimate business.4 The facilitation of transition 2 Fox, Louise, and Thomas Pave Sohnesen. 2012. “Household Enterprises in Sub-Saharan Africa: Why They Matter for Growth, Jobs, and Livelihoods.” Policy Research Working Paper 6184, World Bank. 3 Filmer, Deon, and Louise Fox. 2014. Youth Employment in Sub-Saharan Africa. Africa Development Series. Washington, DC: World Bank. 4 Dudwick et al. 2013. 9 from farm to nonfarm HEs is more likely to result in higher earning and productivity gains, as compared to a focus on increasing productivity within existing enterprises. As owners look to mitigate risk, the ways in which they operate (unregistered, irregular, mobile) allows for coping with the challenging environment. However, HEs face particular challenges. Five broad constraints to HEs have been identified: (a) Urban policy - insecurity of space and harassment are often problematic (b) Lack of credit and financial services - prevent entry and limit growth (c) Skills deficits - particularly basic education and technical training (d) Business environment - especially issues of trust (e) Attitude - this refers to understanding of work and unemployment, and whether HEs are seen as desirable Conflict and violence reduce gains made to development and restrict a return to positive growth. Around 1.2 billion people live in countries affected by fragility and around 800 million live in developing countries with very high rates of conflict and violence. In such societies, it has become clear that peacekeeping alone is insufficient, although immensely important.5 The dominant paradigm has become that ‘post-conflict societies face two distinctive challenges: economic recovery and reduction of the risk of a recurring conflict’. 6 In fact, a country that has been through a war faces a 40 percent risk of a return to violence. 7 Furthermore, these two distinctive challenges are inextricably linked: conflict impedes economic recovery, and lack of economic recovery increases the chance of conflict. 5 Collier, Paul, and Anke Hoeffler. 2004. “Aid, Policy and Growth in Post-Conflict Societies.” European Economic Review 48 (5): 1125–1145. 6 Collier, Paul, Anke Hoeffler, and Måns Söderbom. "Post-conflict risks." Journal of Peace Research 45.4 (2008): 461–478. 7 Collier, Paul, Anke Hoeffler, and Måns Söderbom. "Post-conflict risks." Journal of Peace Research 45.4 (2008): 461–478. 10 The World Bank Group defines 33 countries across the world as FCS: 8 • Sub-Saharan Africa: 22 • East Asia and Pacific: 2 • Europe and Central Asia: 2 • Latin America and the Caribbean: 1 • Middle East and North Africa: 5 • South Asia: 1 FCS have difficult business environments, unstable and corrupt political regimes, and rent- seeking actors. 9 In FCS environments, regulatory systems (especially construction permits, property registration, investors’ protection, and contracts enforcement) are extremely weak. The trust required for commerce is reduced by rent-seeking, political instability, inefficient courts, and lack of security. This worsens business environments that already suffered from political instability and very poor access to formal finance (Africa, East Asia and Pacific, South Asia), as well as burdensome tax rates (Europe and Central Asia). Formal financial services, such as the provision of loans or lines of credit, are very limited for firms in FCS (Europe and Central Asia and Africa). Basic infrastructure shortages (power, water, roads) elevate costs of doing business in FCS. In addition, poor access to general-purpose technology (especially high-speed Internet) makes business slower and even more costly. Youth unemployment is a particular internal economic challenge in fragile countries that can contribute to renewed or exacerbated conflict. 10 Where young people have already 8 See http://www.worldbank.org/content/dam/Worldbank/document/FY15%20Fragile%20states%20list.pdf for a complete (2015) list. 9 Rent-seeking actors are people who use power, including violence, to get a bigger share of sources of money, without creating anything new. So they might extort money without providing a service or demand taxes for services that should be provided anyway. 10 WDR 2011. 11 fought as armed combatants, for example, some from when they were children, they sometimes reflect nostalgically on the opportunities provided by military action. Even the young people who have never fought—male and female alike—may feel that peace has offered limited distribution of benefits and opportunities, and look to other routes, including membership of armed groups. We may consider three major explanatory frameworks that look at youth as a threat to frame future research that can provide us better evidence about this issue. First and most obviously, the sheer number of youth relative to the rest of the population; second, availability of youth to be coerced into violent insurrection; 11 and third, young people as holding grievances and seeking restitution for wrongs committed against them. 12 Still, in looking at youth, it is essential that definitions in a particular context are considered, because these are highly varied; simply counting those under 18 years is insufficient. Employment is effective in providing incomes and increasing demand for goods and services. 13 However, good quality employment is essential for this to happen. There is good evidence that creating employment increases incomes and reduces poverty in low-income countries. 14 UNDESA (2010) also notes that ‘by helping restore legitimate market links and relationships of trust among different social groups in fragile and post-conflict environments, value chain development offers both economic and peace-building benefits’. 15 Employment must be appropriate to the local situation, including whether the country is classified as FCS.16 For example, in Afghanistan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, ill-suited employment-generating interventions have been shown to exacerbate poverty and 11 Human Rights Watch 2005; Wessels 2006. 12 Richards, P. (2005). To fight or to farm? Agrarian dimensions of the Mano River conflicts (Liberia and Sierra Leone). African Affairs, 104(417), 571-590. 13 Islam 2004. 14 Essama-Nssah and Bassole 2010; Leibbrandt and Woolard 2001. 15 Dudwick et al 2013, 61. 16 De Vries and Specker 2009. 12 instability. 17 Self-employment is vital if the formal sector has collapsed, but alternatives to simple survival are essential. The United Nations suggests that there should be three tracks of employment creation: (a) emergency employment for high-risk and high-need groups; (b) income-generating activities, private sector development, and microfinance for communities; and (c) creating an enabling (national) environment. HEs may represent a valuable shift beyond microenterprise, if there is an enabling environment. The particular circumstances of an FCS need careful assessment, including which track a country may have reached. 1.3 The Role of HEs HEs are secondary operations that supplement other income, reducing poverty. 18 HEs are also often part of a “diversified livelihood strategy;” 19 owners and other members of the household spread risk by engaging in a variety of activities.20 This partly explains why they tend to remain small or disappear—as secondary activities, introduced to mitigate risk and expand earnings, but with little time available for expansion and limited appetite for the risks of employing regular waged labor. Data from West Africa suggests that even after a decade of operation, capital stock remains unchanged.21 Rural households will often operate an HE to supplement farming activities. 22 They tend to operate from homes, and at particular times built in around farming and when foot traffic is passing—evenings and weekends, for example, as other residents are returning from their fields. Urban owners are more likely to see an HE as their primary activity, but will still attempt diversification where possible. If they have a primary activity, it is likely to be waged employment, not farming. 17 Iyenda 2005; World Bank 2005; Du Toit 2004; and Wood 1999. 18 Haggblade, Hazell, and Reardon 2010; Lanjouw, Quizon, and Sparrow 2001. 19 Filmer and Fox 2014. 20 Fox and Sohnesen 2012. 21 Filmer and Fox 2014. 22 Filmer and Fox 2014. 13 There are perhaps as many types of HE as there are HEs. The market needs that HEs meet are small, they are risk averse, and their plurality is significant. 23 Individuals look to establish HEs as self-employment alongside other activities and then offer a wide variety of products, or goods may be sold alongside services in the same location.24 Goods and services are also of low quality, with little or no value added, and therefore tend to disappear as economies grow and skills increase. It needs to be borne in mind, therefore, that the benefits to individuals and a state may continue to be seen beyond or outside of an HE, once a different stage of development is entered. HEs are different to small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The International Labour Organization (ILO) considers everyone working in an unincorporated business with less than five employees as having informal sector employment.25 Self-employed people may employ family members without pay, or fewer than five non-family members on a continuous basis, but most are pure self-employment (70 percent). 26 Establishment of an HE cannot really be considered as a transition to SME status because SMEs start with more assets and employees. In fact, operating an SME is predicated on the ability to hire and manage labor, which may be an entrepreneurial skill HE owners do not demonstrate. 27 1.4 Priority Areas Existing literature is used here to highlight areas where data is needed to better understand the issues of HEs in a particular FCS. Filling these data gaps will ensure that sufficient information is utilized in planning effective interventions. 23 By way of just a few examples: agricultural goods or natural resources may be turned into charcoal, bricks, ironwork, or processed grain (flour). Artisanal activities include carpentry, dressmaking and tailoring, and construction. 24 Groceries sold in a hairdressing salon, for example. 25 ILO 1993; see Fox and Pimhidzai 2013 for a discussion. 26 Filmer and Fox 2014. 27 De Mel, McKenzie, and Woodruff 2012b; Gelb et al. 2009. 14 1.4.1 Urban and rural policy National and local authorities are often biased against HEs. HEs have been criticized at national levels for not offering the income and benefits of wage and salary employment, but they are extremely important for households to move out of poverty. 28 The day-to-day business environment for HEs is generally determined by local authorities, who are responsible for zoning and other regulations which determine access to workplaces, infrastructure, and support structures. These can compound the problems of weak, inaccessible institutions, and lack of legal enforcement by police who are at times also perpetrators of harassment and extortion. 29 The provision of roads, water, electricity, and markets is also vital. Informal businesses, including HEs, may be seen as reluctant to pay taxes and fees or obey planning regulations. 30 Local authorities sometimes attempt to evict informal enterprises from central business districts, especially hawkers and activities considered noisy or polluting, such as vehicle repair, metalworking, and carpentry. 31 Evidence suggests that regulation and planning can help, instead of hinder, HEs. Without planning, traders and vendors crowd sidewalks and roads. This is problematic in and of itself, and is often responded to with evictions that are frequently violent, result in destruction of capital and stock, and are usually only an element in cycles of exit and return.32 In a survey of tailors and dressmakers in capital cities in West Africa, 43 percent of enterprises in operation for less than one year reported the lack of an adequate locality for their business as a major problem. 33 Vetting businesses can also protect consumers—ensuring taxi drivers are qualified, kitchens are clean, and so on. Clarifying land rights can also assist in ensuring supplies of security, sanitation, electricity, transport, and water. Where these are available, HEs are generally willing to pay, even though 28 On Asia, see Haggblade, Hazell, and Reardon 2010; Lanjouw, Quizon, and Sparrow 2001. 29 Filmer and Fox 2014. 30 This is often compounded by illiteracy and poor record keeping among HEs. 31 “Raising Productivity” 2011. 32 Filmer and Fox 2014. 33 Grimm, Knorringa, and Lay 2012. 15 taxes are often higher than those for large businesses. 34 However, the weakened, and often still fluctuating, infrastructures of FCS, often do not allow for approachable tax or regulatory systems that would encourage the existence or growth of small businesses. 35 Clustering in appropriate, safe areas has been shown to assist industries such as metalworking, while traders need access to foot traffic in central areas. The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) Development of Clusters and Networks of SMEs 2001 report shows evidence from developing and developed countries that cooperation and joint action are more likely when enterprises share markets for products, infrastructure needs, and other business interests. 1.4.2 Credit and finance FCS generally have poorer access to credit, and accessing and managing capital to start and operate a HE is especially complicated. Background to the 2011 World Development Report describes credit in FCS as either coming at ‘usurious rates or confined to those best- connected to officials controlling state-owned banks’. Once an HE is up and running, poor skills in bookkeeping are compounded by the complications of linking business and household finances. HEs usually combine household and business finances. The HE is part of the household’s livelihood portfolio, in which funds move back and forth between the HE and other activities (such as purchasing farm inputs). Expenditures (school fees, repairs, and so on) and external shocks (family illness) often spill over to the business. HEs largely rely on savings or loans from family or friends. Virtually all HEs in Africa today report that their own funds or loans from friends and relatives enabled them to start their businesses, and the overwhelming majority of existing businesses report that they did not 34 Filmer and Fox 2014. 35 Dudwick et al. 2013. 16 obtain any type of loan over the last 12 months. 36 Such mechanisms can allow the initiation of an HE, but they are informal, uncertain, and open to abuse. Young people have particular trouble getting a loan for start-up capital. Even microfinance institutions prefer to lend to individuals with a salary so that they have a better chance of repayment. Some will lend to households based on collateral or an agreement with a salaried guarantor. An initial savings deposit is often required, which young people are unlikely to have available. Ideally, young people should not be segregated as a group and offered financial services designed specifically for them. The risks of working with this client base are high, and separating young people from a larger pool for sharing risks would make them even less attractive to financial institutions. Saving is as important as credit. Using credit requires a borrower to put aside money regularly to service the loan, so a savings mechanism is critical. However, where financial inclusion remains poor, finding safe places to keep money is difficult.37 In FCS, just 15 percent of adults have an account at a formal financial institution, while 26 percent report having saved in the past year.38 This problem is especially acute for youth and women. Security of savings is especially important for women, who tend to perform more reliably with regard to repayments when they are able to find such security. 39 Those saving in FCS are less than half as likely as those in the rest of the developing world to use a formal financial institution. They are also 50 percent more likely to save using a community-based method. 40 Afghanaid's Savings Groups, for example, give impoverished people in rural Afghan communities an opportunity to accumulate group savings and build their confidence to start income- generating enterprises. They assist members in developing the discipline, trust, and experience of saving, borrowing, and repaying reliably. 36 Filmer and Fox 2014. 37 Filmer and Fox 2014. 38 Kunt, Klapper, and Randall 2013. 39 Dupas and Robinson 2013. 40 Kunt, Klapper, and Randall 2013. 17 Grants may be another means of facilitating entry to operate an HE. Such programs are combined with business training, support services, vocational training, or financial capital. Results seem to be positive although recipients tend to be relatively wealthy. 41 For example, grants to existing businesses in Sri Lanka helped improve sustainability, providing evidence of capital constraints both at start-up and during operation. 42 However, risk-free access to capital may not be conducive to dedicated operation of business. 1.4.3 Skills deficits The informal sector disproportionately comprises individuals with a low level of education and skills, and many lack even basic literacy and numeracy. Functional literacy and numeracy can add as much as 40 percent to the earnings of HE owners, compared to their illiterate peers. 43 Relevant and responsive education and training is key. A disillusioned outlook of young people toward education and its role in improving their livelihoods is a common phenomenon in countries where access to education, along with the school-to-work transition, has not kept up with the relevance of and quality improvements in curriculum, skills training, and pedagogy. 44 The quality of education in developing and fragile conflict settings remains extremely variable, and students in these settings can be disappointed that attaining a diploma will not have the same meaning to employers that it does for them. 45 Lack of employment opportunities and belief that personal connections are more important for finding a job fosters apathy among youth and devalues education. Vocational training does not necessarily lead to employment, for example, especially when they are not designed to meet market demand. 41 Filmer and Fox 2014. 42 De Mel, McKenzie, and Woodruff 2012b. 43 See Filmer and Fox (2014) and Fox and Sohnesen (2012). 44 World Bank. 2013. Country Partnership Strategy. 45 Brownlee et al. 2012. 18 Young people already often work in the HE sector. This, generally unwaged, experience can be a pathway to sustainable employment in the sector. They can receive on-the-job training without affecting other activities too much (including education and occasional waged employment). Trust can also be earned, meaning that a family may provide start-up capital later. Working in the informal sector means that individuals must have skills for many different functions—within one or a variety of roles. However, it is difficult to take much time away for training. Entrepreneurship is often seen as a means of bypassing failing institutions and state bureaucracy. Colleges and educational programs have been established in many countries around the world, although it remains unclear what entrepreneurship is and whether it can be taught. In Nigeria, for example, entrepreneurship programs greatly increased business knowledge and practice, but there was no corresponding growth in business setup and expansion or increased income. 46 1.4.4 Business environment FCS are tense settings and HEs face mistrust, both from potential partners in business (suppliers and so on) and customers themselves. The same problems that keep their trades tucked away in their households also keep them from growing financially; which is to say, these enterprises often remain somewhat marginal, in part because of an environment that remains unhealthy both economically and culturally. 47 Clustering can assist cooperation, which can contribute to or be enhanced by improved trust. Clusters offer shared fixed costs and proximity fosters mutual knowledge and trust. Clustering can help small firms address problems as highlighted by the U.S. Agency for International Development in the Building Markets 2013 Market Overview Report. These issues include poor customer service that 38 percent of local businesses suffered from, poor 46 Cho et al. 2014. Cho, Y., and M. Honorati. 2014. “Entrepreneurship Programs in Developing Countries: A Meta Regression Analysis.” World Bank, Washington DC. 47 Dudwick et al. 2013. 19 quality of goods and services (35 percent of businesses), general lack of capacity (16 percent), and delayed delivery time (14 percent). 