Problem Tree Template and Use Cases

🛠️ Core Structure

This is a basic structure for creating your problem tree.

🌿 EFFECTS / CONSEQUENCES
                What happens because 
                the problem exists?
                      ⬆️
              🌳 CORE PROBLEM
              The main issue your
              project will address
                      ⬆️
           🌱 ROOT CAUSES
           Why does the problem exist?
           (Go 2-3 levels deep)

Examples of problem tree

Problem tree types per/industry/theme

📚 Education Access Problem Tree

                    🌿 EFFECTS / CONSEQUENCES
    ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
    │                                                  │
    ├─ 📉 50% youth unemployment rate                  │
    ├─ 💰 Increased poverty cycles                     │
    ├─ 📖 Low national literacy (45%)                  │
    └─ ⚖️ Gender inequality perpetuation               │
                           ⬆️
                    🌳 CORE PROBLEM
    ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
    │  60% of children in rural areas lack access     │
    │  to quality primary education                    │
    └──────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
                           ⬆️
                    🌱 ROOT CAUSES
    ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
    │                                                  │
    ├─ 🏗️ Infrastructure deficit (E)                   │
    │   ├── No schools within 10km radius             │
    │   └── Damaged facilities                        │
    │                                                  │
    ├─ 👩‍🏫 Teacher shortage (E)                        │
    │   └── 1:80 teacher-student ratio                │
    │                                                  │
    ├─ 💸 Economic barriers (A)                        │
    │   ├── School fees unaffordable                  │
    │   └── Hidden costs (uniforms, books)            │
    │                                                  │
    └─ 🎭 Cultural factors (A)                         │
        └── Girls kept home for chores                │
    └──────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

    Legend: (E) = Evidence-based | (A) = Assumption

🏥 Healthcare Access Problem Tree

              🌿 EFFECTS / CONSEQUENCES
    ┌────────────────────────────────────────┐
    │ Health      │ Economic    │ Social      │
    ├─────────────┼─────────────┼─────────────┤
    │ • 25% ⬆️     │ • Medical   │ • Family    │
    │   mortality │   debt      │   breakdown │
    │ • Chronic   │ • Lost      │ • Education │
    │   diseases  │   work days │   gaps      │
    │ • Outbreaks │ • $2B loss  │ • Stress    │
    └─────────────┴─────────────┴─────────────┘
                        ⬆️
                 🌳 CORE PROBLEM
    ╔════════════════════════════════════════╗
    ║  Limited access to primary healthcare  ║
    ║  affecting 3.5M in rural districts    ║
    ║  • 1 doctor per 10,000 people        ║
    ║  • 60% lack facilities within 20km   ║
    ╚════════════════════════════════════════╝
                        ⬆️
                 🌱 ROOT CAUSES
    ┌────────────────────────────────────────┐
    │                                        │
    ├─ 🏗️ Infrastructure Gaps (E)            │
    │   ├── Poor road networks              │
    │   ├── No electricity (40%)            │
    │   └── Inadequate facilities           │
    │                                        │
    ├─ 👥 Human Resources (E)                │
    │   ├── Staff shortage (65% vacant)     │
    │   ├── Poor rural incentives           │
    │   └── Limited training                │
    │                                        │
    ├─ 💰 Financial Barriers (A)             │
    │   ├── High poverty rates              │
    │   ├── No insurance (80%)              │
    │   └── Transport costs                 │
    │                                        │
    └─ 🏛️ Governance Issues (A)              │
        ├── Weak policy implementation      │
        ├── Low health budget (3%)          │
        └── Poor coordination               │
    └────────────────────────────────────────┘

💼 Youth Employment Problem Tree

           🌿 EFFECTS / CONSEQUENCES
    ┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
    │  🚔 Crime ↑30%    🧠 Brain drain 200k/yr │
    │  📉 GDP -2%       😰 Mental health crisis│
    └─────────────────────────────────────────┘
                       ⬆️
                🌳 CORE PROBLEM
         ╔═══════════════════════════╗
         ║  65% youth unemployment   ║
         ║  in urban areas           ║
         ║  (ages 18-30)             ║
         ╚═══════════════════════════╝
                       ⬆️
                🌱 ROOT CAUSES
    ┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
    │                                         │
    ├─ 🎓 Skills Mismatch (E)                 │
    │   ├── Outdated curricula               │
    │   └── No practical training            │
    │                                         │
    ├─ 💹 Economic Issues (E)                 │
    │   ├── Low job creation (50k/yr)        │
    │   └── Weak private sector              │
    │                                         │
    ├─ 📋 Policy Gaps (A)                     │
    │   ├── No youth strategy                │
    │   └── Weak implementation              │
    │                                         │
    └─ 🚧 Social Barriers (A)                 │
        ├── Job type stigma                  │
        └── Gender bias                      │
    └─────────────────────────────────────────┘
    
