

Donors, like the USAID Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA) and implementing partners, rely on evidence collected through robust qualitative methods to monitor and evaluate emergency and food security activities—for documentation, learning, decision-making, and adaptive management. This toolkit supports monitoring and evaluation (M&E) and program staff from USAID/BHA-funded activities to design and conduct rigorous qualitative inquiry to improve learning and activity implementation. It provides general guidance, steps to conduct qualitative inquiry, and practical tools for monitoring, evaluation, and learning activities. The toolkit also includes a companion workbook of activities and templates to help staff develop their own qualitative inquiries.