Community Needs Assessment for Beyond Beans

PDA and Beyond Beans have been working together in cocoa communities to implement livelihood and financial inclusion interventions to cushion cocoa farmers that the Beyond Beans works with. The latest of such collaborations is a study to understand the immediate (pressing) needs and long term (future) needs of cocoa farmers in Beyond Beans’ operational communities. PDA used participatory approaches to discuss the current situation and needs of the communities and to support the communities in identifying solutions to their needs. The participatory tools deployed for this needs assessment included Social Mapping, ranking and scoring of socio-economic conditions, in-depth interviews, and focus group discussions. Subsequent phases of these community needs assessments are being discussed with Beyond Beans for other communities.