    📊 Key Stats: 5.2M youth | 300k job seekers/yr
                  50k jobs created/yr | 3.4M affected

🌾 Climate Resilience Problem Tree

              🌿 EFFECTS / CONSEQUENCES
    ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────┐
    │  🌍 Environmental  │  💰 Economic            │
    │  • Soil erosion    │  • $800M losses/yr      │
    │  • Water scarcity  │  • 60% income drop      │
    ├────────────────────┼──────────────────────────┤
    │  👥 Social         │  🍽️ Food Security       │
    │  • 500k migrants   │  • 3M affected          │
    │  • Communities     │  • Malnutrition 28%     │
    └────────────────────┴──────────────────────────┘
                          ⬆️
                   🌳 CORE PROBLEM
    ╔══════════════════════════════════════════════╗
    ║  Smallholder farmers' vulnerability to      ║
    ║  climate change                              ║
    ║  • 40% productivity decline                 ║
    ║  • 2.5M farmers affected                    ║
    ║  • Rainfall erratic | Temp +1.5°C          ║
    ╚══════════════════════════════════════════════╝
                          ⬆️
                   🌱 ROOT CAUSES
    ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────┐
    │                                              │
    ├─ 🌡️ Climate Factors (E)                      │
    │   ├── Rainfall variability                  │
    │   ├── Drought frequency ↑                   │
    │   ├── Flash floods                          │
    │   └── Sub-causes:                           │
    │       ├── Deforestation 20k ha/yr          │
    │       └── Global warming effects           │
    │                                              │
    ├─ 🛡️ Low Adaptive Capacity (E)                │
    │   ├── Knowledge gaps                        │
    │   ├── Technology barriers                   │
    │   ├── Financial constraints                 │
    │   └── Sub-causes:                           │
    │       ├── No climate-smart agriculture     │
    │       └── No insurance coverage            │
    │                                              │
    ├─ 🏛️ Institutional Gaps (A)                   │
    │   ├── Weak extension services               │
    │   ├── Poor coordination                     │
    │   └── Sub-causes:                           │
    │       ├── Budget 1% of agriculture         │
    │       └── No early warning systems         │
    │                                              │
    └─ 📈 Market Issues (A)                        │
        ├── Price volatility                      │
        ├── Weak value chains                     │
        └── Sub-causes:                           │
            ├── Poor storage (40% loss)          │
            └── Middlemen exploitation           │
    └──────────────────────────────────────────────┘

💧 Water & Sanitation Problem Tree

             🌿 EFFECTS / CONSEQUENCES
         ┌─────────────────────────────────┐
         │ 🦠 Waterborne    💀 Child       │
         │    disease         mortality    │
         │    outbreaks       ↑15%         │
         │                                 │
         │ 🎒 Girls drop    💸 Economic    │
         │    out of          losses       │
         │    school          from illness │
         └─────────────────────────────────┘
                        ⬆️
                 🌳 CORE PROBLEM
    ┌──────────────────────────────────────┐
    │  Inadequate access to safe water     │
    │  and sanitation in peri-urban areas  │
    │  • Affecting 2M people               │
    │  • 70% lack basic sanitation         │
    └──────────────────────────────────────┘
                        ⬆️
                 🌱 ROOT CAUSES
    ┌──────────────────────────────────────┐
    ├─ 🏗️ Infrastructure deficit (E)        │
    │   ├── Aging pipe network (30+ yrs)   │
    │   └── No sewerage systems            │
    │                                      │
    ├─ 🏘️ Rapid urbanization (E)           │
    │   ├── Population growth 8%/yr        │
    │   └── Informal settlements           │
    │                                      │
    ├─ 🏛️ Governance failures (A)          │
    │   ├── Weak regulation                │
    │   └── Low budget allocation          │
    │                                      │
    └─ 💰 Poverty levels (E)               │
        └── Can't afford connections       │
    └──────────────────────────────────────┘

