The Rapid Emergency Response Survey (RERS) 2017 is a pilot project that developed a rapid, low cost methodology using phone interviews to identify critical developmental binding constraints to inform a developmental response to populations in crisis. The RERS was conducted in Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen, where food shortage from a prolonged drought brought large portions of the populations to the brink of famine. These conditions urged a rapid humanitarian short-term response but also requires a developmental intervention to restore assets and create resilience for future shocks. The RERS collects data to inform the developmental response.