Refinement Period
Refinement Period
In an R&I award, adaptation is meant to take place throughout the program cycle, but it begins with a refinement period of about 12 months. During this period, IPs do learning activities to refine their activity design and implementation plans. These activities can include things like community visioning, stakeholder consultations, formative research studies, and pilots. They are used to help RFSAs adapt their activity design. IPs also do other start-up activities like recruitment, office set-up, procurement, and training. They may also start implementing proven interventions that are adapted to their context. Click on each activity below for additional details and resources.
- General Research & Learning
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Throughout the refinement period, IPs carry out different research and learning activities to help refine their activity design and implementation plans. Some learning is done through formative studies, which require Statements of Work. Other learning is done through efforts like pilots, community and stakeholder consultations, and other informal activities. Bringing together findings from all of these different types of activities will help IPs decide how to refine their activity.
This BHA Technical Guidance for Monitoring, Evaluation, and Reporting for RFSAs helps M&E staff understand key monitoring, evaluation, and reporting responsibilities. Changes noted are applicable and relevant to all active RFSAs unless otherwise noted.
Integrating Gender Equality and Social Inclusion in WASH and IWRM: A Quick Guide for Practitioners (WASH)
This annotated bibliography of examples and resources is designed for WASH and IWRM practitioners to support them in integrating gender equality and social inclusion outcomes (GESI) in RFSA design and implementation.
Step-by-step: A Roadmap to Gender and Youth Integration in Food Security and Resilience Programs (Inclusion: Gender, Youth)
Gender, Youth, and Social Dynamics Advisors, as well as program leadership and those less familiar with gender and youth integration, can use this checklist to understand the ideal sequence and content of the gender and youth integration process, in order to adequately plan and budget for a broad array of gender and youth integration best practices.
Measuring Social and Behavior Change in Nutrition Programs: A Guide for Evaluators (SBC)
This guide supports partners who are involved with conducting an evaluation. The document focuses on enhancing skills by incorporating the nuances of evaluating SBC approaches for improving outcomes. The examples are nutrition, but it is relevant for any sector.
Tools for Designing and Conducting Social and Behavior Change Evaluations (SBC)
These tools complement the "Measuring Social and Behavior Change in Nutrition Programs: A Guide for Evaluators". The examples are nutrition, but these tools are relevant for any sector.
The purpose of this document is to describe USAID Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA) expectations for how RFSA implementing partners could address SBC in the R&I phase of the co-creation process with USAID. This document builds upon the Refine and Implement Overview and FAQ, and recent efforts that BHA has undertaken with IPs during the refinement phase in multiple countries.
The purpose of this handbook is to orient RFSA partners with step-by-step instructions for social and behavior change best practices, providing practical tools for each milestone during the refinement period. Seven milestones are used to organize the best practice instructions and tools in (loosely defined) time periods in the refinement period. RFSAs work to strengthen the adaptive, absorptive, and transformative capacities of communities vulnerable to malnutrition and food insecurity through multi-sectoral, integrated activities.
- Inception/Information Gaps
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In the beginning of the refinement period, IPs work with BHA and others to identify and prioritize evidence and knowledge gaps in the TOC. This includes asking important questions for the RFSA’s cross-cutting Social and Behavior Change (SBC) strategy. These gaps and other important refinement period activities are discussed during an Inception Workshop. After agreeing on gaps, IPs come up with key research questions. They try to answer these questions through different learning activities during the refinement period.
A Guide to Online and Accessible Resources on Groundwater (WASH)
This guide helps practitioners access valuable information for managing groundwater. It compiles online resources, such as reports, guides, databases, and maps, to assist in effectively managing groundwater, especially in low-income regions with limited surface water access.
Seed System Security Assessment Tools (Ag. / Seeds)
These Seed System Security Assessment Tools (SSSA) support proposal development and program implementation teams in understanding the functioning of seed channels that smallholder farmers use, helping to answers questions such as: Is seed available; can farmers access it; and is the quality what farmers want and need? The results of an SSSA can inform the design of seed-related assistance.
