Livelihoods Explorer
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Search and Filter

The Search tab in the Livelihoods Explorer (LEX) is the main interface for selecting and viewing Baseline data. This tab contains an interactive map and a sidebar that allows for searching and filtering. From this tab you can:

  1. Search for Baselines, use a map overlay, or apply custom filters.

  2. Click on a Livelihood Zone from the map to open a Quick view card for a Baseline. 

  3. Click on a Livelihood Zone code from the Quick view card or from the search results to open the detailed Detail view card.

  4. Click the plus button next to a Baseline name to add it to the Compare screen. 

You can also quickly compare two Baselines by opening a Detail view card and then opening a Quick view card for a different Baseline from the map. 

Map view that highlights the search and filter functionality.
Map view that highlights the quick view and detailed view, along with the buttons to add a baseline to the compare screen.

How the Livelihoods Explorer calculates the values in the Search tab

Percentages

Within the Livelihoods Explorer, some percentages are calculated using total calories consumed as the denominator and some are calculated using 2100 kcals/person/day (kcals pppd) as the denominator.

These values have different purposes:

  • Comparing the percentage of total calories consumed is a simple and immediately intuitive way to understand the relative importance of a strategy or activity within a single Wealth Group.

  • Because the total number of kilocalories pppd varies across Wealth Groups, using a common absolute for the denominator (2100 kcals pppd) rather than relative unit can be useful for comparison across Wealth Groups.

When a percentage uses 2100 kcals pppd as the denominator, it will be explicit in the chart title, axis, and/or other label(s). These percentages are used in the Food and Food + Cash graphs in the Quick and Detail views. This is also the denominator for the values in the Compare view.

Example: Food graph

image-20260917-163442.png

This graph shows the breakdown of how each Wealth Group in this Livelihood Zone acquired their food in the Reference Year.

In this example, 49% of the kcals pppd for the Poor Wealth Group came from households growing their own crops. This is calculated as follows:

kcals pppd consumed from all crops grown by the household ÷ 2100 kcals pppd

Example: Food + Cash graph

image-20260917-160447.png

This graph shows the breakdown of how each Wealth Group in this Livelihood Zone acquired their food and cash income in the Reference Year.

In this example, 41% of Food + Cash for the Poor Wealth Group comes from Livestock sales. This is calculated as follows:

The number of calories that can be purchased with the income from the sale of livestock ÷ 2100 kcals pppd

This equation uses total kcals that can be purchased from a specific amount of income which is calculated using the Baseline’s annual kcals cost.

Baseline annual kcal cost = (Cost of the "Other food survival" basket + Cost of providing the remainder of 2100 kcals for the Poor Wealth Group by purchasing the main staple) ÷ Average household size of the Poor Wealth Group

When using the “Percentage of food” overlays available in the Search tab, the denominator is total calories actually consumed by households in a Wealth Group(s).

Example: The differences in ML02

When looking at NG04 (2022), you can see that the percentages for Crop production vary slightly when looking at the Food graph versus looking at the Percentage of food consumption from own crops overlay.

image-20260923-170551.png
The Food graph shows that Crop production provides 56% of 2100 kcal/person/day in the Poor Wealth Group. Also note that the average total kcals consumed for the Poor Wealth Group is not 100% of 2100 kcals per person per day, but rather 106% of 2100 kcals per person per day.
image-20260923-171114.png
In the Percentage of food consumption from own crops overlay, 53% of food consumed by Very poor households come from Crop production.

This is because the Food graph is looking at a percentage of 2100 kcals/person/day whereas the overlay is looking at a percentage of actual calories consumed.

The overlay percentages are calculated as:

kcals pppd consumed from all crops grown by the household ÷ total kcals consumed pppd

which can be checked against the numbers from the Food graph:

(kcals pppd consumed from all crops grown by the household ÷ 2100 kcals pppd = 56%) ÷ (total kcals consumed pppd ÷ 2100 kcals pppd = 106%) = 53%

In some instances, when a Wealth Group is consuming exactly, or close to, 2100 kcals/person/day, the percentages on the Food graph and the “Percentage of food” overlays will be the same.

Example: Percentages are the same

In NG09 (2022) the percentage in the Percentage of food consumption from own crops overlay and the Food graph are the same for the Poor Wealth Group because they are consuming close to 2100 kcals/person/day, and percentages are rounded to the nearest whole number.

image-20260922-205858.png
The overlay shows that 11% of food for the Poor Wealth Group comes from own crops.
image-20260922-205942.png
The Food graph shows that Crop production provides 11% of 2100 kcal/person/day in the Poor Wealth Group. This means the actual calories consumed are close to 2100/kcals/person/day. You can see that the Poor Wealth Group is consuming about 99% of 2100 kcals pppd.

All Wealth Groups

When choosing a strategy filter or one of the percentage overlays, a Wealth Group filter option becomes available. This filter is set to All Wealth Groups by default.

Data for All Wealth Groups is a weighted aggregation calculated by:

The sum of value across all Wealth Groups for the selected Livelihood Strategy / the sum of all Wealth Group total calories or income

(this omits Wealth Groups with no data for the selected Livelihood Strategy).

Learn more about using the Wealth Group filter.

Learn more about how Wealth Groups are determined.

Example: Percentage of cash income from crop sales overlay

When looking at this overlay for NG04 (2022), you see the following values:

  • All Wealth Groups: 45%

  • Very poor: 19%

  • Poor: 24%

  • Middle: 53%

  • Better off: 49%

These values don’t average out to 45%. Instead, the 45% for all Wealth Groups is found by looking at actual income information, available in the Compare view:

Wealth Group

Income from crop sales (XOF)

Total income (XOF)

Very poor

63,870

329,470

Poor

113,620

479,420

Poor - Female Headed Households

69,670

375,670

Middle

1,014,630

1,929,730

Better off

1,740,120

3,558,920

Sum over all Wealth Groups

3,001,910

6,673,210

Example: Percentage of food consumption from own crops

For NG04 (2022) you have the following values for this overlay:

  • All Wealth Groups: 61%

  • Very poor: 38%

  • Poor: 53%

  • Middle: 70%

  • Better off: 74%

Again, these values do not average 61%. Instead, you need to use the following information, available via the Livelihoods Explorer API. This is essentially the same as summing the

Wealth Group

kcals from own crop production

Total kcals

Very poor

2,004,018

5,315,407

Poor

3,461,366

6,525,985

Poor - Female Headed Household

2,517,961

5,543,320

Middle

6,035,698

8,663,728

Better off

9,643,997

12,940,456

Sum over all Wealth Groups

23,663,040

38,988,896