48 A UNIDO clustering case study of Nicaraguan handicraft hammock producers is useful.49 At the beginning of the program, SMEs had little cohesion and were not exporting. UNIDO grouped the SMEs into 11 clusters, which began sharing skills and resources to develop an export market. UNIDO helped the groups standardize their products and improve quality and pricing systems. As demand for exports grew, the groups hired a manager to handle development, technical capacity, and financial awareness. The project was successful, achieving US$300,000 in new investments. Additionally, 30 new business networks were created, a total of 480 SMEs. 1.4.5 Attitudes It needs to be established as to whether HEs are seen as a valued option, otherwise interventions will not lead to take-up of opportunities. In Liberia, for example, young people aspire to salaried office jobs. Other types of jobs, such as farming or unskilled labor positions, are not held to the same regard and are not considered to be a "true" employment option.50 Recent World Bank qualitative research highlights that feelings of exclusion stem from a lack of reliable, quality employment (specifically, that which youth consider to be ‘good’ livelihoods), not simply income. 51 Short-term, labor-intensive works may not be considered jobs by youth, for example, because they consist of unskilled, low-wage, short-term employment.52 Research can help understand what a viable alternative is, and to what extent they will see alternatives as ‘better’. Expectations may appear out of step with reality though. Ideas may be based on unrealized ideals, marketing, and media rather than consistent experience. However, young people may 48 GoL, PSD 78. 49 Although Nicaragua is not currently classified as a fragile state by the World Bank, it has suffered from political instability, civil war, and extreme natural disasters detrimental to the economy in the past few decades. 50 World Bank. 2013. Country Partnership Strategy. 51 World Bank. 2013. Understanding Youth Violence: Cases from Liberia and Sierra Leone. 52 World Bank. 2013. Understanding Youth Violence: Cases from Liberia and Sierra Leone. 20 also be interested in public sector work, rather than private sector work, even when it’s more lucrative if such jobs are seen as more stable, reliable, with the benefits one needs for their families. 53 In sum, young people may strive for reliable income (regular pay) over insecurity with possible high rewards; power and status over security and reliability. 54 Some may be even willing to be underemployed for lack of (what they consider to be) better options. HEs also need to be seen as viable. HEs are also additional, and therefore demanding activities. Individuals need to see that HEs are worthwhile in a cost-benefit analysis. Urban owners work extremely long hours and are subject to disruptions in electrical supply and other challenges, making involvement in running an HE stressful, even as it assists in survival or prosperity. HEs also operate in a risky environment, in the sense that they depend on income from wages that may be hit by redundancy or agricultural income that may be hit by particular shocks. 55 As households, illness, and other life events can disproportionately affect income if family members are rendered unable to work and provide the free labor required for an HE to be profitable. II. Research Methodology 2.1 Qualitative Research Toolkit Development The qualitative research toolkit was developed to fill in gaps and provide further nuance to existing research that was summarized above. The toolkit can be used with minor changes in other FCS as many of the key themes in such contexts overlap. The overall methodology was adopted based on other qualitative research that has been conducted with good success in similar contexts: FGDs and KIIs across a sample of communities that have relatively different socioeconomic, geographical, and political differences. The purposive selection of communities is also determined by feasibility of 53 de Mel, Elder, and Vansteenkiste 2013. 54 World Bank. 2011. Rapid Qualitative Assessment on Gender and Poverty in Liberia. 55 Ibid. 21 conducting the research in a reasonable amount of time and given other logistical circumstances. In many cases, spending two to three days in a single community is sufficient for obtaining qualitative data, allowing for organization of interviews/focus groups. If they are any longer, they will interfere with the day-to-day activities of community members/consumers (CCs) and not necessarily yield enough additional information short of conducting a full ethnography, which is of course not feasible. The groups with which research will be conducted were determined based on the literature reviewed above and understanding which groups would experience issues related to HE differently. As such, we see that existing household enterprise operators (HEOs), aspiring entrepreneurs (AEs), and consumers (or those not aspiring to be entrepreneurs at this point) will have unique perspectives on the various issues which we want to learn more about. Communities should be selected to try and capture a variety of places across the country that will depict the broad scope of perceptions and experiences that people have within that given country. This is particularly important when ensuring that marginalized people and communities are represented in such research, which is a difficulty in representative (quantitative) sampling without oversampling those marginalized groups. Five communities should be selected unless the scope of work (time allowed) is altered, which will allow research teams to choose a variety of communities based on the following features: • Relative population size: One large urban market or peri-urban market easily accessible to the largest city in the country should be chosen; at least one other site among the five should be a relatively small (though not rural) town or city. • Proximity to country border/where cross-border trade occurs: At least one site should be within proximity to a border where cross-border trade is active. • General accessibility to a major city: At least one community should be relatively isolated from other cities/large towns, for example, because of poor road networks, 22 far distances, or other factors increasing travel time for those who would engage in trade. • Proximity to country’s biggest city/commerce capital: At least one community should be within the commerce capital and others should be various distances from the capital, with at least one being more than a day’s trip (or whatever the maximum travel time is within that country) away. Questions were decided by reviewing all questions asked from a combination of existing qualitative and quantitative toolkits dealing with related issues (youth, employment, livelihoods, and other FCS-specific issues). Based on the data gaps identified in the above literature review, and acknowledging that the focus of this study is on youth in nonagricultural HEs, the most relevant questions were adopted for use in FGDs and KIIs. In some cases, phrasing was changed to provide a more accessible form of questioning from that found on questionnaires. Key resources referred to in selecting the questions for FGDs and KIIs are: • Economic Empowerment of Adolescent Girls and Young Women (EPAG) Liberia, 2014 (Quantitative) • USAID 2009 Youth Fragility Assessment Liberia (Qualitative and Quantitative) • ILO School to Work Transition Survey (SWTS): Module 2 SWTS Questionnaires, 2009 (Quantitative) • ILO (2010), Local Economic Recovery in Post Conflict, p. 226 • World Bank (2011), Rapid Qualitative Assessment on Gender and Poverty in Liberia In other cases, reports did not make available the questions used in the research; however, data was presented such that it was apparent what type of questioning was asked to yield very useful information. Such inferences were made from: 23 • World Bank, Youth Employment in Sub-Saharan Africa: Creating Productive Employment for Youth in the Household Enterprise Sector, p. 166 • Blattman, Christopher, Nathan Fiala, and Sebastian Martinez Bustos. "Employment generation in rural Africa: mid-term results from an experimental evaluation of the Youth Opportunities Program in Northern Uganda." (2012) • USAID, A Framework for Analyzing Resilience in Fragile and Conflict-Affected Situations, p. 43 2.2 The Research The work in each FCS requires both desk and field research, as guided by this toolkit. After a brief overview (below), the methodology (field data collection, entry, and analysis) is explained in detail; following that are the actual field tools/questions. The e-annex contains the field forms (questions to ask with coding fields, space for notes, participant data sheets, and daily tracking sheets), qualitative database (for transcribing and analysis qualitative data), and training videos (to explain how to use the qualitative database). 2.2.1 Desk As is clear from the brief literature review above, each FCS has a unique context and therefore any interventions designed to support, scale up, and sustain HEs will also be unique. While there is literature available around the themes in most of these contexts, in most cases, additional qualitative research is needed. An important first step in gathering relevant information around HEs in a specific FCS is to conduct a literature review that will help highlight major data gaps. Each country team is expected to do this before adapting tools and doing any field research. 24 2.2.2 Field Qualitative field research will enable us to fill the gaps identified in the country-specific literature review. The qualitative toolkit has already been developed, taking into account the major themes outlined above and also identifying the typical gaps in nuanced data. As such, all the key questions in the toolkit (presented following the methodology overview) are expected to be asked as they are written (of course with suitable translations and nuances as needed), but it is also required that each country team make adaptations to follow-up questions to elicit specific discussions around that country or region’s context at that time. In addition to the specific questions, the overall methodology is to be replicated as much as possible in each country. In general it will be necessary to conduct activities in four to six communities, purposefully chosen to provide a good representative sample of the country as a whole (that is, go for variety in selecting communities). In each community selected, the research team will spend five days (including travel to/from the community) to make introductions, set up interview times, and then conduct a variety of FGDs and KIIs. FGDs will be held with existing HEOs, AEs, and community members/consumers (CCs); KIIs will be conducted with various other relevant persons as determined by the research team to have important perspectives and knowledge on the area. The following pages explain the logistical and methodological details around each of the tasks in each community. Following that are the tools themselves, which were developed specifically for this work, as explained below. III. Overview of Tasks per Community The list below provides a brief overview of the tasks per community; following that are detailed explanations for each. (a) Meet key stakeholders and leaders within that community to help introduce the work, organize logistics, and solicit help with participant selection (ensuring that the 25 stakeholders understand the need for diversity within each group). This should be done at least one week before fieldwork. (b) Recruit additional day-hire fieldworkers—not from the communities where research is being conducted—who can assist in interpretation (into local dialects) for FGDs and KIIs, as necessary. (c) Recontact leaders who were helping with selection, and review participant lists to ensure that they meet the selection criteria/quotas have been reached. If not, work with community leaders to find suitable replacements. (d) Conduct FGDs with a minimum of four 56 groups as indicated above in ‘(c)’ per community (two hours per focus group, with 6–12 persons per group), using previously developed FGD interview guide (semi-structured), sampling methodology, and suggested participants. For each FGD, a participant data sheet will need to be filled out. Flip charts and markers will be required for each FGD (their utility is explained below). (e) Conduct KIIs with a minimum of six key informants per community, identified by the field team leader with the help of the field team and other interviewees throughout the fieldwork (one hour per interview), using previously developed KII guide (semi- structured) and suggested participants. (f) At the end of each day of research, the field team leader should take the time to meet with the field team to review the day’s events, including how the methodology was working and specific findings (what was surprising, what was expected, and so on), and also to allow time for each field team member to finalize the notes before the end of the day. Then, the field team leader should collect and review all field notes 56 Total number depends on whether men and women should be separated; in Liberia, we recommended that they be separated, so the total number was six per community. 26 from the team, providing necessary feedback and re-interviews if notes are not sufficient/incomplete. (g) Ensure electronic backup of each page of notes (low-resolution photographs using mobile phones are ideal) at the end of each evening, where possible. (h) When the lead researcher 57 is not with the field team, the field team leader must send all photos, per bullet ‘(g)’ above, to the lead researcher using WhatsApp. A suitable mobile phone with 3G connectivity would be required for this. If this is not possible, the field team leader will need to bring a computer and flash modem to email the files. (i) Once all files are sent, the lead researcher will have a phone conversation with the field team leader about the data/next steps. (j) Also, at the end of each day, a daily productivity report should be sent through a text message to the lead researcher with a count of FGDs and KIIs. IV. Detailed Field Tasks 4.1 Hold Community-level Meetings This phase will take place in each community that has been selected for research, at least one week before the research itself. The field team leader can travel alone or with the field team. The purpose of these consultations is to help introduce the work, organize logistics, get feedback on follow-up questions that would be relevant in that community, and very importantly, solicit help with participant selection (ensuring that the stakeholders understand the need for diversity within each group). 57 As mentioned, in some cases, the lead researcher and field team leader will be the same; in this case, it is still important to have someone not in the field providing backup of data. 27 It is left to the discretion of the field team leader to decide who the important leaders to visit are, but examples of relevant leaders are commissioners, chiefs, mayors, elders, youth leaders, women’s leaders, and so on. It will be useful at this point to present to the leaders a letter of introduction signed by the World Bank’s country manager, to ensure access to key counterparts. The objectives of all the meetings are to have, at the end of the day of consultations,: • Secured locations (ensuring privacy), dates, and times for each of the FGDs; • Town map: For the team to get a good idea as to the layout of the town, the above persons will help the team draw a map of the town, including key areas like markets, shops, households, schools, transport hubs, government buildings, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and so on; • Possible KII participants: Leaders will also assist in preparing a list of names of individuals who may be suitable for KII, along with contact information (place of residence/work and mobile phone, if available) to get in touch with them quickly/make appointments for meetings; and • FGD participants preliminary lists: This aspect will require the most attention, as the makeup of FGDs is important in capturing diversity within the community. Selection of FGD participants is outlined below. 4.1.1 FGD participants For this study we are focusing on existing HEs operating in the markets, AEs, consumers /community members within the market catchment area. The field team will need to make sure that the community leaders who are recommending names understand the criteria – and adhere to the quotas – that are needed for participants to be in each of the FGDs, most especially that the participants broadly represent the types of people of that participant type in that community. Quotas are therefore set on education level, type of business operation, 28 age level, and gender. Guidance is provided below, but the field team leader should, during refinement of toolkits, set specific targets that will be followed across all communities. • Education: Must be broadly representative of the education of the population as a whole (see basic census statistics). Oversampling may be used in order to capture people whose education level is an outlier in that community (that is, college education). If it appears during piloting as though mixing education levels could negatively affect the conversation (if for example someone of a very high education dominates the conversation and the others do not feel comfortable speaking), then it will be important to hold separate groups, or to conduct KIIS with those who are very highly educated and conduct FGDs with those that are more representative of the population. • Age: The target age group is 18-35 but there should be a range of ages within each group, such that half of the group is made up of those aged 18-25; the rest aged 26 – 35). • Gender: There must always be an equal proportion of men and women in each group (unless it is decided that separate groups will be used) • Type of business: These should be broadly representative of the types of business in a given community, but there must be at least two persons working in services in each HEO and AE group. At the end of the day of consultations, preliminary participant lists should be prepared, and the community leaders will be encouraged to continue refining those lists and have everything ready by the time the field team arrives for research. Phone communication between the field team leader and leaders in the community after the consultation and before the research will be important to ensure that plans are moving forward. 29 4.2 Recruit Additional Day-hire Interpreters Depending on the language skills of the field team, it will be necessary to hire interpreters to help during FGDs and KIIs. It is very important that all participants of FGDs are able to understand the facilitator and are comfortable speaking. Interpreters should be recruited from outside of the community to ensure maximum confidence that interpretations are accurate (in case he/she has some reason to change what is being described). 4.3 Introductions and Participant Selection When the field team arrives to the community, meetings with the leaders who were visited originally should be held to confirm that the selection criteria were adhered to. If the selection criteria have not been adhered to, then the field team leader should explain why changes need to be made, and then suitable replacements should be found where needed. 