Guidance to Identify Priority Information Gaps (Cross-Cutting)
This document walks RFSA leadership and technical leads through the process of using the Theory of Change to identify and prioritize the most critical information gaps for their activity design and implementation. Answering these gaps during the refinement period will allow staff to test their hypotheses and assumptions and further contextualize the activity. This guide is meant to be used with the Info-Gap Identification and Clustering Template.
- Statements of Work
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To answer research questions through formative research or a pilot, RFSAs need to develop a Statement of Work (SOW) or a Protocol. SOWs are needed for externally-led studies. Protocols are used for internal studies. A separate SOW or Protocol will be needed for each study or pilot. It should include the problem statement, a research justification, key research objectives, research methods, ethics considerations, team composition, deliverables, and a timeline.
Partner Guidance: Statement of Work Template for Formative Research Activities (Cross-Cutting)
This presentation provides RFSA staff with an overview of the key components to include in USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance Statements of Work (SOW) or Protocol for research activities that will be carried out during the refinement period. It accompanies the SOW Template.
BHA Statement of Work Template (Cross-Cutting)
This is is template for BHA Statements of Work (SOW), which are required for all refinement period studies and pilots. It includes a description of all key components and provides additional links to resources to support research activities. It accompanies the BHA SOW Overview Presentation.
Partner Guidance: Statement of Work Suggested Template for Gender Analysis (Inclusion: Gender, Youth)
Gender, Youth, and Social Dynamics Advisors and gender analysis/youth needs assessment research partners can use this template as a starting point when beginning to craft the scope of work for their gender analysis. This template presents USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance preferences and requirements within the expected outline for the partner's gender analysis SOW.
Gender Analysis Checklist (Inclusion: Gender, Youth)
Gender, Youth, and Social Dynamics Advisors and gender analysis/youth needs assessment research partners can use this checklist to understand key USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance priorities and suggestions when developing the gender analysis scope of work and process, including key reporting requirements.
- Community Visioning & Consultations
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Community visioning is a strategy to empower local communities to take charge of their future and guide their own development. USAID and IPs play a facilitative and supporting role. It gives communities an opportunity to talk about their challenges and goals. They also discuss how the RFSAs can support their goals. Meaningful community engagement helps create strong feedback loops, participation, and accountability. It also can help RFSAs better understand local needs, opportunities, and goals. It is an important learning activity that RFSAs use to refine their design.
Impact of Community-Led Development on Food Security: A Rapid Realist Review (MERL)
This guidance document is designed to understand the current practice of CLD and its impacts; providing 12 key findings that help IPs think about locally led development.
Local Governance and Informal Institutions Qualitative Monitoring Module – Final Report (MERL)
This is a qualitative monitoring module to assess the presence and role of local governance and informal institutions in communities. It is designed to uncover context-specific insights into informal actors, institutions, and local governance dynamics, including both opportunities and potential challenges. An accompanying learning brief summarizes the milestones of development of the module, experience piloting the module in two locations (Ethiopia and Malawi), and recommendations for the module’s future use.
- Formative Research
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Formative research and analysis is used to answer evidence and/or knowledge gaps. It also helps RFSAs better understand the local context and prioritize interventions. Formative studies are determined by grouping the agreed information gaps. They usually include a Gender Analysis.
Barrier Analysis Questionnaires and A Practical Guide to Conducting a Barrier Analysis
Gender, Youth, and Social Dynamics Advisors and SBC Advisors can deploy this training curriculum to effectively plan and implement a Barrier Analysis survey and use the results to inform their behavior change strategy.
Guide to Cross-Sectoral Youth Assessments (Inclusion: Gender, Youth)
Gender, Youth, and Social Dynamics Advisors and gender analysis / youth needs assessment selected research partners can use this conceptual framework, instruments, and tools for designing and implementing youth assessments to conduct a comprehensive cross-sectoral assessment of the assets and needs of youth.
Gender & Power Analysis Guidance (Inclusion: Gender, Youth)
Gender, Youth, and Social Dynamics Advisors and gender analysis / youth needs assessment research partners can use this guidance to examine, understand, and address discrimination and inequality that prevent children, their families, and communities from claiming their full and equal rights as part of a gender analysis / youth needs assessment.