🌱 Gender Equality Problem Tree

15KB

gender-equality-usecase.svg

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            🌿 EFFECTS / CONSEQUENCES
    ┌───────────────────────────────────────┐
    │ 💰 Reduced family    🎯 Talent        │
    │    economic security    underutilized │
    │                                       │
    │ 📊 Lower GDP        👩‍💼 Role model    │
    │    growth potential     shortage      │
    └───────────────────────────────────────┘
                       ⬆️
                🌳 CORE PROBLEM
         ╔════════════════════════════╗
         ║  Gender wage gap &         ║
         ║  limited women in          ║
         ║  leadership positions      ║
         ╚════════════════════════════╝
                       ⬆️
                🌱 ROOT CAUSES
    ┌───────────────────────────────────────┐
    │                                       │
    ├─ 🧠 Unconscious bias (E)              │
    │   ├── Hiring preferences             │
    │   └── Performance evaluation bias    │
    │                                       │
    ├─ 🏢 Workplace culture (E)             │
    │   ├── Long hours culture             │
    │   └── "Old boys" networks            │
    │                                       │
    ├─ 🚧 Structural barriers (E)           │
    │   ├── No parental leave policy       │
    │   └── Limited flexibility            │
    │                                       │
    └─ 📊 Career penalties (A)              │
        └── Networking exclusion           │
    └───────────────────────────────────────┘

🏠 Urban Housing Problem Tree

           🌿 EFFECTS / CONSEQUENCES
    ┌──────────────────────────────────────┐
    │ 🏚️ Informal settlements growth       │
    │ 🏥 Public health risks               │
    │ 🏘️ Social segregation                │
    │ 🚶 Increased homelessness            │
    └──────────────────────────────────────┘
                      ⬆️
               🌳 CORE PROBLEM
    ╔══════════════════════════════════════╗
    ║  Unaffordable housing for middle     ║
    ║  and low-income families             ║
    ║  • 70% spending >50% income on rent  ║
    ╚══════════════════════════════════════╝
                      ⬆️
               🌱 ROOT CAUSES
    ┌──────────────────────────────────────┐
    ├─ 🏗️ Land speculation (E)              │
    │   ├── Foreign investment             │
    │   └── Weak land use regulation       │
    │                                      │
    ├─ 💰 Income-housing gap (E)            │
    │   ├── Stagnant wages                 │
    │   └── Rising construction costs      │
    │                                      │
    ├─ 🏛️ Limited social housing (E)        │
    │   ├── Low government investment      │
    │   └── Private sector luxury focus    │
    │                                      │
    └─ 🌆 Rapid urbanization (A)            │
        ├── Rural-urban migration          │
        └── Job concentration in cities    │
    └──────────────────────────────────────┘

📝 Quick Reference Guide

Symbol Key

🌿 = Effects/Consequences (Green - What happens)
🌳 = Core Problem (Red - Main issue)
🌱 = Root Causes (Yellow - Why it exists)

📊 = Data/Statistics        🏗️ = Infrastructure
💰 = Economic/Financial     👥 = People/Social
🏛️ = Governance/Policy      🌍 = Environmental
🏥 = Health                 📚 = Education
⬆️ = Causal relationship

Evidence Tags

(E) = Evidence-based (supported by data/research)
(A) = Assumption (needs validation with stakeholders)

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Last updated 6 months ago

hashtag🛠️ Core Structure

hashtagExamples of problem tree

hashtag📚 Education Access Problem Tree

hashtag🏥 Healthcare Access Problem Tree

hashtag💼 Youth Employment Problem Tree

hashtag🌾 Climate Resilience Problem Tree

hashtag💧 Water & Sanitation Problem Tree

hashtag🌱 Gender Equality Problem Tree

hashtag🏠 Urban Housing Problem Tree

hashtagSymbol Key

hashtagEvidence Tags

🛠️ Core Structure

Examples of problem tree

📚 Education Access Problem Tree

🏥 Healthcare Access Problem Tree

💼 Youth Employment Problem Tree

🌾 Climate Resilience Problem Tree

💧 Water & Sanitation Problem Tree

🌱 Gender Equality Problem Tree

🏠 Urban Housing Problem Tree

Symbol Key

Evidence Tags