4.4 Focus Group Discussions As indicated above, in each community, FGDs will be held with the following groups of young people (ages 18–35): • Persons with existing HEs operating in the markets (formal and informal) - who have their own operation selling goods or offering services; primary location of business (preparing goods, storing goods, and offering services) is the household • AEs - who are involved in selling goods/offeringservices, but do not have their own operation, and are doing this business on behalf of someone else and being paid for it • CCs (male) and CCs (female) - those who fall outside the above two categories, not involved in business at all (either doing nothing, farming only, or have salaried or contract-type work) 30 Each group should consist of 6–12 persons ages 18–35. FGDs will last no longer than two hours each (timing guidance will be provided on each question/module), and should be conducted with one facilitator, one notetaker, and one interpreter (as needed). Notetakers should record everything they hear and also note the things that happen during the conversation (that is, disagreement, laughter, embarrassment, silence, and so on). The first step of each focus group is to complete the participant data sheet, which is part of the toolkit provided for each FGD in each community. This will give important data and also help call participants by name, which can contribute to a better discussion. Each FGD has a CORE module, and another module specific to their group. The CORE module gives good insight into broad themes that we want to compare across communities and groups, and also is a good line of questioning to begin a focus group. The group-specific questions will give us details around that group’s particular experiences and attitudes regarding employment, livelihoods, and HEs. In FGDs, there are two types of questions that can be used within the modules (whether they are ‘blind’ or ‘open’ should be decided within each country, depending on the sensitivity of the questions and whether respondents will feel free to answer the questions). • Close-ended blind (or not blind, where appropriate) voting questions: In this case, the group will be asked a question (where the information is sensitive, they will need to put their heads down/hands up to vote for specific answers; otherwise, simply hands up will be fine); the notetaker will record the tally of responses on a (prepared) flip chart for the whole group to see. At the same time, the notetaker will record the answers in his/her notes. Once all the responses have been received, the facilitator will go through each answer and request volunteers to explain why they gave that response. People should not be forced to respond, as the reason for blind voting is to allow anonymity. However, everyone should be given a chance to respond and conversation should be encouraged among the group. When the conversation is ending and/or everyone has responded, follow-up questions should be asked. The 31 benefit of blind voting is not just confidentiality, but also ensuring that respondents aren’t answering only what they think is the ‘normal’ answer based on what their colleagues are saying. • Open-ended questions: In these questions, a subject will be introduced through a question, allowing the group to go right into discussion. In some modules, the flip chart will be used to help respondents visualize the conversation. Everyone in the group should be encouraged to give their opinion on each question. If it seems that most people have the same ideas/opinions, to go more quickly through the conversation, questions like “Does anyone have a different reason?” or “Do all of you agree with this point? If so raise your hand” should be asked. The point is to get (a) detailed information and (b) an idea of the variety of opinions in the group. At this point, the notetaker and facilitator should try to agree upon the relative distribution of responses and indicate these estimates in the notes themselves (the note forms have pre-categorized response options, including a space for ‘other’ in some cases). The recorded numbers do not have to be exact (as with blind voting), but rather from- the-field estimates as to where the group’s individual opinions are. Doing this will greatly assist in the data analysis. In addition to recording this information, of course, the notetaker must take detailed notes on the conversation and specific opinions people have and why. All open-ended questions also include follow-up questions, which are indicated on each sheet. Each question/discussion point appears on a single piece of paper with two sides (see Figure 4.1 for an example of what one question for one group will look like on the front side of the form). 32 Figure 4.1. Example Field Form Page In addition to the main question (in bold), there are instructions for the facilitator/notetaker (in italics and brackets) and also additional follow-up questions in plain text, which should be asked whenever the discussion has not already covered these points. For each response, what the person voted for or their response type (according to the categories provided) and then their detailed explanation with direct quotations should be noted. The conversation should be allowed to continue until either (a) everyone has spoken or (b) there is not much variety in responses and everyone seems to agree with the same point. Then, the follow-up questions need to be looked at to determine whether additional information needs to be gathered—this is very important because while we hope that all the information we need will come up naturally, we want to make sure that we do not move on without talking about certain issues. Each follow-up question should be asked one by one as 33 needed. The notetaker should continue taking notes, and whenever a follow-up response can be categorized under a certain response type, the notetaker should clearly note this in his/her notes. For example, for the question in Figure 4.1, if most people in the group have been saying that ‘the job situation is very good here’, then the notes should be recorded under the heading ‘a)’. Then, if someone says, ‘I think it is very bad’, then what they say should be recorded under ‘e)’. An example of how these notes will look like is provided in Figure 4.2 and Figure 4.3. 34 Figure 4.2. Example of Excellent Notes, Page 1 35 Figure 4.3. Example of Excellent Notes, Page 2 36 4.4.1 ‘Tips’ for facilitators and notetakers in the field Below are points that the field team leader and also each facilitator/notetaker should understand about his/her work, to ensure that the work is done efficiently and leads to the collection of rich and detailed data. We depend on the field team leader to understand the points below fully and effectively convey each of them to the entire field team. • The most important thing for the facilitator and notetaker is to really understand what we are trying to learn from each question. Detailed information on what we want from each question is provided during training and in training materials. If the facilitator understands what we are trying to learn, then he/she will be better able to frame the line of questioning to the participants so that the rich discussion begins. • The facilitator and notetaker must be very familiar with all the questions being asked, because in some cases, topics may be fully covered even without asking questions about them specifically. For example, if the conversation has naturally veered into discussions on regional instability, and questions about regional instability come up later, then the notetaker should turn to that page in the guide and begin taking notes there. • If information that is not part of the interview guide comes up, but is very relevant to what we want to know, then the facilitator and notetaker should feel free to continue probing into that unscripted topic. This is partly why FGDs are so useful—we can learn about things we may never expect to hear. It is up to the facilitator and notetaker to determine whether the topic is relevant to the subject matter and what we want to learn from this study. If it is not, then the conversation should be gently shifted toward the issues we want to know about. • A good technique to get through FGDs quickly is to point out early on that we are interested in hearing everyone’s opinion, but that we would like to hear as much 37 variety as possible. So, before beginning, the group should be told, “If someone has said something that you agree with and you would say the same thing, then go ahead and raise your hand to say simply, ‘I agree with this’. If you have some other opinion or a different reason for what you think, then please do give us this new information.” While we want to allow time for everyone to speak, by allowing them to raise their hand to say, “I agree,” can greatly speed up conversations while encouraging various responses. • The in-country team needs to realize that certain issues that come up may be something that ‘everybody knows about’; it is important to realize that this may not be the case for those who will read the research and reports, so it is important for the notetaker to take note and talk about issues that may seem very obvious. What is normal may be very unique in another context! The main point is to encourage conversation and write down (and audiotape as a last-resort backup) everything! • Notetakers should write everything in the first person, but not worry too much about writing in complete sentences or even with perfect spelling, if this slows them down so much that they can’t write down everything that was said. They just have to get the key information and can edit their notes later, with the help of the recording that they have. In some cases, the notetaker may use shorthand if it is easier and the lead researcher/team leader will understand what they’ve written (that is, w/o for ‘without’; bc for ‘because’, and so on). When we think about analysis, it should be remembered that if what has been said has not been written down, then it might as well have never been said. Whoever sits down to do the analysis needs a record of what was discussed, and the notetaker is the one in charge of keeping that record. If at any time during the discussion the notetaker needs more time to record notes, he/she must let the facilitator know. • The facilitator should keep the group/person engaged and happy to be participating. At the beginning of the interview, and also midway through if the group 38 is getting bored or restless, the facilitator should conduct an ‘icebreaker’ exercise and give them an honest estimate of how much time remains. Also, the participants should be reminded that what they are doing is greatly assisting future planning for their country; that they are ‘representatives’ for their people; and that their role here is very important: “If you don’t tell us what it is like in your community, then we will go back and know very little. You are really helping us do our work and for that you are most appreciated.” • Each question has a recommended time limit; the notetaker and facilitator should make sure that these time limits are correctly observed so that all questions are asked of the group. We cannot keep people longer than two hours, but we don’t want to miss discussions around an entire theme. Keeping time is very important. If the facilitator needs to set an alarm on his/her cell phone or wear a watch, he/she should do so. 4.5 Key Informant Interviews A minimum of five KIIs will be conducted with a specific selection of individuals in each community. These names will be confirmed after meetings with community leaders and other stakeholders, and after discussion with the lead researcher to agree that these persons are suitable. In addition, the field team leader is expected to take an active interest in the research in proposing good candidates for the KII. He/she should consider whether or not a certain person will provide good and useful information that fills the data gaps identified, to facilitate writing the report. Interviews need to be prearranged (if it is not possible to do so in the days prior through local contacts, then it should be arranged first thing in the morning before other data collection begins) to ensure that these individuals are available at the time of data collection and are willing to sit down for an interview. If the research team leader discovers that any of the individuals will not be available at all during data collection, then he/she must coordinate with the lead researcher so that a suitable replacement can be 39 decided upon. It may also be necessary for the field team to allocate an additional day for each site to set up/wrap up the full day of qualitative research. KIIs will be conducted one-on-one (and with an interpreter as well, if needed), with the facilitator taking notes, in a private location. The KII guide will have many of the same questions for each key informant, but additional questions specific to that ‘type’ of informant will be provided in the interview guide (clearly indicated). Each question is open-ended, but there will be areas where the facilitator/notetaker will need to ‘code’ the response type in addition to taking thorough notes of what is said (verbatim) during these discussions. It is the responsibility of the interviewer to add additional questions that he/she considers relevant to the subject matter. Persons selected for KIIs should include (at least one such interview in each community) the following: • Persons with existing HEs • AEs • NGO stakeholders/partners in the region—can be in the nearest major towns (Mercy Corps, International Rescue Committee, ILO, and so on) • Government stakeholders (Ministry of Youth and Sports, Ministry of Labor, Ministry of Education) • Community leaders • Marginalized young person (that is, someone involved in crime, illegal activity, or of high-risk for such activities) o Note that this interview will not include the CORE questions, and should be conducted by a suitable member of the team (for example, a young man 40 should interview another young man; a young woman should interview another young woman). Such interviews should only be conducted if it will be appropriate. 4.6 Collect, Review, and Back-up Field Notes It is recommended that data recording devices be used only as backup—they tend to discourage notetakers and also result in far too much time being taken in transcription. So, at the end of each day of research, if field researchers need to fill in any ‘gaps’ in their notes, then they can go to the audio tapes. However, under no circumstances should these build up such that the field team leader is faced with hours of audio at the end of research. After consulting with the field team to determine if they need to fill any gaps using the audio, and allowing time for them to do so if necessary, at the end of each day the field team leader should collect finalized notes from each data collector and review them. The field team leader is responsible for providing necessary feedback and determining whether there should be re- interviews, if notes are not sufficient/incomplete and audio recordings do not provide sufficient information. Once notes are finalized by the field team leader, it is necessary to take steps for electronic backup in case papers are lost or damaged. This is best done by taking photographs of all pages of notes and participant data sheets using a mobile phone (ensuring that they are readable). In areas where a scanner is available, low-resolution scans may be taken as well. Finally, at the end of each field day, the field team leader must complete the ‘Community Checklist’ (see Chapter 8) to indicate the activities that were completed. 41 4.7 Quality Assurance Processes with Lead Researcher 58 While the field team leader is responsible for all of the above, it will also be necessary for the lead researcher, who will be working virtually, to provide solid quality assurance as per the following steps. (a) When the lead researcher is not with the field team, the field team leader must send all photos to the lead researcher using WhatsApp. A suitable mobile phone with 3G connectivity would be required for this. If this is not possible, the field team leader will need to bring a computer and flash modem to take a backup and then (once Internet is possible) email the files. (b) Once all files are sent, the lead researcher will have a phone conversation with the field team leader about the data/next steps. (c) Also at the end of each day, a daily productivity report with a count of FGDs and KIIs conducted should be sent through text message to the lead researcher. (d) Where there is no Internet connectivity, it is expected that the field team leader will communicate this to the lead researcher. If necessary, half a day or full day will be used by the lead researcher to travel to a point in the county where Internet can be accessed (that is, at a partner NGO, area with 3G network, and so on). V. Ethical Considerations in Field Research In any research that deals with vulnerable or marginalized populations, it is imperative to pay close attention to the potential to do harm through asking questions or eliciting conversation. The research team will follow ethical guidelines as prescribed by the American Sociological Association and World Bank standards, summarized here. 58 In some contexts, the lead researcher and field team leader will be the same person; however, in all cases of field research, it is useful to have another person in the office who is storing and reviewing data as it comes. So this process should be facilitated with someone not in the field in all cases. 42 The team must be acutely aware of the need to obtain vocal informed consent from EVERY participant in the study when recruiting participants for FGDs or KIIs (that is, the researcher exactly explains what is going to happen during the questioning, and allows people to decide not to participate after getting this information); each participant will be told that his/her name will not be used in any project documents without their explicit permission; pseudonyms will be used in any narratives; and that they will be given a unique ID, which will be linked to their names but those names will be kept separately in a password-protected document. The importance of keeping track of their individual progress (if needed) will be explained to them such that they understand its importance and can give informed consent. If at any point in a conversation (whether during meetings with leaders, focus groups, or interviews) it appears that the participant no longer wants to speak or be present, then it is imperative that the researcher (a) identifies this easily and (b) stops the research immediately. The participant should never be coerced to take part in the first place or to ‘keep answering’ while taking part. Certain questions might bring up sensitive topics (that is, conflict, violence, poverty, traditions, gender-based violence); therefore, it is important that the researcher, while obtaining informed consent, explains the types of questions that will be asked in the survey or during the conversation and assures the participant that (a) his/her answers will remain totally anonymous for FGDs (as we will not record quotations by name, only by group) and confidential for KIIs (unless permission is given by the KII to use his/her name); (b) he/she can choose to not answer a question if he/she chooses; (c) he/she can stop the interview at any point without question. If the interview is stopped, then it is up to the field researcher to locate another suitable candidate for interview if more information is needed. 43 VI. Data Entry, Analysis, and Reporting 6.1 Introduction This section will go through data entry, analysis, and summary report writing. It is recommended that the field team leader is completely familiar with the field data collection methodology and the field interview guides/questions and has gone through all the training, before beginning to study this section. In this document, the following will be provided: • An introduction to the key themes of this study that will be enhanced with qualitative data • An overview of the qualitative databases (one each per module) • An explanation of how data should be entered to ensure ease in analysis • An explanation of how the ‘Analysis’ tabs can assist in summarizing data and helping see major findings, according to the key themes of this study • Guidance on integrating key quotations into each analytical theme (tab in the database) • Guidance on how to utilize analytical themes (tabs in the database) to organize and prepare the summary report To effectively analyze the qualitative data, the procedures provided in this manual should be utilized. If they are not utilized, then we will consider that the qualitative analysis that has been conducted is incomplete and not to be considered a valid qualitative analysis. It is important to note that data entry processes will take a long time. This should be considered to complete the analysis and report by the deadline. 44 6.2 Qualitative Databases The qualitative databases have been created not just to facilitate data maintenance, but also to assist in organizing and analyzing the data around the above themes. While the databases contain many rows, columns, and tabs and require the field team leader to spend some time entering data and importing key quotations and narratives, once the field team leader becomes comfortable with the system, then he/she will be able to see the huge help this will be in analyzing data and preparing the summary report. The field team leader should consider which he/she would prefer: a complex but sophisticated data maintenance system that neatly summarizes the data or a large stack of field notes that he/she will just read over and over again, hoping to come to some conclusions. It is also important to realize that by using these databases, the field team leader is ensuring that the qualitative analysis is much less subjective than simply writing based on field notes that he/she has read. The field team leader will see that the database requires him/her to see certain trends, and when he/she sees them, to import quotations. This will ensure that the field team leader does not overlook an interesting finding, which could easily happen if he/she were distracted by some other interesting finding. As explained above, each module will have its own database; however, all the databases will work in the same way. As such, a detailed overview of the CORE database is provided here, as this will help with becoming familiar will all the other databases. Note that there are supplemental documents and training that will help understand the additional module databases, but these should be clear after reviewing this guidance document. 