Youth and Gender Analysis Toolkit: Tools for Economic Growth Activities (Inclusion: Gender, Youth)
Gender, Youth, and Social Dynamics Advisors and gender analysis / youth needs assessment research partners can use this guidance and tools to help ensure that youth- and/or gender-focused analyses during the start-up phases of economic-growth activities adequately capture the constraints and opportunities faced by young women.
HCDforWASH Resource Center (WASH)
This human-centered design for WASH resource center provides easy-to-use tools and templates, case studies, short videos, and more. Visit this portal to learn how to use HCD to design new technologies, service delivery models, behavior change strategies, marketing materials and even courses and training materials.
Identifying and Interrupting Fecal-Oral Pathways in Young Children (WASH, Nutrition)
This guide assists RFSAs in: assessing the need for formative research or reliance on existing evidence to identify fecal-oral pathways for infants and young children, designing research to prioritize pathogen ingestion pathways, and providing data collection guidance for measuring WASH intervention effectiveness in interrupting contamination pathways in children under two years old.
PRO-WASH Guide to Sustainable Water Point Infrastructure: A Systems-Based Approach (WASH)
This guide is aimed at RFSA staff who make decisions on how, when, and where to install water point infrastructure, what infrastructure to install, and how to keep it working.
Qualkit (Cross-Cutting)
This website shares a curated set of qualitative monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) tools designed for gender equality and social inclusion (GESI) programs for WASH programming. Many of the tools can be helpful during the design and implementation of formative research studies, regardless of the sector.
Unearthing Collective Wisdom: Strengthening Disaster Preparedness & Early Action with Participatory Learning and Action Tools and Principles (Cross-Cutting)
This tool equips designers, implementers, and stakeholders of programs that address early warning systems with a simple methodology to identify behaviors that are potentially impactful and feasible for the affected populations and to identify the determinants that support or inhibit the adoption of these behaviors.
Gender in Emergencies Guidance Note: Using the Rapid Gender Analysis Assessment Tools and Gender in Emergencies Guidance Note Preparing a Rapid Gender Analysis (Inclusion: Gender, Youth)
Gender, Youth, and Social Dynamics Advisors and gender analysis research partners can use this toolkit to conduct a rapid gender analysis to obtain essential information about gender roles and responsibilities, capacities, and vulnerabilities, together with programming recommendations where time is of the essence and resources are scarce.
- Capacity Strengthening
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As IPs hire staff and prepare for implementation, they can take advantage of the refinement period for training and other capacity-strengthening. A needs assessment helps IPs to figure out what to focus on. Prioritized topics often include TOC use, social and behavior change, and specific technical areas.
Resilience Design in Smallholder Farming Systems Facilitator’s Guide (Ag. / Seeds)
This RD facilitator's guide provides practical, field-ready, step-by-step guidance for delivering quality, consistent rollout of RD training of trainers sessions.
Permagarden Foundations Course (Ag. / Seeds)
This online Permagarden Foundations course provides program teams with a complete overview of the Permagarden Approach in action. The Foundations course can be used to familiarize program and field teams with the core principles and practices in the Permagarden Approach and can serve as a useful refresher course for teams and stakeholders.
Permagarden Training Manual (Ag. / Seeds)
This permagarden training manual provides full details for planning and executing the permagarden training of trainers course.
Permagarden Adult Education Training Resources (Ag. / Seeds)
These resources serve as useful companion guidance to support teams in delivering quality training to adult participants in ways that help ensure uptake of new techniques and information.
REALIZE: Social and Behavioral Change for Gender Equity and Diversity (Inclusion: Gender, Youth)
Gender, Youth, and Social Dynamics Advisors and SBC Advisors can adapt and implement this set of training materials designed to build awareness, facilitate critical reflective dialogue, and explore potential action to improve gender equity and diversity (GED) among development staff and community members and to identify GED linkages within social and behavior change interventions to increase their effectiveness.
Make Me a Change Agent: An SBC Resource for WASH, Agriculture, and Livelihoods Activities (WASH)
The Make Me a Change Agent: An SBC Resource for WASH, Agriculture, and Livelihoods Activities training is designed for community-level workers who work on agriculture, livelihoods, and WASH-related activities and who engage with communities on behavior change and adoption of new techniques and practices. These resources aim to help community-level workers strengthen fundamental skills and techniques around communication, negotiation, and facilitation. Although these resources are targeted at supporting the successful and sustainable implementation of agriculture, livelihoods, and WASH activities, the skills can help staff and volunteers in any sector become more effective as an agent of behavior change.
