The resource profile approach: A Kosovo case study

This article describes the resource profile approach and illustrates its value in understanding the social, economic and political context within which livelihoods are constructed. The article provides a rationale for the use of the approach and a description of resources used in this methodology. Its analysis of resources provides qualitative and quantitative information which permits a definition of poverty relevant to the grouping being studied. It describes routes to and from impoverishment and on the nature and function of formal and informal institutions. The case study shows how the methodology was applied in Kosovo. The evidence from the research identified a number of development needs, principal amongst which was the need to develop institutions close to the people they were intended to serve. Copyright (C) 2002 John Wiley Sons, Ltd.