1. Tools 2 – Analysis of time
Vanda Altarelli
July 2016
Master in Human Development and Food Security

2. Trend (Time) Lines
To learn about community perceptions of local changes (environment, socio-economy, discrimination, empowerment, institutions.)
A tool for looking at what is getting better and what is getting worse. A time line can be used to gain a historical perspective and to compare changes over a considerable period of time, with various factors being documented. It can also be used to compare a particular ‘before and after’ situation.

3. Trend (Time) Lines Steps
1. Organise a number of focus groups of old and young men and women and ask for important changes over time. As may be expected, older persons tend to recall the past better, while the younger ones are more accurate with the recent past.

4. Trend (Time) Lines
2. Explain the subject of focus to the participants and decide how it will be represented physically (written words, drawing, etc.).
3. Set the time slots (years, months, weeks) according to the need of the exercise. If the people do not know the year as per the English calendar, important events can be recorded according to the local concept of time, which are easy to date later.

5. Trend (Time) Lines
4. Facilitate participation from all members and encourage discussion. Ask clarifying questions
and details of events as required. Focus can also be shifted to the topic of particular interest – in this example, agriculture.
5. Time lines are usually dominated by written or spoken words, with little scope for graphic
representation. However, make sure that the participants are comfortable with the medium
used, and include representation with objects or through the use of drawings, if this is appropriate.

6. Trend (Time) Lines
6. Analyse the results/findings with the members about the related problems and opportunities.
7. Record the data and analyse it for subsequent use for planning, monitoring or evaluation.
Typically, a timeline data is represented in the following way.

10. Time lines..
In the example below (adivasi communities in Kotagiri, Tamil Nadu) the time line was extremely simple – comparing food diversity
before project commencement in 2000 and at the end of As a first exercise, this was essentially a participatory evaluation of how eating patterns had changed over the programme period. Participants helped in gathering samples of all the different foodstuffs they use.

11. Time lines..
They ranged from various leafy vegetables (including those gathered in the wild) to traditional cultivated vegetables, traditional grains, purchased rice and purchased vegetables. The final collection featured 32 different food items. These were lined up on the ground, and a grid drawn around them for ‘before’ (left side) and ‘after’ (right side). Participants first discussed their eating habits in their two groups.

12. Time lines..
Then one representative of the men and one of the women marked, using beans (maximum score 5, minimum zero), the extent to which a particular foodstuff featured (then) and features (now) in their diet. The results of the exercise were not what the NGO staff expected, as the participants indicated
that overall, the diversity in their diet had decreased, not increased, over the last three years. Both women and men agreed on this. The results of this exercise stimulated considerable thought and reflection.

13. Time lines..
The year in which the exercise was conducted was the first of good rains during the project period; millet harvests were not so good in the first two years due to drought. Reintroduction of traditional foods takes time – much more than three years
● The availability of highly subsidised rice (only Rs3/kg) in the ration shops undermined the programme to a certain extent (the market price of millet is some Rs12/kg)
● There could be some hesitance in admitting the eating of traditional grains in a large audience.

14. Seasonal Calendars
To identify changes in peak labour periods, seasonality of other important aspects of livelihoods such as food, water, cash availability.
Draw a line all the way across the top of a cleared space (or paper). Explain that the line represents a year and ask how people divide up the year, i.e. months, seasons, etc. The scale to use is the one that makes the most sense to the participants.
Ask participants to mark the seasonal divisions along the bottom of the line.
It is usually easiest to start the calendar by asking about rainfall patterns and put different items on top .

15. Seasonal Calendars
A seasonal calendar can be used to illustrate seasonal variations, for example, of different sources of food supply throughout the year coming from agriculture or forests.
By comparing seasonal calendars of the same groups of people over time, it is possible to measure how levels of food security have changed. It is also possible to see whether long term solutions to food insecurity have been achieved.

16. Seasonal Agricultural calendars..
The general steps to follow when working to create a seasonal agriculture calendar are:
1. Select a relatively homogenous group of people to meet (i.e. landless people, people from the ‘poorest of the poor’ households, women only, etc.).
2. Draw the outline of the calendar on the ground or on a large piece of paper. Ask the group to illustrate the typical calendar year in terms of seasons along a line at the top Add the months of the year (or local seasons) that these represent.

17. Seasonal Calendars..
3. Down the side of the calendar, list all the different sources of food available to this group.
4. Ask the group to indicate on the calendar which months/period they rely on different sources of food security. Other groups of people with different primary sources of livelihood (such as NTFP
collectors) would have a very different food security calendar. Throughout the year, these gatherers have different sources of income that contribute to their food security. (See other calendars)

18. Changes in Agric. Calendar

19. Seasonal Calendars..
When you compare the baseline with the second calendar completed a year later, you can see the following changes:
· Opportunities for employment as agricultural labourers have increased and extend into the dry season
· People are able to grow more of their own food
· They are able to store more food, improving post harvest food security
· There is less dependence on food for work

20. Daily Activities Clock
To illustrate all the different kinds of activities carried out in one day; useful for looking at changes over time of relative work-loads between different groups of people in the community;
Organise separate focus groups of women and men. Be sure that each group includes people from different socio-economic groups. Explain that you would like to learn about what they do in a typical day. Ask the groups of women and men each to produce their own clocks.

21. Daily Activity Clocks
When the clocks are completed ask questions about the activities shown and ask them to produce other clocks for other seasons.
Repeat the same exercise 1 or 2 years later, at the same time of the year as before, to see what changes have taken place thanks to your intervention

23. Progress in Women Literacy
This tool functions as both an attendance record and a means of tracking progress. It is the participants who complete the chart, and the chart is displayed for all to see. When women first attend, they may not be able to read and write; so they will mark attendance with a thumb print. As they learn to read and write, their attendance mark will change. At first she may write her initials, then her full name. As she progresses through the different primers, this will also be shown.

24. Progress in Women Literacy…
The attendance chart below shows the progress of ten students. In the first few days of attending classes, they can only make a thumbprint to show their attendance. By the end of the first week they are able to write their two initials. Eventually they are able to write their full names. During
Week 3 some have advanced to the second primer.

25. Progress in Women Literacy…
As well as showing the progress of all students, the chart also provides information on average daily attendance for the month and for each month in the year.
At the end of each month, the teacher leads a discussion with the group about the chart and how they can use it to measure progress.