Technical Guide on Drinking Water Quality Monitoring (WASH)
This guide to water quality monitoring (WQM) is intended for RFSAs. The goal of this guide is to provide a relevant, quickstart manual for BHA partners and their staff, and aims to support RFSAs to develop and implement a WQM program consistent with USAID’s Water Quality Assurance Plan (WQAP). There is also an accompanying training package, including instructional videos.
Market Based Sanitation 101 Training Package (WASH, MSD)
This is an introductory training for RFSAs on market-based sanitation. The training includes eight modules on topics such as: market research, product design, business models, sales planning, financing, and more.
Social and Behavior Change Competency Assessment: Tool for Resilience Food Security Activities (SBC)
This tool is meant to help RFSAs follow a participatory process to assess SBC capacity gaps by team and develop a plan to fill the gaps.
Community Health Worker Competency List for Nutrition Social and Behavior Change (SBC)
This tool is meant to help RFSAs assess the SBC competencies of frontline workers of all types (health, agriculture, and others) and develop a capacity strengthening plan to address the gaps (not only for nutrition).
This brief provides an overview of IWRM, examples of IWRM within programs, policy considerations, and resources for RFSAs to use during program design and implementation.
Gender and Youth Insights for Integration & Implementation: An Evidence-Based Guide to Action (Inclusion: Gender, Youth)
Gender, Youth, and Social Dynamics Advisors, as well as program leadership and those less familiar with gender and youth integration, can use this evidence brief to discover key best practices related to gender and youth integration and discover links to helpful resources and examples.
Gender and Youth Insights for Integration & Implementation: An Evidence-Based Guide to Action (Inclusion: Gender, Youth)
Gender, Youth, and Social Dynamics Advisors, as well as program leadership and those less familiar with gender and youth integration, can use this evidence brief to discover key best practices related to gender and youth integration and discover links to helpful resources and examples.
Climate Change, Risk, and Resilience in WASH and Agriculture Projects (Cross-cutting, WASH, Climate, Ag.)
This brief introduces Climate Information Services (CIS) and describes how CIS can be used by resilience food security activities (RFSAs) and partners. The brief lists resources for CIS, and shows where more information can be found. It also introduces national, regional, and global CIS providers and partners.
- Culmination/Refinements
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Once RFSAs have completed their various learning activities, IPs analyze and triangulate their findings to identify key refinements they wish to make to their activity’s TOC, logical framework, and implementation plans. They also begin revising their foundational documents, such as the TOC. During the Culmination Workshop, IPs and BHA discuss these refinements, after which they agree on a revised set of foundational documents that will serve as the basis for broad implementation.
Participant Financial Analysis for Resilience Food Security Activities (Livelihoods: Ag. / Off-farm)
This is a series of how-to notes to help implementing partners (IPs) apply their Participant Financial Analysis of on-farm and off-farm livelihood activities towards design questions during the refinement period. It helps IPs answer questions in their formative and implementation research plans during the refinement period. The basic Participant Financial Analysis is complementary to other analyses IPs may be considering as part of their refinement phase, such as value chain analysis or other market analyses.
Refinement Identification Guidance (Cross-cutting)
This document gives guidance to help RFSA staff think about how they want to adapt their program design and intervention strategies based on their refinement period findings. It gives additional guidance for RFSA staff completing the Refinement Capture Sheet Template.
Refinement Capture Sheet Template (Cross-cutting)
This tool is used together with the Refinement Identification Guidance. It is meant to help RFSA leadership and technical leads to triangulate data from their refinement period learning efforts to answer their research questions, figure out how to refine their activity design and intervention strategies, and identify other questions for continued learning.
Information Gap Identification and Clustering Template (Cross-cutting)
This tool is used together with the Guidance to Identify Priority Information Gaps. It provides RFSA leadership and technical leads with an easy-to-use format to capture information gaps, ensure gender, youth, and social and behavior change considerations are considered, prioritize which gaps need to be filled during the refinement period, and group gaps into different studies/learning efforts.
RFA/Design Implementation (Years 2-5)