45 6.3 Data Entry The first step is to simply enter the data. This is indeed the most time-consuming part of using the database. Entering data into the database will be vastly simplified if the notetakers have followed the notetaking guidelines provided in PART ONE of this training manual. If they have not, then the field team leader may be required to think a bit about where to enter which data, but it should still be possible. The tab labelled ‘FGD Data Entry’ is where all the raw data should be entered, for all FGDs in all communities. This database can be ‘filtered’ using the basic Excel feature, so that only responses to a certain question or responses for a certain group can be viewed. Note that the black rows indicate the community which is being referred; all communities’ notes will be logged within the same database (and all communities have identical questions). Figure 6.1 provides a screenshot of the top of the CORE database where the data for CORE Questions from each group will be entered. Following that is a screenshot of the database filtered by only responses to Question CORE 1.1 across all FGDs in five communities. See the finalized database itself for clarity. 59 59 See e-annex for this database. 46 Figure 6.1. Qualitative Database FGD Data Entry Tab Screenshot 47 Figure 6.2. Screenshot of Qualitative Database Filtering Responses to CORE 1.1 Only 48 Table 6.1. Fields in the Qualitative Database Field Column Description Label Community Name A Enter the name of the community you are working in Date of FGD/KII B The date on which the data was collected needs to be entered. FGD Type C This field refers to the group that sat for the FGD (existing HEO; AE, and so on). This field is already filled in; close attention needs to paid while inputting data to ensure that the fields align with the FGD group (this will ensure the analysis tabs work properly). Gender D If genders were separated in the study, ‘male’ or ‘female’ should be entered. If they were together, ‘Mixed’ should be entered, but then it should be noted on the analysis tabs where M and F are indicated that this is of course actually mixed. FGD Code E A unique code for that particular FGD should be entered. The structure Community Name - Participant Type – Gender is recommended. Module F This refers to the module (CORE or group-specific) for which the data is being entered. This field is already filled in. Question Code for G This field refers to the question number. This field is already filled in; close Sorting attention needs to be paid while inputting data to ensure that the fields align with question. Theme H This field refers to the overall theme (topic) of the question which will be reflected in each of the questions for easy reference. In some cases it is ‘General’, meaning that multiple themes come up in the question that should be woven into relevant parts of the thematic analysis. Opening Question I This field provides the main question (bold print on the field forms) to Text which the answer coding corresponds. This is the line of questioning that will remain consistent across all countries. The follow-up questions (not listed in the database) are those specific to the country context, and the data for which will enrich the notes for each question. Answer Choices J This field provides the answer choices that were provided on each of the field forms. For open-ended questions, these should have been filled in with an estimate as to the distribution of response types. For blind- voting/close-ended questions, these should have been filled in with the exact number of persons who had a certain response type. This has already been filled in to help in recording the # of people who chose a certain answer. # Chose K In this field, the total number needs to be recorded (the tally marks should be counted and a number should be entered next to each respective field). If there was nobody who answered in a certain way, then a ‘0’ must be entered (that is, no cells should be left blank). Corresponding L In this field, the transcripts of notes that were taken as it relates to each Notes for Answer response type must be typed. This is where excellent notes will be Type helpful—if the notes indicate that someone chose response (a), for example, then their explanation and anything else that they said adjacent to response a should be entered in column Q. If the notes are not excellent and do not indicate what a person said, then if the statement can be ‘read into’ to determine what type of response they gave, then this is where and the response should be coded accordingly and entered in the appropriate cell. 49 Field Column Description Label If a different person is speaking, but has the same response type, then it should be indicated that this is a new speaker with a dash, number, or some identifying feature. If nobody chose an answer choice, then the adjacent fields should be left blank. Additional Follow- M In this field, the transcripts of any notes that are not directly aligned with up Notes the response types indicated by the question must be typed. This is where additional information will be entered, or if there are notes that do not clearly align with a certain answer choice. There should be no information here that could be aligned with any of the response choices (that is, even if the notetaker did not label it as such, if it is clear from the content of the response that it should belong in one of the cells in column M, then it should be put there). 6.4 Key Informant Data Also in each theme’s database are multiple individual tabs where transcripts from each of the KIIs conducted in each community will be entered. The format for these is similar to that which is used for the FGD; the main difference is that the distribution of responses is not recorded (since there is only one respondent). Here the full text of what was said during the interview, aligned with each of the questions that was asked, will be entered. There are no analysis tabs to align with the KII data, as it is expected that these interviews will further enrich findings of the FGD and the thematic summaries on each tab (explained in detail below) will be prepared. Each KII question is aligned with the same broad themes and subthemes as those in the FGD database. Each module’s database has six tabs for KIIs. If more than one interview of a certain type was conducted in one community, then the database allows the insertion of additional rows (all the rows from one full KII should be copied and pasted below). These data entry templates can also be filtered by question in the same way the FGD data entry templates are (column F). 50 Figure 6.3. KII Data Entry Template for HEs (same format for other KII types) 51 6.5 Analysis Tabs for FGD Data There is one tab for each of the broad themes of this study: General, Urban Policy, Resources, Skills Deficit, Business Environment, and Attitudes. Each of these tabs has been pre-populated with tables and formulas that will provide a ‘summary’ of the data that has been entered in column K (# of persons who chose a certain response type; % of total for all FGD participants). In many cases, all groups or most groups answered the same question; as such, the summary tables provide a concise look at the response types as they are distributed from group to group, and across all communities. Table 6.2 provides an example of what this summary data looks like for one community, for Question CORE 1.1 (the other communities are found immediately next to it, but has been omitted from this screenshot because of the long width) which is on the ‘General’ tab. Table 6.2. Screenshot for Analysis Tab Example Summary Community 1 1.1 How is the job situation here? Community 1 Group HE M HE F AE M AE F CC M CC F Total % a. Excellent 4 0 4 0 5 7 20 38 b. Good 2 0 4 0 5 2 13 25 c. Okay 1 0 1 0 0 0 2 4 d. Bad 1 5 0 1 0 0 7 13 e. Very bad 0 3 0 7 0 0 10 19 Total 8 8 9 8 10 9 52 100 Table 6.3 shows the data from community 5. Also, in the table, we can see the grand total figures for all five communities, and also a column that calculates the relative differences between the opinions of the communities, overall, given the tallies provided in the TOTAL column for each community. This column will help identify where major differences exist in community-level opinions surrounding this question. 52 Table 6.3. Screenshot for Analysis Tab Example Summary Community 5 and Total All Communities HE HE AE AE CC CC Tot Total Total HE AE CC Males Females % M F M F M F al n % (%) (%) (%) (%) (%) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 4 7 6 2 0 7 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 13 4 5 3 5 6 3 1 0 0 0 0 4 5 9 80 27 27 35 19 18 35 10 12 6 8 5 5 46 84 199 67 69 55 76 72 62 10 11 12 10 8 5 9 55 298 100 100 100 100 100 100 0 By summarizing the data in this way, it is much easier to see trends and differences based on the groups being interviewed or based on the area that the community is in. For example, the above would indicate a few things. First, we see that overall, people are not positive about the job situation—most (67 percent) said it was ‘very bad’ and a large proportion of the remainder (27 percent) said it was ‘bad’. Nobody said it was ‘excellent’. Also, we see that women are slightly more content than men with the job situation. Also, we see that overall, HEOs are slightly less content with the job situation than AEs; least content are non- entrepreneurial community members. This suggests that young people see more success in pursuing their own businesses, giving us more weight to the idea that helping HEs is an important component of ensuring youth security. Second, we see that the job situation in Community 1 is better overall for people than it is in Community 5 and, looking at the Total for all communities, it is somewhat better across all communities surveyed. This would encourage us to explore more into that community and what about that community is leading youth to be more content with their job situation as compared to the others. The detailed notes from the focus group and KIIs will, of course, provide important insights into this. These summary tables are not intended to be treated as quantitative data findings, but rather to help the field team leader to focus on interesting trends and outliers. Of course, the analysis should be the field team leader’s, but these components will help the field team leader to see the data in a more systematic way, and point out where to look more into the many field notes that have been collected. As these percentages are reviewed, in the corresponding blue box (column AW), the overall trends observed using the exact percentages should be entered. 53 6.6 Key Quotes for Each Group After the field team leader has looked through the data tables and noticed any trends, outliers, or other interesting data, it is time to go back to the FGD data entry sheet to extract relevant quotes from the FGDs that he/she thinks best explain the findings in the tables. The field team leader is required to enter at least one key quote from each group in each community, which relates to each answer choice (of course, if 0 people voted for one choice, then this can be left blank). It is better, of course, if the field team leader can include more than one quote in a cell, if he/she thinks it is relevant, but it should just be clear in writing that they are from different people by referring to (a)… (b)… for each new speaker. If separate gender groups have been used, to the gender of the person talking should always be distinguished. These notes will be recorded in columns AX to BB. Next, the field team leader will need to write a summary for each question to convey the overall sentiment of that community, as per the discussion point, in column BC. He/she can refer back to the key quotes that have been used and try to incorporate them into their summary. This step will be the most challenging, as it requires the field team leader to think deeply about what the notes that are being looked at say about the situation, whether the communities (and genders) differ (and why), how things have changed (and why), and what this means for the broader research. While this may seem to be an arduous process, it should be noted that for every summary that is written, the field team leader has effectively written a section of the report and has also forced himself/herself to focus attention on key findings. When this is done for every question, the field team leader will not only be required to read all the notes thoroughly, but also forced to think through them, how they relate to other findings, and the broader themes that we’re trying to learn about. It is important to include quotations here from KIIs that support and/or contradict findings in FGDs; also, KIIs may give additional ‘insider’ information to further enrich discussions on the FGDs. It is expected that the field team leader can read the KII transcripts in full before completing summaries, to pull out relevant quotations for the summaries and then later for the report. 54 All of the fields on each analytical tab, to which the field team leader will be expected to add notes and summaries, will be clearly indicated with text and also highlighted in light blue color. All other fields on the analysis tabs are pre-formatted and locked, and as such the field team leader will not be able to change anything that is not in light blue color. Figure 6.4. Screenshot of Areas for (a) Describing the Percentages for Each Question; (b) Key Quotations for Each Question by Answer Type; (c) Summary for the Question Finally, at the top of each analysis tab for each database module (subtheme) is a light blue box where the field team leader should summarize the entire content of the conversations that occurred during that module, including additional information from KIIs, and which related to that particular tab’s theme. Here, it is perfectly acceptable to copy/paste the summary text directly from that which has already been written in the boxes below each question. However, here is also an opportunity in which the field team leader can write additional findings that may not relate directly to the questions that were asked, and also to note any further connections that he/she would like to make as it related to the broader 55 conversations that were heard. As with the individual summary boxes for each question, this task will take some time; however, as the field team leader is doing it, he/she is effectively writing portions of the report, and making sure that he/she does not forget to write any important information that has been analyzed on each of the tabs and reviewing the full transcripts as they’re being typed. To help focus on the summary, the box has been placed next to each of the module’s/tab’s ‘broad themes’ and also the key ‘points for analysis’ that need to be considered throughout the analysis and report writing. Figure 6.5. Box at Top of Each Analysis Tab for Overall Thematic Summary Thematic Overall Summary (Summarize your question summaries. This is also where you should add any additional information that did not fit below, but relates to the theme, and incorporate relevant KII data): 6.7 Participant Information Databases One additional database is used to record participant data for FGDs and KIIs. These forms provide basic data on every person that is being spoken to, and it is important that this data is logged as well. It is very important that when recording the job type for FGDs that the type of business they are primarily involved in is specified. So, not just ‘selling’, but, ‘selling mixed vegetables’ or ‘selling used clothes’. The databases are nearly identical, except for the FGD database where the ‘FGD Type’ is recorded and for the KII database ‘Role of KI’ is recorded. As the key informant data are analyzed, the role that he/she plays in the community is important. 56 VII. Summary Report 7.1 Writing the Report The report should be organized according to the following outline, which should make it easy to bring in the summaries that were prepared in the qualitative analysis for each question. It is important that the qualitative data is presented in a way that is neatly woven together to make a specific point, not simply reporting on each question one by one based on the question codes provided. The outline below should provide a very basic structure to the report, but based on what the field team leader finds in the data in a specific country, there is much freedom for him/her to expand upon this structure and provide much more detail and nuance. In other words, if the data is there, then it should be presented! The most difficult task will be in deciding where it best fits; however, to do this, it is recommended that the context of Liberia is considered, and where the information would be most useful from a project-implementation perspective. Imagine it from the World Bank’s position: deciding which projects to implement and how best to do it in these specific communities in the country. What information would be needed to best inform the decisions that will be made? The outline given below should be followed to prepare the summary report. The total page length should be around 25 pages (not including the annex which can be of any length). The databases should be referred when preparing this report, as the notes themselves, and also the quotations and summaries that have been prepared on the analysis tabs that are organized according to the same themes as those that are written in the ‘findings’ section below. 7.2 Outline A. Executive Summary (2 pages) - If someone were to only read this section, it should be ensured that all the important information from the research is provided in a concise and organized summary. 57 B. Introduction (1 page) - A brief introduction to the work and the importance of the work given Liberia’s situation should be provided. C. Methodology (2 pages) - Very brief explanation 1. Brief description of fieldwork conducted/places visited/people spoken to 2. Limitations/problems encountered in the field D. Findings organized by theme (findings from all communities should be summarized, showing major themes, but also any outliers noticed between communities should be highlighted. Also, any differences noticed between men and women, or those of different age groups (and any other characteristics) should be pointed out clearly. Quotations from FGDs and KIIs, if they are particularly powerful and relevant, should be included. Also, it is good to include any case studies that the field team leader has come across in stand-alone ‘boxes’ within the text, to help the reader keep attention on something the field team leader finds to be very important. Also, the field team leader should feel free to add subheadings to each of the recommended sections below, if he/she thinks that it helps to organize the discussion better. Using the subthemes, for example, as subheadings, can help organize the presentation. Some subheadings are suggested here, but they can be amended based on the findings of the research if it makes better sense). 1. Urban policies (3 pages) a. Space b. Harassment c. Corruption 2. Resources (3 pages) a. Credit b. Financial services 58 c. Time constraints 3. Skills deficits/business knowledge (3 pages) a. Vocational (sector-specific) b. Reading/writing skills c. Financial literacy d. Business knowledge and skills 4. Business environment (3 pages) a. Networks b. Trust c. Competition d. Market demand 5. Attitudes (3 pages) a. Ambitions b. Values E. Discussion 1. Most significant limitations for HE development in Liberia (2 pages) a. Focus especially should be on ‘interesting findings’ that are not something expected from the literature review findings/past research. 2. What works? What has helped people to become successful at their HEs? (1 page) 3. Additional risks to consider (1 page) 59 4. Recommendations for interventions given the findings (2 pages) - The issue of feasibility of the interventions; cost-effectiveness; and sustainability should be considered here. F. Annex (no page limit) - Any additional resources that the field team leader thinks are important, such as additional quotations, case studies, and photographs, should be included here. VIII. Data Collection Tools Check When Activity Participants Tool Completed Core FGD FGD Male HEOs HE FGD Core FGD FGD Female HEOs HE FGD Core FGD FGD Male AEs AE FGD Core FGD FGD Female AEs AE FGD Core FGD FGD Male CCs CC FGD Core FGD FGD Female CCs CC FGD Core KII Guide HEO HE Supplement Core KII Guide AE AE Supplement Core KII Guide NGO stakeholder/partner NGO Supplement KII Core KII Guide Government stakeholder/partner Gov. Supplement Core KII Guide Community leaders Leader Supplement Core KII Guide Other ________________________ (Select Most Relevant Supplement) This section provides all data collection tools and with whom they are to be used, followed by matrices outlining key questions to ask in FGDs and KIIs, along with explanation for rationale of the question(s), suggested follow-up questions, and also ‘answer categories’ for coding purposes. Note that these are not the forms to be used at the field level; field forms were described above and are provided as an e-annex to this document. This document is for 60 the purpose of becoming familiar with the specific activities done in each community, and the specific questions that will be asked during each activity. 