Let’s be SMART about it: Collecting real-time nutrition data in crisis and conflict settings

Internally displaced persons (IDPs) living in camps and among host communities face limited access to basic social services like health care, protection, WASH services and food security. Millions of IDPs currently face unprecedented levels of malnutrition and food insecurity due to the Boko Haram insurgency in Northeast Nigeria.

We work in FHI 360’s multisectoral Integrated Humanitarian Assistance to Northeast Nigeria II (IHANN II) project, which provides essential social services for IDPs, returnees and host communities to reduce morbidity and mortality in four local government areas of Borno state. In order to best target and select project activities and services, we used the SMART survey methodology to gather baseline information on the nutritional status and mortality rates of children under-five years, as well as the general population, at the state level. In this post, we describe the survey methodology and how it provided high-quality data to inform decision making.