Evidence for Development is a UK based charity that has developed methods for data collection that have produced a far more accurate picture of rural economies than was previously possible. These methods can be applied during an economic crisis to determine which households are in need of aid and what effect any aid intervention would have on the economy of the recipients. This enables governments and aid agencies to tailor interventions to local needs. open-ihm is an open source software project that aims to bring the data collection methods developed by Evidence for Development to a wider number of practitioners. The project is being led by Chancellor College, University of Malawi, in participation with Evidence for Development and the University of Wolverhampton. You can find out more on the Evidence for Development website: http://www.evidencefordevelopment.com/ and join the Facebook group here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Evidence-for-Development/103931058709 If you wish to use open-ihm software, or contribute to its development, please see the open-ihm homepage here: http://code.google.com/p/open-ihm/