8.1 Overview Table 8.1 summarizes the activities that are to be completed in each community; this will also be a useful checklist to use to ensure all activities are completed in each community. Table 8.1. Activities to Complete in Each Community/Checklist – Liberia Check When Activity Participants Tool Completed Core FGD FGD Male HEOs HE FGD Core FGD FGD Female HEOs HE FGD Core FGD FGD Male AEs AE FGD Core FGD FGD Female AEs AE FGD Core FGD FGD Male CCs CC FGD Core FGD FGD Female CCs CC FGD Core KII Guide HEO HE Supplement Core KII Guide AE AE Supplement Core KII Guide NGO stakeholder/partner NGO Supplement KII Core KII Guide Government stakeholder/partner Gov. Supplement Core KII Guide Community leaders Leader Supplement Core KII Guide Other ________________________ (Select Most Relevant Supplement) 61 8.2 Focus Group Discussion Guides Note that before every FGD, it is imperative to read/explain clearly to the group the mission in conducting this fieldwork, and allow them to ask any questions. It should be made clear that they do not have to take part if they do not want to. By filling out the participant data sheets (with their signature/thumb print) they are agreeing that we can use their quotations (we will not report their names) and ideas in our research reports. 8.2.1 FGD participant data sheet A participant data sheet needs to be completed before every FGD.60 Not only does it give us good information on the people who we are talking to (name, age, gender, job/type of business, level of education, additional training, number of children, ethnicity), but it will also help the facilitator/notetakers to (a) ensure that there is a good representation of job types, genders, and ages in the group before beginning; (b) allow the facilitator to learn the participants’ names to make them feel more comfortable as he/she calls them by name; and (c) ensure that the facilitator does not forget to get this information from them before letting them go/that they do not leave before getting this information. Participants should be informed that their names will be kept completely confidential and if they prefer to not give their names, or only their first name, this is absolutely fine. Table 8.2. Participant Data to Collect in Each FGD Job (Indicate Highest Additional Phone # (For Marital # Name Gender Age Type of Level of Training(s)/ Future Status Children Business/Role) Education Years Contact) 60 Participant data sheet forms are found in the e-annex with field forms. 62 8.2.2 CORE/general (for all FGDS) Table 8.3. CORE FGD Questions FGD CORE Module - To Open Conversation with All FGDs Time Q What Do We Want To Opening Question/[Guidance] Follow-up Questions Limit Answer Choices Theme Code Know? (Min) CORE Basic information on job How is the job situation here? Have things changed 5 a) Excellent General 1.1 situation in the area; good [Open ended, do not probe at all, in the last five years b) Good question for opening up allow people to say what first [indicate something c) OK conversation and capturing comes to their minds] that happened around d) Bad with minimal probing what five years ago to help e) Very Bad people have to say about people situate the jobs time] CORE What sorts of jobs people What are the best jobs that What makes X [point 10 a) Permanent, salaried Attitude 1.2 have in this community, and people in this community have? to each job] a position whether they consider them What are the worst jobs? [Be good/bad job? [Probe b) Own business to be good or bad jobs; also, specific that you're talking about into this to get many c) Own farm what is needed in order to this community, and jobs people details, learning what d) Short-term labor - get a job like that? Also, we actually have that the it is about the job that nonfarm want to know whether young participants know. List the best makes it good (the e) Short-term labor - people would consider jobs under the heading 'best jobs' money, the security, farm starting their own business to on the flip chart; list the worst the interest, the f) Other (specify) be something they want to jobs under 'worst'. Let people pride?)] do, and would get respect discuss this freely and try to get a for; at what point does consensus as to what people having one's own business think.] become 'respectable'? 63 FGD CORE Module - To Open Conversation with All FGDs Time Q What Do We Want To Opening Question/[Guidance] Follow-up Questions Limit Answer Choices Theme Code Know? (Min) CORE Find out generally the Are there certain groups of youth [Probe into this to get 10 a) Hard General 1.3 situation of youth in this who are better/worse off in the many details, learning work/reliability/effort community, find out what transition from school to work what it is about b) Good education and people consider to be 'better' than others? What makes it so economic livelihoods training achievements or 'worse-off' after school, some youth succeed, while that makes certain c) Connectedness - and why. other youths do not succeed as group(s) of youth social capital they try to find work? better/worse off—the d) Inheritance of interest, the attitudes family wealth to work, access to e) Honesty, integrity, opportunities, and so good attitude on] Why do some f) Other (specify) have a good work ethic/attitude and others do not? CORE Are there any issues around [Facilitator should deliver this as Do you loan the 15 a) I would not loan to Business 1.4 trust between people or a narrative/story to make it money to someone anybody Environment groups? Are these linked to funny and lighten up and who you know will b) I would loan to conflict during the war, or energize the group] Imagine a give it back to you someone I knew for something else? scenario where you win a (you trust they will be sure could pay it back lottery/sweepstakes, and your able to)? Do you give c) I would loan to name is published in the the money to anyone someone who is close newspaper so people know that because you think you to me (friends, family) you have plenty of cash [insert a should share? Do you even if it were not value that will help someone give the money only secure significantly, but not make them to those who you d) I would loan to extremely rich] suddenly. People think are doing anybody, even if it come calling on you to ask you something good with wasn't secure to help them with a loan, what it? Only family? e) Other do you do? 64 FGD CORE Module - To Open Conversation with All FGDs Time Q What Do We Want To Opening Question/[Guidance] Follow-up Questions Limit Answer Choices Theme Code Know? (Min) CORE Do young people really want Imagine you have the Why did you choose 5 a) Salary job definitely Attitude 1.5 to be involved in business, or opportunity to have a salary job, this answer? What is b) Salary job maybe are they striving for a salaried or you have the opportunity to it about c) Neutral position; business is just a get a start-up grant to run your business/salary job d) Business maybe way to make it today? business. Which do you want to that is so good? e) Business definitely have? CORE Find out about the situation Some of you mentioned that So why do you think 10 a) Lack of money; Business 1.6 in this community, and to having a business is a good way more people are not b) Lack of basic Environment what extent people are able to become successful. Can you able to be successful education/skills; to be 'successful' with tell me about people in your like this example? c) Difficult specific reference to forming community who have been Looking at the list, environment to run a their own nonfarming successful through starting their can you tell me which business; business own business ?[If this is the HE of these are the d) Low group, then ask them to explain biggest constraints to motivation/ambition; their own story, but also probe starting your own e) Lack of knowledge into narratives about HEOs who business, or if you about business were even more successful. have a business, in issues/running a Encourage people to give helping make the business; detailed narratives about people business more f) People not buying they know; probe for additional successful? [Allow the products being details about how they got everyone in the group sold (lack of demand) started, what they had to help to 'vote' on one of the them, how they run their items; add a tally next business. Make a list on the flip to each item as chart with all the qualities that someone says it] people indicate. Then, continue with the questioning]. Total time 55 65 8.2.3 Household enterprise operators Table 8.4. Household Enterprise Operator FGD Questions FGD HEOs Module Time What Do We Want To Opening Q Code Follow-up Questions Limit Answer Choices Theme Know? Question/[Guidance] (Min) HE.1 Since these individuals Are you happy with the — 10 a) Yes, very Business already have a HE (and current size and b) Yes, somewhat Environment since in the previous profitability of your c) No, not at all module we likely already enterprise? learned about how they HE.2 were able to start it), we If not, can you tell us what Why don't more people have a) I'm happy how it is General want to know what is is keeping you from their own businesses? now keeping them from expanding it? Please share b) High cost of expanding their some detailed stories with operating business/making more us about what you have c) Low demand for money. This also may done to try to expand and goods (or services) I have been mentioned in if it didn't work, why you can provide the previous module, but don't think so. Or, if you d) No access to credit here we want to take tried to expand and it was to expand advantage of the fact successful, tell us what you e) I need more skills that we have a group of think was the key? [Allow f) Cannot find staff to HEOs, so we can get lots open conversation at first, help of details. Narratives but if someone seems g) Other about what they have willing to offer great tried, and where they detail, continue to probe, have failed, are very asking simply 'why' or valuable here. 'how' after he/she finishes saying something] HE.3 We want to know more Where did you get the If you got a bank loan, what 7 a) Formal bank loan Resources about money and other money to start your was the process you went b) Loan from resources—this may business? [Probe for through, what did you need, family/friends have already been details]. how long did it take, what c) My own savings mentioned, but if it has made it easy/difficult? Did d) Local loan group 66 FGD HEOs Module Time What Do We Want To Opening Q Code Follow-up Questions Limit Answer Choices Theme Know? Question/[Guidance] (Min) not been explored in you save money? How? e) NGO/government depth, this is important Through susu clubs? In a grant to know. bank? Did your family f) Religious institution members contribute? g) Other HE.4 We want to know how What are some of the How do you manage risk in 7 a) Unstable General people operate their problems and challenges your HE, generally speaking? market/unsure businesses, as it can help [risks] that you face in income us determine (whether your business? b) Theft/crime they recognize it or not) c) Climate (crops, what may be limiting the roads) profitability/success of d) Health-related (self) their business. e) Access to goods (to sell)/resources (to operate business) f) Others (specify) HE.5 What is the market like? Do you have any Required: What sorts of 5 a) Yes, always Business Are people offering a competition from other networks/cooperatives exist b) Yes, sometimes Environment product that is in high business owners offering in this community to help c) No, never demand? Do they the same or similar organize small businesses recognize the need to product? What is your like yours? Are they helpful? diversify in case their strategy for working with Have you been successful in product is being sold by this? attracting customers away others? from other businesses? How so? What did the other business say/do about it? 67 FGD HEOs Module Time What Do We Want To Opening Q Code Follow-up Questions Limit Answer Choices Theme Know? Question/[Guidance] (Min) HE.6 We want to know about Who do you normally deal Are there any people who 5 a) Anyone - people Business the issue of trust and with in your day-to-day you will not do business from here and outside Environment relationships with running of the business? with? Are there any people (traveling) others, as an HEO. Are [Allow conversation] What who will not do business b) People around this there any people that a about your customers, with you? Why not? community only person will not do who are they? c) People in my social business with? group (that is, religion, ethnicity) d) Family/friend networks only HE.7 Is the urban Do you face any problems Like what? What have you 7 a) Yes, and therefore I Urban Policy environment conducive finding places to sell or done to try to remedy it? can only operate out to setting up a business, offer services outside of of my house so as to if all things were good your house? avoid problems otherwise? b) Yes, but I still do business outside of my house and deal with the problems c) No, I can operate outside of my house anywhere I want without any problems HE.8 How do officials [define as Who do you have problems a) Supportive Urban Policy needed] treat you trying with? How are you trying to b) Obstructive/get in to conduct business? overcome these problems the way and what is the result? Is c) Extortive/corrupt there any corruption in your experience as a business owner? 68 FGD HEOs Module Time What Do We Want To Opening Q Code Follow-up Questions Limit Answer Choices Theme Know? Question/[Guidance] (Min) HE.9 To what extent are Do you have any paid What is the best situation 5 a) No, only me Business people starting employees for your for your business in terms of b) Yes, only family Environment businesses that employ business? How many? having other employees? Do members/close others/contribute to the Under what conditions are you want permanent people, friends help as needed overall job market? they hired (permanent, people to work per day? c) Yes, only family per day, and so on)? members/close friends help me always d) Yes, workers help sometimes/as needed e) Yes, I have some permanent employees on regular pay f) I don’t need help/family helps HE.10 What limitations do they Do you struggle to find What are they lacking? Do 5 a) No, there are plenty Skills Deficit see in the work force? good people to work for you provide training to of skilled workers Do they offer you? people who are interested in b) I struggle apprenticeships? What working for you? What kind somewhat to find would help them to offer of training? Is it effective? skilled people, but more/better there are some apprenticeships to young c) It is very difficult people? but I can train people to do well d) It is very difficult to find good help even if I train them e) I don’t need any help/have family helping 69 FGD HEOs Module Time What Do We Want To Opening Q Code Follow-up Questions Limit Answer Choices Theme Know? Question/[Guidance] (Min) HE.11 What are people's long- What is your long-term OK, now that we know 3 a) I am happy where I General term goals and goal for your business— where you want it to be, let am now ambitions when it comes thinking about in 10 or 20 us think about the reality of b) I just want to be to their business? Is it a years, where do you really the situation. Do you think sustainable means to make more hope your business will you can get there? Why or c) I want to expand a money/get skills to get be? [Probe for details] why not? little bit into a wage job? Do they d) I want to expand a want to expand, and lot how much? Will they stay in the country with their business? To what extent do they think their ambitions can become a reality? HE.12 To what extent do Are you aware of any Have you ever taken part in 10 a) Yes, and I have Skills Deficit people have projects or programs any of them? taken part/am taking opportunities to try to offering support Apprenticeships with other part overcome (trainings, funding, job businesses? Was it useful? b) Yes, but I choose skills/education deficit, creation, facilitating Why/why not? Does the cost not to take part in case they feel they access to market, and so of these programs have any c) Yes, but I cannot need to know more? on) to youth transitioning effect on whether you access them from school to work? choose to take part in them d) No, I don't know of or not? any Required: What kind of program would be most useful for you? Total 61 70 8.2.4 Aspiring entrepreneurs Table 8.5. Aspiring Entrepreneur FGD Questions FGD AE Module What Do We Want To Time Q Code Opening Question/[Guidance] Follow-up Questions Answer Choices Theme Know? (Min) AE.1 What are the basic We talked a little bit about What have to done to 10 a) I don't know where to General problems that people other people having try to set up a start are having in setting businesses, and we know you business? [Probe for b) High cost of operating up a business? want to have one too. So tell specific details] c) Low demand for goods Assuming they have us what are the biggest (or services) I can provide the ambition, what is problems you are having in d) No access to credit to keeping them from setting up a business? start succeeding? We want e) I need more specialized to try to get them to skills talk about all the f) Cannot find people to themes of the study— help financial barriers, g) Other urban policies, skills deficits, access to networks, markets, and so on. AE.2 Was education How important is education Do you feel that you 7 a) Critical to have Skills Deficit important in what or skills training [highlight the did too much/too little specialized training in the they are trying to do? difference] in what you want of schooling? What in area Do they value the to do with your business? particular about school b) Critical to have higher education they do you think can help level schooling received? To what you in your pursuit of a (secondary) level? business? c) Only basic education (reading, writing, math) is needed d) Not important at all AE.3 To what extent do Are you aware of any projects Have you ever taken 10 a) Yes, and I have taken Skills Deficit people have or programs offering support part in any of them? part/am taking part opportunities to try to (trainings, funding, job Apprenticeships with b) Yes, but I choose not to 71 FGD AE Module What Do We Want To Time Q Code Opening Question/[Guidance] Follow-up Questions Answer Choices Theme Know? (Min) overcome creation, facilitating access to other businesses? Was take part skills/education market, and so on) to youth it useful? Why/why c) Yes, but I cannot access deficit, in case they transitioning from school to not? Does the cost of them feel they need to work? these programs have d) No, I don't know of any know more? any effect on whether you choose to take part in them or not? Required: What kind of program would be most useful for you? AE.4 Are people confident Do you feel confident that What are the specific 10 a) Very confident General that starting a your enterprise will succeed, risks of starting a b) Somewhat confident) business will be a once created? [Probe into business? What other c) Not confident good decision/a good specific details as to why/why options are there in investment in time not] case it doesn't work? and resources? If they are doubtful, does this affect their level of effort? AE.5 To what extent does Do you feel like you have What specifically 7 a) Plenty Resources having enough time enough time to start a would you be able to b) Some factor into a persons' business? do if you had extra c) None ability to start a time to devote to your business? business? Why are you unable to take this extra time? Required: What kind of household obligations do you have that might take your time for example, childcare? How do you deal with them? 72 FGD AE Module What Do We Want To Time Q Code Opening Question/[Guidance] Follow-up Questions Answer Choices Theme Know? (Min) AE.6 Are there any issues Where will you get Are there people in 7 a) Formal bank loan Resources around trust between money/have you tried to get your life who you could b) Loan from people or groups? Are money to start your business? borrow money from? family/friends these linked to conflict Would you be c) My own savings during the war, or comfortable borrowing d) Local loan group something else? money from them? e) NGO/government What sort of grant conditions would there f) Other be if you borrowed money from someone else? AE.7 What are people's What is your long-term goal OK, now that we know 10 a) I just want to have General long-term goals and for your business—thinking where you want it to something going even if it ambitions when it about in 10 or 20 years, where be, let us think about is struggling comes to their do you really hope your the reality of the b) I just want to be business? Is it a means business will be? [Probe for situation. Do you think sustainable to make more details] you can get there? c) I want to expand a little money/get skills to get Why or why not? bit into a wage job? Do d) I want to expand a lot they want to expand, and how much? Will they stay in the country with their business? To what extent do they think their ambitions can become a reality? Total Time 61 73 8.2.5 Community members/consumers Table 8.6. Community Member/Consumer FGD Questions FGD Consumers and Community Members (CC) Module What Do We Want To Follow-up Time Q Code Opening Question/[Guidance] Answer Choices Theme Know? Questions (Min)) CC.1 If not pursuing their own We talked already about what Why are you not 10 a) Looking for a General business, what are they are good jobs and bad jobs interested in permanent/full-time doing to try to sustain here, so I want to know about setting up a wage-earning job themselves? Why are you specifically. What are you business? Have b) Looking for a they not pursuing a trying to achieve in terms of you ever been? temporary/part-time business? employment and pursuing a wage-earning job livelihood? c) Looking for opportunity of setting up my own business d) Only farming and selling/self-sustaining e) I rely on support from others f) Other CC.2 What is the most useful Do you feel the What kind of 10 a) Yes, it is critical Skills Deficit thing for young people education/training you training do you b) Yes, it helps to have to be received in the past is useful think would be somewhat successful—either in getting a job? most helpful? c) No, it doesn’t make a starting a business or What kind of difference finding a good job? Is education? there a level of education that is sufficient for running a business, so long as additional sector-specific training is provided afterward? 74 FGD Consumers and Community Members (CC) Module What Do We Want To Follow-up Time Q Code Opening Question/[Guidance] Answer Choices Theme Know? Questions (Min)) CC.3 What motivates I want to talk about the type of Is it the business 10 a) Anyone who has Business consumers' choices in businesses you go to buy of someone you what I need at the best Environment going to a business—do normal goods. How do you know personally? price they go to their choose which business you Does it depend b) Anyone who has friends/family members, would buy from? on prices? what I need at the best even if the price is quality higher/product is not as c) People around this good? Is it based on community only location in the market? d) People in my social Is it based on price group (that is, religion, and/or quality only? ethnicity) e) Family/friend networks only CC.4 We want to know Are there any businesses that Why will you not 5 a) Many Business whether there are any you would not buy from for buy from these b) Some Environment issues around reasons other than businesses? Do c) None ethnicity/religion in cost/quality? Which? you think other terms of who buys from people feel the whom. same way as you do about this? CC.5 Are there any gaps in the How easy is it to find all of the If there are 10 a) Very easy, lots of Business market, and why aren’t goods and services you need things that you choices Environment entrepreneurs each day? cannot find, what b) Easy, but not too identifying these? do you do? Why many choices do you think you c) Not easy, sometimes cannot find these things are not available things here? Do d) Very difficult, often you ever ask things are not available certain people to help you find certain things? 75 FGD Consumers and Community Members (CC) Module What Do We Want To Follow-up Time Q Code Opening Question/[Guidance] Answer Choices Theme Know? Questions (Min)) CC.6 General question to help Could you please tell me the How do you 10 a) To be respected in General understand what most important goal in your intend to try to the community as a people's long-term life? reach this goal? good person ambitions are, given that Are you b) To have a happy they have not yet confident you family committed to possibly can reach it? c) To have a well-paid opening a business. Do job (somewhere else) we need to worry about d) To have a successful these youth having business (my own) nothing to do? e) Other Total 55 8.3 Key Informant Interviews KIIs will be semi-structured, but here it is important that the field researcher engages actively in the research and the conversation ongoing, as this is the chance to ask key follow-up questions that relate to the findings so far in the work. Therefore, the questions provided should be used as a very rough guide to the line of questioning. In most cases, the Field Team Leader should conduct the KIIs; when not possible, the strongest members of the field team should conduct them. All KIIs will be asked CORE questions (adopted from the FGD Guide). For HE and AE KIIs, we use the same questions in respective FGDs; for leaders we include additional questions that relate to the overall situation in the community that relates to youth, HEs and stability. 76 8.3.1 CORE/general (for all) KII questions Table 8.7. CORE KII Questions KII CORE - To Ask All KIIs Q Code What Do We Want To Know? Opening Question/[Guidance] Follow-up Questions Theme KII Basic information on job situation in the area; How is the job situation here? Have things changed in the General CORE good question for opening up conversation and last five years [indicate 1.1 capturing with minimal probing what people have something that happened to say about jobs around five years ago to help people situate the time] KII What sorts of jobs people have in this community, What are the best jobs and the What makes these good Attitude CORE and whether they consider them to be good or worst jobs that people in this jobs or bad jobs? 1.2 bad jobs. Also, what is needed to get a job like community have? [Be specific that that? Also, we want to know whether young you're talking about this people would consider starting their own community, and jobs people business to be something they want to do, and actually have] would get respect for. At what point does having one's own business become 'respectable'? KII The situation of youth in this community, what Are there certain groups of youth (Probe into this to get many General CORE people consider to be 'better' or 'worse-off' after who are better/worse off in the details, learning what it is 1.3 school, and why. transition from school to work than about economic livelihoods others? What makes certain that makes certain group(s) group(s) of youth better/worse off of youth better/worse off than others? [the interest, the attitudes to work, access to opportunities, and so on]) KII Are there any issues around trust between people Are there certain groups here that — Business CORE or groups? Are these linked to conflict during the do not get along with one another, Environment 1.4 war, or something else? do not trust one another, do not work with one another? KII Is interest in business dependent on the sector? What is the sector that has the most Why are they so successful? Business CORE Are there differences across communities, successful businesses? What are the least Environment 1.5 genders, age groups? successful sectors? 77 KII CORE - To Ask All KIIs Q Code What Do We Want To Know? Opening Question/[Guidance] Follow-up Questions Theme KII The situation in this community and to what Can you tell me about people in So why do you think more Business CORE extent people are able to be 'successful' with your community who have been people are not able to be Environment 1.6 specific reference to forming their own successful through starting their successful like this example? nonfarming business own business? What are the biggest constraints? 8.3.2 Household enterprise operator supplementary KII questions Table 8.8. Household Enterprise Operator KII Questions KII HEOs Q Code What Do We Want To Know? Opening Question/[Guidance] Follow-up Questions Theme KII HE Since these individuals already have a Are you happy with the current size and Business 1.1 HE (and since in the previous module profitability of your enterprise? Environment we likely already learned about how KII HE If not, can you tell us what is keeping you Why don't more people have General they were able to start it), we want to 1.2 from expanding it? Please share some their own businesses? know what is keeping them from detailed stories with us about what you expanding their business/making have done to try to expand and if it didn't more money. work, why you don't think so. Or, if you tried to expand and it was successful, tell us what you think was the key? KII HE We want to know more about money Where did you get the money to start your If you got a bank loan, what was Resources 1.3 and other resources—this may have business? [Probe for details] the process you went through, already been mentioned, but if it has what did you need? How long not been explored in depth, this is did it take? What made it important to know. easy/difficult? Did you save money? How? 78 KII HEOs Q Code What Do We Want To Know? Opening Question/[Guidance] Follow-up Questions Theme KII HE We want to know how people What are some of the risks that you face in How do you manage risk in your General 1.4 operate their businesses, as it can your business? HE, generally speaking? help us determine (whether they recognize it or not) what may be limiting the profitability/success of their business KII HE What is the market like? Are people Do you have any competition from other Have you been successful in Business 1.5 offering a product that is in high business owners offering the same or attracting customers away from environment demand? Do they recognize the need similar product? What is your strategy for other businesses? How so? to diversify in case their product is working with this? What did the other business being sold by others? say/do about it? KII HE We want to know about the issue of Who do you normally deal with in your Are there any people who you Business 1.6 trust and relationships with others, as day-to-day running of the business? [Allow will not do business with? Are Environment an HEO. Are there any people that a conversation] What about your customers, there any people who will not person will not do business with? who are they? do business with you? Why not? KII HE Is the urban environment conducive Do you face any problems with having Who do you have problems Urban Policy 1.7 to setting up a business, if all things physical space to conduct business? How with? How are you trying to were good otherwise? do officials treat you? overcome these problems and what is the result? Is there any corruption in your experience as a business owner? KII HE To what extent are people starting Do you have any paid employees for your What is the best situation for Business 1.8 businesses that employ business? How many? Under what your business in terms of having Environment others/contribute to the overall job conditions are they hired (permanent, per other employees? Do you want market? day, and so on?) permanent people, people to work per day? Do you struggle to find qualified people to work for you? Do you train them? KII HE Do they want to expand, and how What is your long-term goal for your OK, now that we know where General 1.9 much? Will they stay in the country business - thinking about in 10 or 20 years, you want it to be, let us think with their business? To what extent where do you really hope your business about the reality of the do they think their ambitions can will be? [Probe for details] situation. Do you think you can become a reality? get there? Why or why not? 79 8.3.3 Aspiring entrepreneurs supplementary KII questions Table 8.9. Aspiring Entrepreneur KII Questions KII AEs Q Code What Do We Want To Know? Opening Question/[Guidance] Follow-up Questions Theme KII AE.1 Assuming they have the ambition, What are the biggest problems you are What have you done to try to set up General what is keeping them from having in setting up a business? a business? [Probe for specific succeeding? We want to try to get details] them to talk about all the themes of the study—financial barriers, urban policies, skills deficits, access to networks, markets, and so on. KII AE.2 Was education important in what How important is education in what you want Do you feel that you did too Skills Deficit they are trying to do? Do they to do with your business? much/too little of schooling? What value the education they received? in particular about school do you To what level? think can help you in your pursuit of a business? KII AE.3 To what extent do people have Are you aware of any projects or programs Have you ever taken part in any of Skills Deficit opportunities to try to overcome offering support (trainings, funding, job them? Apprenticeships with other skills/education deficit, in case creation, facilitating access to market, and so businesses? Was it useful? they feel they need to know more? on) to youth transitioning from school to Why/why not? Does the cost of work? these programs have any effect on whether you choose to take part in them or not? KII AE.4 Are people confident that starting Do you feel confident that your enterprise What are the specific risks of General a business will be a good will succeed, once created? [Probe into starting a business? What other decision/a good investment in specific details as to why/why not] options are there in case it doesn't time and resources? If they are work? doubtful, does this affect their level of effort? KII AE.5 To what extent does having Do you feel like you have enough time to What specifically would you be able Resources enough time factor into a person’s start a business? to do if you had extra time to ability to start a business? 80 KII AEs Q Code What Do We Want To Know? Opening Question/[Guidance] Follow-up Questions Theme devote to your business? Why are you unable to take this extra time? KII AE.6 Are there any issues around trust Where will you get money/have you tried to Are there people in your life who Resources between people or groups? Are get money to start your business? you could borrow money from? these linked to conflict during the Would you be comfortable war, or something else? borrowing money from them? What sort of conditions would there be if you borrowed money from someone else? KII AE.7 Do they want to expand, and how What is your long-term goal for your OK, now that we know where you General much? Will they stay in the business—thinking about in 10 or 20 years, want it to be, let us think about the country with their business? To where do you really hope your business will reality of the situation. Do you think what extent do they think their be? [Probe for details] you can get there? Why or why ambitions can become a reality? not? 8.3.4 Leader KII supplementary questions Table 8.10. Leader KII Questions KII Leaders (Community, Government, and So On) Q What Do We Want To Know? Opening Question/[Guidance] Follow-up Questions Theme Code KII L How do leaders view youth in the Tell me about the young people in this area— What is your opinion on what young General 1.1 area? Do they have a positive or what do they do from day to day? people are doing here? [If negative negative image of them? Why? opinion] What is the main problem you have? Is this a common idea around this community? KII L What can be done for young How can we help the situation of young Has anything been attempted? What General 1.2 people? people? happened? KII L What is the community's Given your particular status of having Can you give me examples of things you General 1.3 role/leader's role? leadership in some area, what do you think is have done? What happened? your role in improving the situation of the community? 81 KII Leaders (Community, Government, and So On) Q What Do We Want To Know? Opening Question/[Guidance] Follow-up Questions Theme Code KII L Conflict in the area Has there been any incidence of What happened? Is it resolved? How? General 1.4 conflict/community-level disruptions happening in this area? KII L Business environment What kinds of policies or regulations can be Have there been any attempts to do Urban 1.5 established to help people doing business in this? What happened? Who has been Environmen this area? working on this? t KII Resources Do you or other leaders help anyone who Why/why not? Resources AE.6 needs to borrow money in this community? 8.3.5 Stakeholder (government, NGO) KII supplementary questions Table 8.11. Stakeholder KII Questions KII Stakeholders Q Code What Do We Want To Know? Opening Question/[Guidance] Follow-up Questions Theme KII S 1.1 How do leaders view youth in the Tell me about the young people in this What is your opinion on what General area? Do they have a positive or area—what do they do from day to day? young people are doing here? negative image of them? Why? [If negative opinion] What is the main problem you have? Is this a common idea around this community? KII S 1.2 What can be done for young people? How can we help the situation of young Has anything been attempted? General people? What happened? KII S 1.3 What can government/NGOs do? Given your particular status of working with Can you give me examples of General (government or NGO), what do you think is things you have done? What your role in improving the situation of the happened? community? KII S 1.4 Conflict in the area What programs have been implemented Have they been successful? General here that benefit youth, employment, Why/why not? Can you think of enterprise development? any, maybe not in this 82 KII Stakeholders Q Code What Do We Want To Know? Opening Question/[Guidance] Follow-up Questions Theme community but elsewhere, that have been effective? KII S 1.5 Business environment What kinds of policies or regulations can be Have there been any attempts Urban established to help people doing business in to do this? What happened? Environment this area? Who has been working on this? KII S.6 Resources What kinds of financial resources do people What restricts access? What Resources have in this community? can help gain access? 8.3.6 Marginalized youth interview guide (do not include CORE) Table 8.12. Marginalized Youth KII Questions KII Marginalized Youth Q Code What Do We Want To Know? Opening Question/[Guidance] Follow-up Questions Theme KII MY What is the reason that the Have you ever had a job and/or tried to get If not, why not? If so, tell me Marginalized 1.1 young person has gotten into involved with business? about how you started, how long Youth crime/illegal activity and if faced you were involved, and why you with another option, would are no longer doing that? he/she leave it? KII MY If given the opportunity to work in a job If not, why not? What are the Marginalized 1.2 where you had consistent pay, would you problems with such work? If yes, Youth take it? What about if you had the please explain which you’d prefer opportunity to start up a business with, for and why. example, a small loan. Would you take it? KII HE Would the young person, if Imagine you get a loan to start a business. Please provide concrete examples Marginalized 1.3 given an opportunity, be able to What is the first thing that you’d do with the of what you’d do, for example, Youth succeed? What do they know money? what sort of business you’d go about business? into, how you’d start, who your customers would be, and so on? 83 KII Marginalized Youth Q Code What Do We Want To Know? Opening Question/[Guidance] Follow-up Questions Theme KII HE What is the person’s idea of Do you know any successful business people Was it money? Was it Marginalized 1.4 work ethic? around here? Can you tell me what made connections? Was it hard work Youth them to be successful? and honesty? KII HE What sorts of barriers is the If you started a business, would your friends In what ways would they help you Marginalized 1.5 young person facing in terms of and family be supportive of you? succeed? In what ways would Youth social pressures? they hurt you? 8.3.7 KII participant data sheet This data should be collected and recorded for every KII to help maintain a concise log, for each community, of key informants spoken to (see e-annex for field form). Table 8.13. KII Participant Data to Collect Job ( If HE Indicate Highest Level Additional Marital Name Gender Age Type of # Children Ethnicity of Education Training(s)/Years Status Business/Role) 84 8.4 Methodology Development Notes The qualitative research toolkit was developed to fill gaps in and provide further nuance to existing research on HEs, both in Liberia and in FCS more broadly. The toolkit was designed to be applicable in other FCS as many of the key themes in such contexts overlap. The methodology used in the toolkit was developed based on other qualitative research that had been conducted with good success in similar contexts. It adopted FGDs and KIIs across a sample of communities that had discernable socioeconomic, geographical, and political differences. The purposive selection of communities was also determined by feasibility of conducting the research in a reasonable amount of time and given other logistical considerations. In many cases, spending two to three days in a single community was sufficient for obtaining qualitative data, allowing for organization of interviews and focus groups. If they are any longer they will interfere with the day-to-day activities of community members and not necessarily yield enough additional information short of conducting a full ethnography, which was of course not feasible. Similar qualitative methods had been used with good success in FCS contexts. 61 To develop the research questions in the toolkit, a literature review on HEs in FCS was prepared, intended as a broad overview and a way to highlight key themes around the topic. Because each FCS has a unique context and therefore any interventions designed to support, scale up, and sustain HEs will also be unique, literature related specifically to Liberia was explored. Content obtained through this review primarily informed the follow-up questions used, but the headline questions were maintained. As such, for the research going forward, 61 USAID 2009 Youth Fragility Assessment Liberia; World Bank (2011), Rapid Qualitative Assessment on Gender and Poverty in Liberia; USAID, A Framework for Analyzing Resilience in Fragile and Conflict-Affected Situations; ILO (2010), Local Economic Recovery in Post Conflict; Chant S. and GA Jones (2005). Youth, Gender and Livelihoods in West Africa; Plan UK / GK Consulting (2014) Year 3 Evaluation on Youth/Adolescent Skills in 9 countries (including Sierra Leone); Unicef / Indevelop (2013) Baseline Evaluation on Peacebuilding Education and Advocacy Programme in Liberia; GK Consulting Mixed Methods Baseline Evaluation on GBV in Eastern DRC (2014) 85 each team should prepare a country-specific literature review to supplement the global review and to refine the country-specific toolkit. The literature review also elucidated what types of people would experience issues related to HEs differently. As such, it was determined that existing HEOs, AEs, and CCs would have unique perspectives on various issues related to the dynamics of HEs in informal markets. While all groups were asked the same core questions, additional follow-up questions were specific to each group’s unique perspective. While all groups were treated separately in the Liberia research, it is important for future research teams to recognize the significant overlap between HEs, AEs, and CCs, particularly where AEs are becoming HEOs, and where CCs may have underlying aspirations to do business, but have not actually engaged in business yet. This reality further highlights the importance of conducting qualitative research with these individuals to understand where they may be on this spectrum and how they move toward becoming an HEO (and what barriers keep them from doing so). Questions were decided by reviewing a combination of existing qualitative and quantitative toolkits dealing with related issues (youth, employment, livelihoods, and other FCS-specific issues), and were also assigned thematic categories based on the major constraints/priority areas identified throughout the literature (explained in the Introduction). Based on the data gaps identified in the literature review, and with the decision to focus this study on youth in nonagricultural HEs, the most relevant questions were adopted for use in FGDs and KIIs. 62 Key resources referred to in selecting the questions for FGDs and KIIs were: • EPAG Liberia, 2014 (Quantitative) • USAID 2009 Youth Fragility Assessment Liberia (Qualitative and Quantitative) • ILO SWTS: Module 2 SWTS Questionnaires, 2009 (Quantitative) 62 The determination to focus on youth in nonagricultural HEs was based on the developmental priorities of the Government of Liberia, as well as the dominance of youth employment and productive inclusion in other FCS and across the Sub-Saharan Africa region more broadly. 86 • ILO (2010), Local Economic Recovery in Post Conflict, p. 226 • World Bank (2011), Rapid Qualitative Assessment on Gender and Poverty in Liberia In other cases, reports did not make available the questions used in the research; however, data was presented such that it was apparent what type of questioning was asked to yield very useful information. Such inferences were made from: • World Bank, Youth Employment in Sub-Saharan Africa: Creating Productive Employment for Youth in the Household Enterprise Sector, p. 166 • Blattman, Christopher, Nathan Fiala, and Sebastian Martinez Bustos. "Employment generation in rural Africa: mid-term results from an experimental evaluation of the Youth Opportunities Program in Northern Uganda." (2012). • USAID, A Framework for Analyzing Resilience in Fragile and Conflict-Affected Situations, p. 43 The qualitative toolkit consisted of semi-structured interview guides for FGDs and KIIs. In each community, FGDs were held with groups of young people (ages 18–35) who were HEOs, AEs, and CCs. For FGDs, each group consisted of 6 to 12 persons and lasted no longer than two hours each, and were conducted with one facilitator, one notetaker, and (if needed) one interpreter. The first step of each focus group was to complete the participant data sheet, which provided important data and also helped identify participants by name, contributing to better discussion. The facilitator conducted two interview modules with each FGD having a CORE module, and another module specific to their participant type. The CORE module gave good insight into broad themes to compare across communities and groups, and also provided a good line of questioning to begin a focus group. The group-specific questions were designed to elicit details around that group’s particular experiences and attitudes regarding employment, livelihoods, and HEs. 87 KIIs were conducted one on one using an interview guide that had the same CORE questions across all groups, but also included a number of additional questions that were particular to that type of KII (HEO, AE, community leader, government staff, NGO staff). Participant data was collected from all KIIs, and interviews generally lasted around 30 minutes. A minimum of five KIIs was conducted per community, ensuring that at least one type of KI was represented in each. 88 8.5 Additional Data Tables The data presented in this section is based on the response distributions for each question asked in the FGDs, disaggregated by male/female, HE/AE/CC status, and community in every case. 8.5.1 Participant data Table 8.14. FGD Participant Counts by Gender, Participant Type, and Community Female Male All Total HE AE CC Total HE AE CC Total Buchanan 13 9 12 34 12 10 14 36 70 Redlight 12 12 8 32 6 6 10 22 54 Sanniquellie 12 12 12 36 11 8 10 29 65 Tubmanburg 8 11 9 28 12 6 8 26 54 Zwedru 12 8 9 29 11 10 11 32 61 Grand Total 57 52 50 159 52 40 53 145 304 Table 8.15. FGD Participant Mean Ages by Community Female Male Total Buchanan 25.8 28.6 27.2 Redlight 29.3 28.3 28.9 Sanniquellie 28.3 28.3 28.3 Tubmanburg 27.2 29.1 28.1 Zwedru 26.6 28.0 27.3 Total 27.5 28.4 27.9 Table 8.16. FGDs with High Educational Attainment (Median of Some College or Finished College) Community Participant Group Gender Tubmanburg Consumers Male Redlight AEs Female Sanniquellie Consumers Male Tubmanburg AEs Male 89 Community Participant Group Gender Sanniquellie AEs Female Buchanan Consumers Male Sanniquellie AEs Male Table 8.17. FGD Participant Education, by Gender, Excluding Highly Educated Groups Female Male Total % n % n % n College 5 7 2 2 4 9 Some College 4 5 20 20 11 25 HS 14 19 24 24 18 43 Some HS 22 30 30 29 25 59 Junior High 8 11 7 7 8 18 Some Junior High 6 8 3 3 5 11 Some primary 7 9 2 2 5 11 Primary 7 10 3 3 6 13 None 27 36 8 8 19 44 Grand Total 100 159 100 144 100 303 Table 8.18. Education Level by Participant Type and Gender, Excluding Highly Educated Group HE AE CC Total M F All M F All M F All All College 27 6 17 6 13 11 20 14 16 15 High school 47 28 38 53 44 46 70 42 50 44 Junior 7 8 7 24 18 20 10 12 11 12 Primary 7 3 5 12 18 16 0 20 14 11 None 13 56 32 6 8 7 0 12 9 17 Table 8.19. KIIs by Community, Participant Type, and Gender HE AE Community Leader NGO Gov’t Bank Grand Total Buchanan 3 2 3 1 9 Female 3 1 2 6 Male 1 1 1 3 Redlight 2 4 1 7 Female 1 2 3 90 HE AE Community Leader NGO Gov’t Bank Grand Total Male 1 2 1 4 Sanniquellie 2 4 3 3 1 13 Female 1 2 1 4 Male 1 4 1 2 1 9 Tubmanburg 1 1 2 4 8 Female 2 2 4 Male 1 1 2 4 Zwedru 2 2 2 1 7 Female 1 1 2 Male 1 1 2 1 5 Grand Total 10 3 12 8 10 1 44 Female 6 1 5 4 3 19 Male 4 2 7 4 7 1 25 Table 8.20. KII Participant Education, by Gender Female Male Total % n % n % n College 0 36 9 21 9 Some College 12 2 24 6 19 8 HS 41 7 24 6 31 13 Some HS 6 1 12 3 10 4 Some Junior High 12 2 0 0 5 2 None 29 5 4 1 14 6 Grand Total 100 17 100 25 100 42 Table 8.21. FGD Participant Job/Business Type, by Participant Type and Gender CC AE HEO Total Female Male Total CC Female Male Total AE Female Male Total HEO Clothing / % 2 0 1 6 28 15 12 20 16 11 shoes / fashion n 1 0 1 3 11 14 7 10 17 32 % 0 4 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 Contract job n 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 % 0 0 0 12 3 8 0 0 0 2 Cooked food n 0 0 0 6 1 7 0 0 0 7 91 CC AE HEO Total Female Male Total CC Female Male Total AE Female Male Total HEO % 0 0 0 8 3 5 2 8 5 3 Cosmetics n 0 0 0 4 1 5 1 4 5 10 % 0 0 0 0 3 1 0 4 2 1 Drinks n 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 2 2 3 Dry goods % 0 0 0 10 13 11 23 14 19 10 (food) n 0 0 0 5 5 10 13 7 20 30 % 4 2 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 Farming n 2 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 Fresh meat or % 0 0 0 0 3 1 5 2 4 2 fish n 0 0 0 0 1 1 3 1 4 5 Fresh produce % 0 0 0 15 5 11 21 16 19 10 (vegetable) n 0 0 0 8 2 10 12 8 20 30 Frozen meat or % 0 0 0 2 0 1 7 0 4 2 fish n 0 0 0 1 1 4 0 4 5 % 0 0 0 0 3 1 0 0 0 0 Fuel n 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 Household % 0 0 0 8 8 8 5 4 5 4 Items n 0 0 0 4 3 7 3 2 5 12 % 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 Liquor n 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 % 0 0 0 0 5 2 0 4 2 1 Medicine n 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 2 2 4 % 0 0 0 12 3 8 21 12 17 8 Mixed goods n 0 0 0 6 1 7 12 6 18 25 % 92 58 75 0 0 0 0 0 0 26 Nothing n 46 31 77 0 0 0 0 0 0 77 % 0 0 0 13 0 8 4 4 4 4 Oil n 0 0 0 7 0 7 2 2 4 11 % 0 0 0 0 15 7 0 8 4 3 Service n 0 0 0 0 6 6 0 4 4 10 % 0 0 0 13 10 12 0 4 2 4 Soap n 0 0 0 0 4 11 0 2 2 13 Student % 0 9 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 92 CC AE HEO Total Female Male Total CC Female Male Total AE Female Male Total HEO n 0 5 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 % 2 26 15 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 Salaried job n 1 14 15 0 0 0 0 0 0 15 % 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 Total n 50 53 103 52 39 91 57 50 107 301 8.5.2 General Table 8.22. How is the Job Situation Here? By Participant Type and Gender Total n Total % HE (%) AE (%) CC (%) Males (%) Females (%) a) Excellent 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 b) Good 6 2 0 7 0 4 0 c) Okay 13 4 5 3 5 6 3 d) Bad 80 27 27 35 19 18 35 e) Very bad 199 67 69 55 76 72 62 Total 298 100 100 100 100 100 100 Table 8.23. Are There Certain Groups of Youth Who Are Better/Worse Off in the Transition from School to Work Than Others? What Makes Certain Group(s) of Youth Better/Worse Off Than Others? By Participant Type and Gender Total n Total % HE (%) AE (%) CC (%) Males (%) Females (%) a) Hard work/reliability/effort 70 24 19 26 28 26 21 b) Good education and training 27 9 13 1 12 7 11 achievements c) Connectedness - social capital 42 14 8 18 17 14 14 d) Inheritance of family wealth 47 16 10 26 13 19 13 e) Honesty, integrity, good attitude 108 37 50 28 30 33 40 Total 294 100 100 100 100 100 100 Table 8.24. What is Keeping You from Expanding Your Business, HEOs Only, by Gender Total n Total % Male (%) Female (%) a) I'm happy how it is now 0 0 0 0 b) High cost of operating 17 16 8 23 93 Total n Total % Male (%) Female (%) c) Low demand for goods (or services) I can provide 19 17 19 16 d) No access to credit to expand 71 65 71 60 e) I need more skills 1 1 2 0 f) Cannot find staff to help 1 1 0 2 g) Other 0 0 0 0 Total 109 100 100 100 Table 8.25. What Are Some of the Risks You Face in Your Business? HEOs Only, by Gender Total n Total % Male (%) Female (%) a) Unstable market/unsure income 48 44 42 46 b) Theft/crime 19 17 17 18 c) Climate (crops, roads) 24 22 31 14 d) Health-related (self) 2 2 2 2 e) Access to goods (to sell)/resources (to operate business) 15 14 8 19 f) Others (specify) 1 1 0 2 Total 109 100 100 100 Table 8.26. What Is Your Long-term Goal for Your Business - Thinking About in 10 or 20 Years, Where Do You Really Hope Your Business Will Be? HEOs and AEs, by Gender Total n Total % Male (%) Female (%) a) I am happy where I am now 0 0 0 0 b) I just want to be sustainable 1 1 2 0 c) I want to expand a little bit 0 0 0 0 d) I want to expand a lot 108 99 98 100 Total 109 100 100 100 Table 8.27. What Are the Biggest Problems You Are Having Setting Up a Business/AEs Only, by Gender Total n Total % Male (%) Female (%) a) I don't know where to start 0 0 0 0 b) High cost of operating 12 14 8 18 c) Low demand for goods (or services) I can provide 9 10 8 12 d) No access to credit to start 59 67 69 65 e) I need more specialized skills 1 1 0 2 f) Cannot find people to help 6 7 13 2 94 Total n Total % Male (%) Female (%) g) Other 1 1 3 0 Total 88 100 100 100 Table 8.28. Do You Feel Confident That Your Enterprise Will Succeed, Once Created? AEs Only by Gender Total n Total % Male (%) Female (%) a) Very confident 90 99 98 100 b) Somewhat confident) 0 0 0 0 c) Not confident 1 1 2 0 Total 91 100 100 100 Table 8.29. What Is Your Long-term Goal for Business in the Next 10–20 Years? AEs Only, by Gender Total n Total % Male (%) Female (%) a) I just want to have something going even if it is 0 0 0 0 struggling b) I just want to be sustainable 2 2 5 0 c) I want to expand a little bit 4 4 10 0 d) I want to expand a lot 83 93 86 100 Total 89 100 100 100 Table 8.30. What Are You Trying to Achieve in terms of Employment and Pursuing a Livelihood? CCs Only, by Gender Total n Total % Male (%) Female (%) a) Looking for a permanent /fulltime wage-earning job 23 22 26 17 b) Looking for a temporary/part time wage-earning job. 2 2 4 0 c) Looking for opportunity of setting up my own 75 71 59 83 business. d) Only farming and selling / self-sustaining 6 6 11 0 e) I rely on support from others 0 0 0 0 f) Other 0 0 0 0 Total 106 100 100 100 Table 8.31. What Is the Most Important Goal in Your Life? CCs Only, by Gender Total n Total % Male (%) Female (%) a) To be respected in the community as a good person 3 3 4 2 b) To have a happy family 9 9 7 10 95 Total n Total % Male (%) Female (%) c) To have a well-paid job (somewhere else) 24 23 24 22 d) To have a successful business (my own) 69 66 65 67 e) Other 0 0 0 0 Total 105 100 100 100 Table 8.32. Do You Face Any Problems with Having Physical Space to Conduct Business? HEOs Only, by Gender Total n Total % Male (%) Female (%) a) No problem at all, I can operate wherever I want 48 49 52 47 b) Some problems away from my house 25 26 48 0 c) I can only operate out of my house 24 25 0 53 Total 97 100 100 100 Table 8.33. How Do Officials Treat You Trying to Conduct Business? HEOs Only, by Gender Total n Total % Male (%) Female (%) a) Supportive 11 13 21 0 b) Obstructive/Get in the way 23 27 21 45 c) Extortive/Corrupt 50 60 58 55 Total 84 100 100 100 Table 8.34. Where Did You Get the Money to Start Your Business? HEOs Only, by Gender Total n Total % Male (%) Female (%) a) Formal bank loan 2 2 0 4 b) Loan from family/friends 31 28 35 23 c) My own savings 70 64 58 70 d) Local loan group 4 4 8 0 e) NGO/government grant 2 3 0 4 f) Other 0 0 0 0 Total 109 100 100 100 Table 8.35. Do You Feel Like You Have Enough Time to Start a Business? AEs Only, by Gender Total n Total % Male (%) Female (%) a) Plenty 74 81 60 100 b) Some 17 19 40 0 c) None 0 0 0 0 96 Total n Total % Male (%) Female (%) Total 91 100 100 100 Table 8.36. Where Will You Get/Have You Tried to Get Money to Start Your Business? AEs Only, by Gender Total n Total % Male (%) Female (%) a) Formal bank loan 4 4 0 8 b) Loan from family/friends 30 33 31 35 c) My own savings 50 55 57 53 d) Local loan group 0 0 0 0 e) NGO/government grant 7 8 12 4 f) Other 0 0 0 0 Total 91 100 100 100 Table 8.37. How Important Is Education in What You Want to Do with Your Business? AEs Only, by Gender Total n Total % Male (%) Female (%) a) Critical to have specialized training in the area 26 31 14 41 b) Critical to have higher level schooling (secondary) 32 39 45 27 c) Only basic education (reading, writing, math) is needed 23 28 38 31 d) Not important at all 2 2 2 2 Total 83 100 100 100 Table 8.38. Are You Aware of Any Projects or Programs Offering Support (Trainings, Funding, Job Creation, Facilitating Access to Market, and So On) to Youth Transitioning from School to Work? AEs Only, by Gender Total n Total % Male (%) Female (%) a) Yes, and I have taken part/am taking part 2 2 0 4 b) Yes, but I choose not to take part 2 2 0 4 c) Yes, but I cannot access them 23 25 21 27 d) No, I don't know of any 66 71 79 65 Total 93 100 100 100 Table 8.39. Do You Feel That the Education/Training You Received Was Useful in Getting a Job? CCs Only, by Gender Total n Total % Male (%) Female (%) a) Yes, it is critical 51 49 43 56 b) Yes, it helps somewhat 39 38 44 30 c) No, it doesn’t make a difference 14 13 13 14 97 Total n Total % Male (%) Female (%) Total 104 100 100 100 Table 8.40. Imagine a Scenario Where You Win a Lottery/Sweepstakes, and Your Name Is Published in the Newspaper So People Know That You Have Plenty of Cash (Insert a Value That Will Help Someone Significantly, But Not Make Them Extremely Eich) Suddenly. People Come Calling On You to Ask You to Help Them with 'Something Small', What Do You Do? By Participant Type and Gender Total n Total % HE (%) AE (%) CC (%) Males (%) Females (%) a) I would not loan to anybody 125 41 48 33 41 44 38 b) I would loan to someone I knew for sure could 157 51 48 56 51 50 53 pay it back c) I would loan to someone who is close to me 23 8 4 11 8 6 9 (friends, family) even if it were not secured d) I would loan to anybody, even if it wasn't 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 secure e) Other 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 305 100 100 100 100 100 100 Table 8.41. Imagine You Have the Opportunity to Have a Salary Job, or You Have the Opportunity to Get a Start-up Grant to Run Your Business. Which Do You Want to Have? By Participant Type and Gender Total n Total % HE (%) AE (%) CC (%) Males (%) Females (%) a) Salary job definitely 48 15 13 13 17 14 17 b) Salary job maybe 28 9 1 10 14 13 5 c) Not sure 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 d) Business maybe 4 1 2 2 0 3 0 e) Business definitely 235 75 84 75 59 71 78 Total 315 100 100 100 91 100 100 Table 8.42. [After Discussing an Example of a Successful Businessperson in the Community, Ask:] What Was the Main Thing That Made This Person Successful? By Participant Type and Gender Total n Total % HE (%) AE (%) CC (%) Males (%) Females (%) a) Had help with money/loan 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 b) Had connections to get contracts/buyers 14 5 6 3 5 4 5 c) Hard work/determination/saving money 120 40 35 44 41 34 45 d) Good skills in technical area/vocational 2 1 1 1 0 1 1 e) Good skills in management/running business 71 23 30 12 26 16 30 98 Total n Total % HE (%) AE (%) CC (%) Males (%) Females (%) f) Honesty/kindness/helpfulness to others 96 32 29 39 28 45 19 Total 303 100 100 100 100 100 100 Table 8.43. Are You Happy with the Current Size and Profitability of Your Enterprise? HEOs Only, by Gender Total n Total % Male (%) Female (%) a) Yes, very 0 0 0 0 b) Yes, somewhat 11 10 0 19 c) No, not at all 98 9 100 81 Total 109 100 100 100 Table 8.44. Do You Have Any Competition from Other Business Owners Offering the Same or Similar Product? HEOs, by Gender Total n Total % Male (%) Female (%) a) Yes, always 96 1 100 77 b) Yes, sometimes 13 0 0 23 c) No, never 0 0 0 0 Total 109 1 100 100 Table 8.45. Who Do You Normally Deal with In Your Day-to-day Running of the Business? HEOs Only, by Gender Total n Total % Male (%) Female (%) a) Anyone - people from here and outside (traveling) 104 95 100 91 b) People around this community only 4 4 0 7 c) People in my social group (that is, religion, 1 1 0 2 ethnicity) d) Family/friend networks only 0 0 0 0 Total 109 100 100 100 Table 8.46. Do You Have Any Paid Employees for Your Business? HEOs Only, by Gender Total n Total % Male (%) Female (%) a) No, only me 49 51 42 60 b) Yes, only family members/close friends help as needed 23 24 33 13 c) Yes, only family members/close friends help me always 11 11 10 13 d) Yes, workers help sometimes/as needed 3 3 6 0 e) Yes, I have some permanent employees on regular pay 11 11 10 13 Total 97 100 100 100 99 Table 8.47. How Do You Choose Which Business You Would Buy From? CCs Only, by Gender Total n Total % Male (%) Female (%) a) Anyone who has what I need at the best price 42 40 26 54 b) Anyone who has what I need at the best quality 58 55 65 44 c) People around this community only 1 1 2 0 d) People in my social group (that is, religion, ethnicity) 1 1 0 2 e) Family/friend networks only 4 4 7 0 Total 106 100 100 100 Table 8.48. Are There Any Businesses That You Would Not Buy From for Reasons Other Than Cost/Quality? CCs Only, by Gender Total n Total % Male (%) Female (%) a) Many 20 19 37 0 b) Some 26 25 44 4 c) None 60 57 19 96 Total 106 100 100 100 Table 8.49. How Easy Is It to Find All of the Goods and Services You Need Each Day? CCs Only, by Gender Total n Total % Male (%) Female (%) a) Very easy, lots of choices 0 0 0 0 b) Easy, but not too many choices 0 0 0 0 c) Not easy, sometimes things are not available 45 42 9 77 d) Very difficult, often things are not available 61 58 91 23 Total 106 100 100 100 Table 8.50. What Are the Best Jobs That People Have In This Community? By Participant Type and Gender Total n Total % HE (%) AE (%) CC (%) Males (%) Females (%) a) Permanent, salaried position 35 11 8 6 19 19 4 b) Own business 249 82 80 78 74 69 93 c) Own farm 15 5 10 1 3 7 3 d) Short-term labor - nonfarm 6 2 2 0 4 4 0 e) Short-term labor - farm 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 f) Other (specify) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 305 100 100 84 100 100 100 100 8.6 Selected Narratives of Success Narratives of success that were particularly powerful in their full length and which exemplified the ‘typical’ narrative of how an HEO could succeed in Liberia, but which would not fit into the main report, have been excerpted from FGDs and KIIs and reported here. “The major thing that I think is making young people succeed is that some of these young people are respectful, hardworking, and determined… For example, the boy you people met at the store you passed through has been with me for the past eight years and I have found him to be hardworking, determined, and respectful. Since he came to my company, with that I have turned this store over to him to run…. I am deciding to give it [the store] to him for himself. I want to say that most of them [youth] are used to getting free things through the war, so this is how their lives will be forever; that is why they don't want to work and earn something for themselves that is while they are not succeeding. The few that are succeeding now are those that are prepared and hardworking and determined about their future.” (Male HEO, Sanniquellie) “There are many successful business people in this community and I am one those. I started by making garden. I used to sell potatoes, greens, and cassava leaves around in the communities along with my wife on our head and in wheelbarrow. We did that for good three years and we were able to generate some money to start a business. My wife and I were working very hard and we were also focused and determine in doing our garden. We started our business by selling rice in wheelbarrow and other small cooking materials like [stock] cube, pepper, better bore, and okra. She was selling those small cooking materials while I was selling the rice at the same time going to school. After few years we were able to get a table in the market and started selling dry goods which was my aim and objective. It is also based on good management skills by me and my wife. We had so many constraints but we were strong and determined to achieve our objectives. Today we have built a house and a store in the market, which people are 101 renting from us. Other people are not successful like us who are doing good in business because they are not determined, focused, serious and have no good management skills in them. They also mixed business with fine time and do not manage their capital well.” (Male HEO, Redlight) “Let me share a story of my friend who struggled a lot to start his business, and today he a successful businessman... He started his business with selling plastic bags, in 1992, after the Liberia civil war ceased for the first time, here in Buchanan. Mr. T [name changed] sold plastic bags in front of his house for two years. When the war came he left his business and ran into the bush, and lost all of his goods. He had just returned from Ivory Coast from purchasing his new consignment of goods. A few months after all of us returned to Buchanan, he left the plastic bag business and started selling rice, but his brothers and sisters that were taking care of his business while he carried some goods to the various gold camps to sell, started to spend his money lavishly, so he decided to be with his business personally, and he removed all of his family members from his business. With all these problems, he has managed to have three stores from his hard work and serious attitude. He has one of the best [fashion] boutiques on Tubman Street.” (Male NGO stakeholder, Buchanan) “One of the most successful businessmen in Nimba County is Mr. B [name changed]. [He] started his own business by selling medicines around in the community. After sometime he started going to the various villages to sell. During the war, he faced so many constraints from robbers who looted his goods and made away with his income. He was not discouraged. He did not give up. After the war he got money from his own account and started selling medicines again. Based on his determination, self- motivation, self-confidence, and hard work, the business started to grow. He established a drug store to sell medicines. He decided to go to the medical school to become a medical doctor. He attended Cuttington University. He graduated with a degree in medicine. [He] used the knowledge and skills that he acquired from 102 Cuttington University to improve his business. He was able to put in more time and managed his business well. Today he has drug stores around the county. He is also into real estate business, and he owns a hotel. [He] is a successful businessman because he was honest, hardworking, determined, and self-confident that he was going to be a successful businessman.” (Male NGO staff, Sanniquellie) “Some of the reasons [that some youth are better off than others] are: hard work, attitude, self-confidence, connections, and being honest. For example, there is a youth in this [who] was selling little goods on a small table… he was focused and he put in all of his time and effort into his business. He used to go to the market every day and leave late just to make sure he was running and managing well. After some period of time, he got connected to someone who was willing to give him goods. The person got him goods to sell and later return the money for the goods. The person got connected to him because of hard work and the passion he had for business. He did that business for two years and today he owns his own shop selling for himself. He was always confident that his business was going to expand one day. Some youth in this community are worse off after school because they are not hard working, they do not have good attitude, they are not honest to people, and they lack self-confidence. They do not put in time to work.” (Male HEO, Sanniquellie) “Yes!! I can give you a short story about myself, how I came into business and those constraints and how I try to overcome them to be at the level I am today. I started selling for a friend in this market for over three years after I lost my husband and I was the only source of income for my children’s progress. It was one day after these long periods of selling for my friend, she took one bill of the used clothes which I was selling for her and she told me to see it, give her the principal, and take the profit for myself. I sold it for four months and started my own market on the table, selling dry goods such as paper, salt, and so on. From which I moved to the level of being able to purchase my owned used clothes, which I have [done] for the past years, and up to now I have more than 103 six tables in this market and currently serving as the head of the marketing association. I face a lot of constraints as I was in my transitional period to where I am today.” (Female HEO, Sanniquellie) “I am successful today because of many reasons. I started my business with a little amount of money that I got from my own savings. I started with LRD 500.00 as capital of the business that I am running today. I decided to mobilize most of my friends that are in business, and also in the community, to establish a local credit club. After I shared the idea with most of my friends, they saw it as a good thing to do. We started putting in money and after sometime people started coming to take credit from us. When the money started growing, I also took some money from the club and invested it into used clothes business. With the profit that I generated from there for four years, I decided to open a tea shop. During the 2000s war, I went to Guinea. I returned from Guinea in 2004 and was able to start my business again. During my stay in Guinea, the club was still operating in Liberia. Today I am able to build a shop and my house from the teashop profits. I am into agriculture business today. I have an oil palm farm, and I am confident that come 2018, I will be harvesting and selling my palm nuts to the general public for consumption. I am successful today because of the hard work, trust, and honesty.” (Male HEO, Sanniquellie) “I am one of those who started selling from scratch and expanded and diversified my business. I started selling dried fish and meat in the market. Later I started selling peanuts and pepper. I later switched to slippers and dishes. I later opened many tables in the market. Today I am the owner of a shop in which I sell lappas, cosmetics, dishes, imported clothes, drinks, book bags, and so many things. More people are not successful like me because they are not hardworking and determined. I vowed never to work for anyone other than myself. Some people are not successful like me because they are not innovative. They do not have constructive jealousy.” (Female HEO, Tubmanburg) 104 “One of the successful business persons in this community that started her own business from nowhere is Mrs. B. [name changed]. She is successful because of her hard work and focus in doing her business. Mrs. XY started her business by selling red oil by bottle in the market. She used to go to villages and take the red oil from people, bring it to Sanniquellie, and sell it and later return their money to them. She was very honest in doing that business. After selling the red oil she used to put her daily susu which was her own saving. She kept putting the susu for three years. After those three years she collected her money and it amounted to LRD 25,000.00 which she started using to buy her own red oil to sell. She did that for five years and she was able to earn some money to transfer the business from selling red oil to owning a shop to start selling dry goods. Today Mrs. B is one of the most successful businesswomen in this community. I think other people are not successful like Mrs. B because they are not hard working, they do not put in more time to their business, they are not also focused on why they are doing business. Some of them mixed family issues with business while others do not reinvest their profits.” (Male Community Leader, Sanniquellie) 105 Social Protection & Labor Discussion Paper Series Titles 2014-2016 No. Title 1609 Household Enterprises in Fragile and Conflict-Affected States: Results from a Qualitative Toolkit Piloted in Liberia, Volume 2 – Annexes by Emily Weedon and Gwendolyn Heaner, August 2016 1608 Household Enterprises in Fragile and Conflict-Affected States: Results from a Qualitative Toolkit Piloted in Liberia, Volume 1 – Report by Emily Weedon and Gwendolyn Heaner, August 2016 1607 Benefits and Costs of Social Pensions in Sub-Saharan Africa by Melis U. Guven and Phillippe G. Leite, June 2016 1606 Assessing Benefit Portability for International Migrant Workers: A Review of the Germany- Turkey Bilateral Social Security Agreement by Robert Holzmann, Michael Fuchs, Seçil Paçacı Elitok and Pamela Dale, May 2016 1605 Do Bilateral Social Security Agreements Deliver on the Portability of Pensions and Health Care Benefits? A Summary Policy Paper on Four Migration Corridors Between EU and Non-EU Member States by Robert Holzmann, May 2016 1604 Assessing Benefit Portability for International Migrant Workers: A Review of the France-Morocco Bilateral Social Security Agreement by Robert Holzmann, Florence Legro and Pamela Dale, May 2016 1603 Assessing Benefit Portability for International Migrant Workers: A Review of the Belgium-Morocco Bilateral Social Security Agreement by Robert Holzmann, Jacques Wels and Pamela Dale, May 2016 1602 Assessing Benefit Portability for International Migrant Workers: A Review of the Austria-Turkey Bilateral Social Security Agreement by Robert Holzmann, Michael Fuchs, Seçil Paçaci Elitok and Pamela Dale, May 2016 1601 The Greek Pension Reform Strategy 2010-2016 by Georgios Symeonidis, July 2016 1507 Integrating Disaster Response and Climate Resilience in Social Protection Programs in the Pacific Island Countries by Cecilia Costella and Oleksiy Ivaschenko, September 2015 1506 Effectiveness of Targeting Mechanisms Utilized in Social Protection Programs in Bolivia by Ignacio Apella and Gastón Blanco, September 2015 1505 Kyrgyz Republic: Social Sectors at a Glance by João Pedro Azevedo, Paula Calvo, Minh Nguyen and Josefina Posadas, August 2015 1504 Entering the City: Emerging Evidence and Practices with Safety Nets in Urban Areas by Ugo Gentilini, July 2015 1503 Pension Patterns in Sub-Saharan Africa by Mark Dorfman, July 2015 1502 Social Protection in Fragile and Conflict-Affected Countries: Trends and Challenges by Mirey Ovadiya, Adea Kryeziu, Syeda Masood and Eric Zapatero, April 2015 1501 Defining, Measuring, and Benchmarking Administrative Expenditures of Mandatory Social Security Programs by Oleksiy Sluchynsky, February 2015 1425 Old-Age Financial Protection in Malaysia: Challenges and Options by Robert Holzmann, November 2014 1424 Profiling the Unemployed: A Review of OECD Experiences and Implications for Emerging Economies by Artan Loxha and Matteo Morgandi, August 2014 1423 Any Guarantees? An Analysis of China’s Rural Minimum Living Standard Guarantee Program by Jennifer Golan, Terry Sicular and Nithin Umapathi, August 2014 1422 World Bank Support for Social Safety Nets 2007-2013: A Review of Financing, Knowledge Services and Results by Colin Andrews, Adea Kryeziu and Dahye Seo, June 2014 1421 STEP Skills Measurement Surveys: Innovative Tools for Assessing Skills by Gaëlle Pierre, Maria Laura Sanchez Puerta, Alexandria Valerio and Tania Rajadel, July 2014 1420 Our Daily Bread: What is the Evidence on Comparing Cash versus Food Transfers? by Ugo Gentilini, July 2014 1419 Rwanda: Social Safety Net Assessment by Alex Kamurase, Emily Wylde, Stephen Hitimana and Anka Kitunzi, July 2012 1418 Niger: Food Security and Safety Nets by Jenny C. Aker, Carlo del Ninno, Paul A. Dorosh, Menno Mulder-Sibanda and Setareh Razmara, February 2009 1417 Benin: Les Filets Sociaux au Bénin Outil de Réduction de la Pauvreté par Andrea Borgarello et Damien Mededji, Mai 2011 1416 Madagascar Three Years into the Crisis: An Assessment of Vulnerability and Social Policies and Prospects for the Future by Philippe Auffret, May 2012 1415 Sudan Social Safety Net Assessment by Annika Kjellgren, Christina Jones-Pauly, Hadyiat El-Tayeb Alyn, Endashaw Tadesse and Andrea Vermehren, May 2014 1414 Tanzania Poverty, Growth, and Public Transfers: Options for a National Productive Safety Net Program by W. James Smith, September 2011 1413 Zambia: Using Social Safety Nets to Accelerate Poverty Reduction and Share Prosperity by Cornelia Tesliuc, W. James Smith and Musonda Rosemary Sunkutu, March 2013 1412 Mali Social Safety Nets by Cécile Cherrier, Carlo del Ninno and Setareh Razmara, January 2011 1411 Swaziland: Using Public Transfers to Reduce Extreme Poverty by Lorraine Blank, Emma Mistiaen and Jeanine Braithwaite, November 2012 1410 Togo: Towards a National Social Protection Policy and Strategy by Julie van Domelen, June 2012 1409 Lesotho: A Safety Net to End Extreme Poverty by W. James Smith, Emma Mistiaen, Melis Guven and Morabo Morojele, June 2013 1408 Mozambique Social Protection Assessment: Review of Social Assistance Programs and Social Protection Expenditures by Jose Silveiro Marques, October 2012 1407 Liberia: A Diagnostic of Social Protection by Andrea Borgarello, Laura Figazzolo and Emily Weedon, December 2011 1406 Sierra Leone Social Protection Assessment by José Silvério Marques, John Van Dyck, Suleiman Namara, Rita Costa and Sybil Bailor, June 2013 1405 Botswana Social Protection by Cornelia Tesliuc, José Silvério Marques, Lillian Mookodi, Jeanine Braithwaite, Siddarth Sharma and Dolly Ntseane, December 2013 1404 Cameroon Social Safety Nets by Carlo del Ninno and Kaleb Tamiru, June 2012 1403 Burkina Faso Social Safety Nets by Cécile Cherrier, Carlo del Ninno and Setareh Razmara, January 2011 1402 Social Insurance Reform in Jordan: Awareness and Perceptions of Employment Opportunities for Women by Stefanie Brodmann, Irene Jillson and Nahla Hassan, June 2014 1401 Social Assistance and Labor Market Programs in Latin America: Methodology and Key Findings from the Social Protection Database by Paula Cerutti, Anna Fruttero, Margaret Grosh, Silvana Kostenbaum, Maria Laura Oliveri, Claudia Rodriguez-Alas, Victoria Strokova, June 2014 To view Social Protection & Labor Discussion papers published prior to 2013, please visit www.worldbank.org/spl. Abstract Many policy makers across Sub-Saharan Africa, including in fragile and conflict-affected situations (FCS), consider youth employment a central policy issue. As the recent World Development Report on jobs has highlighted, jobs are a key driver of development (World Bank 2012). Jobs matter for living standards, productivity, as well as social cohesion. Particularly in FCS, jobs mean more than earnings; feelings of exclusion stem from a lack of reliable, quality employment, not simply income (Rebosio and Romanova 2013). Volume 1 (SPL Discussion Paper no. 1608) presents results from the application of a novel qualitative toolkit in Liberia, with the objective to improve the knowledge of the constraints to entry and productivity among nonagricultural household enterprises. It outlines lessons learned from the application of this research and makes policy- relevant findings on how to improve productivity in the sector in Liberia. In addition, the report contains methodological lessons that can inform the application of the toolkit in other contexts. Volume 2 of this paper presents a global review of the literature on household enterprises in FCS and the detailed methodology and tools for the research. About this series Social Protection & Labor Discussion Papers are published to communicate the results of The World Bank’s work to the development community with the least possible delay. This paper therefore has not been prepared in accordance with the procedures appropriate for formally edited texts. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed herein are those of the author(s), and do not necessarily reflect the views of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/The World Bank and its affiliated organizations, or those of the Executive Directors of The World Bank or the governments they represent. The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this work. The boundaries, colors, denominations, and other information shown on any map in this work do not imply any judgement on the part of The World Bank concerning the legal status of any territory or the endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries. For more information, please contact the Social Protection Advisory Service, The World Bank, 1818 H Street, N.W., Room G7-803, Washington, DC 20433 USA. Telephone: (202) 458-5267, Fax: (202) 614-0471, E-mail: socialprotection@worldbank.org or visit us on-line at www.worldbank.org/spl. © 2016 International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank