GeoPoll IVR Survey in Afghanistan

To gather information about the current situation on-the-ground in Afghanistan, GeoPoll is conducting a survey in October 2021 through Interactive Voice Response (IVR). IVR surveys are able to reach anyone with a mobile phone, even illiterate populations and those without internet access. The voice call surveys are being conducted in local languages (Dari and Pashto). All respondents opt in to the study and are given information regarding the confidentiality of their responses.

While power and communications outages have been ongoing in some areas, GeoPoll is reaching a representative mix of urban and rural respondents aged 18+. The survey includes a number of crucial and nationally important topics, including:

• Employment and income changes
• Access to essential services (electricity, fuel, water)
• Access to medical care and education
• Food supply and spending
• Humanitarian aid availability and need
• Displacement and migration

Collecting Data For International Development and Relief

GeoPoll continues to collect data as the situation unfolds in Afghanistan and will publish a report of the research findings upon completion of the study.

Accurate and timely data collection is an essential part of mitigating crises in emerging markets with vulnerable populations. The data collected can help international and humanitarian organizations understand the repercussions of political and environmental changes in the region and mitigate the impact on the people of Afghanistan.

GeoPoll has extensive experience conducting research in vulnerable areas through remote mobile-based methodologies. In times when it is otherwise impossible to get information from people on-the-ground, remote data collection can play a pivotal role in capturing the sentiment and realities in hard-to-reach areas.

To learn more about GeoPoll’s capabilities in Afghanistan and around the world, please contact us.

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Cyclone Idai caused widespread destruction in Mozambique, particularly in the coastal city of Beira, which suffered flooding so severe that aid agencies could only access the city via plane. A month after the cyclone, the city is beginning to recover, and the humanitarian community’s recovery efforts have been heavily focused on health risks that often stem from a natural disaster such as cholera, malaria, and malnutrition. Cholera, which is caused by a lack of clean water, is already spreading in the country, and aid agencies have been administering thousands of vaccinations to prevent the spread from worsening. In addition, food resources for much of the population were destroyed due to crop damage and food spoilage caused by flooding, so food security is also a concern.

GeoPoll’s second survey collected data from 503 households representing over 3200 individuals on the situation on the ground in Inhambane, Manica, Sofala, and Zambezia provinces. Data was collected from March 31st through April 9th, and all respondents indicated that their community had been impacted by Cyclone Idai. The survey was administered by SMS in Portuguese.

Electricity and Clean Water in Mozambique

Our second survey shows that 63.8% of those impacted by the storm in four regions in Mozambique report having access to clean drinking water overall, up from 46.5% who said the same in the days following the cyclone.  In Beira city, 53.1% say they have access to clean water, up from only 14.7% who had access to clean water a week after the cyclone. Overall, 56.9% say they have access to electricity, compared to 51.2% who had power immediately following the storm. In Sofala province, access to electricity is much lower, with just 25.7% saying they currently have access to electricity, compared to 12.0% who reported having electricity immediately following the storm.

As the community begins to assess damages and rebuild, 44.7% of respondents are still displaced from their homes, and 31% report having major damages to their homes. Just 12% report that they are already repairing damages to their home. In Sofala, 45% of respondents have major damages to their homes and 16% are in the process of repairing damages. The roads in Beira, which were flooded so badly that the city was inaccessible by road for several days following the cyclone, have improved slightly, with 20% in Beira saying most roads are impassible, compared to 38.4% who said the same in our initial survey.

Food Security Following Cyclone Idai

Food security is a significant concern for humanitarian agencies following natural disaster, as crops are often wiped out, food stores destroyed, and livelihoods impacted. In total 61.2% of respondents report that they have eaten fewer than 3 meals a day on 4 or more days in the past week, and in Sofala 69.2% say the same, with almost a quarter (23.6%) of respondents in Sofala saying they have eaten fewer than 3 meals a day every day in the past week. We also find that many are relying on less expensive or preferred foods due to a lack of food and money; 72.57% overall and 80.1% in Sofala report eating less preferred foods on 4 or more days in the past 7 days.

Many aid agencies have descended on the area to provide vital resources; however not all individuals have felt their presence on the ground. Overall 42.5% say that aid organizations or government workers are in their area to provide relief, and interestingly in Beira, which has been at the center of much of the press coverage and relief efforts, only 32.5% say aid organizations are in their area. Just 28.8% in Beira have received aid in the past 7 days.

Food aid is the most needed aid by communities, with 35.8% in all provinces and 41.3% in Beira saying food aid is needed over clean water, medical assistance, and electricity. However, in total only 90 households out of the 503 surveyed, or 17.8%, say they have received food aid in the past 7 days.

Medical Needs and Cholera in Mozambique

GeoPoll’s survey shows high levels of concern over the spread of cholera in the wake of Cyclone Idai. Of all those surveyed, 85.9% say they are very concerned about contracting cholera, and only 1.8% are not worried at all about the disease. A large percentage also report knowing people who have already contracted cholera; 41.6% in all regions and 57.1% in Sofala say they know someone who has contracted cholera since the cyclone. In addition, 41.4% have reported illness or injuries since the cyclone, and of those 26.8% have reported diarrhea or vomiting, and 43.1% report having cuts or wounds.

In terms of access to doctors and medicine, 53.5% of respondents say they have had sufficient access to medical care and the necessary medicine since the cyclone. In Sofala, this number is slightly lower, with 46.6% saying they have had adequate access to medical care. We examined the medical questions by age and gender and did not find major differences between the different age groups or gender in terms of concern over cholera, knowledge of people who have contracted cholera, or the rates of illness. However, we do find that the older age group (35+) were less likely to report they had access to the medical care they needed, with 45.9% of those aged 35 and older saying they’ve received sufficient medical care compared to 54.6% for those from 25-34 and 55.8% for those aged 18-24.

Economic Impact of Cyclone Idai

While the full impact of Cyclone Idai will not be understood for some time, it is expected to be severe, with over $1 billion in damages to infrastructure, and more than 500,000 hectares of crops destroyed, according to the United Nations. Prices for good are expected to rise at a time when many have lost their source of livelihood, further impacting the problem. GeoPoll found that only 22.3% of respondents are currently working, and 45.3% reported that the cyclone has caused them to lose their business – likely due to the widespread destruction of crops in the region.

Collect Data from Mozambique, Malawi, and Zimbabwe

As recovery and aid efforts continue, the humanitarian community will need regular data on progress, and remote surveys conducted through mobile phones are a fast and cost-effective mechanism for gathering on-the-ground data. Contact GeoPoll today to learn about our capabilities and coverage in Mozambique, Malwai, and Zimbabwe, and sign up below to be updated on future survey reports on the Cyclone Idai recovery from GeoPoll.

Get Alerted to New Data on Cyclone Idai

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Background: Somalia’s Humanitarian Need

Currently, Somalia is experiencing a humanitarian crisis where food is scarce and conflict afflicts many citizens. More than 1.5 million people are in critical need of assistance due to food insecurity, and malnutrition has exceeded the emergency threshold of two percent. There are also 2 million people in risk of violence due to living in hard-to-reach, conflict-affected areas.

Survey Methodology

The GeoPoll survey was in the field from March 27^th to March 28^th in 2019. Respondents were interviewed through voice calls on mobile phones, via Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing, or CATI. In order to facilitate this type of survey, GeoPoll recruited Somali people who were living in Kenya to be survey enumerators because they knew the local language and the context of the challenges of living in Somalia of late. These people were trained by GeoPoll staff and conducted the interviews via live calls to each of the individual respondents.

The survey was not controlled for gender yet there was a ratio of 68% male to 32% female responses, meaning that women were highly engaged with the questionnaire when consideration is given to the country in which the survey took place. Age was evenly distributed between the age groups, although the age group with the largest share of respondents was 35 years of age or older. Survey respondents were from 12 regions throughout the country, with the largest share from Banaardir. This survey had a small sample size of 91, and as such is not nationally representative, but does provide a snapshot view of the lives of some individuals in the country.

Food Insecurity in Somalia

Respondents were asked a range of questions to probe about the level of accessibility their households and communities as a whole have to food. The series of food security questions began generally when respondents were asked what the food situation was like in their community. 36% of responses indicated a lack of sufficient food—with 11% of the total responses indicating a very significant lack of food in their community. These responses reflect what has been seen in other studies on food insecurity in the country, that there are many people seriously suffering from lack of food that need assistance as soon as possible.

Next, respondents were asked about how many days, within the past 30 days, they lacked food. The survey asked respondents to quantify how many days they, or a household member, had to reduce the number of meals eaten in a day due to lack of food or money. 13% of responses indicated that every day within the past 30 days they had to ration food or money and cut back on the number of meals eaten. 11% of respondents cut back meals 15-29 days within the past 30 days, and 34% indicated 1 day to 10 days where they restricted meals.

IDPs and Safety

Violence and internal displacement are prevalent threats to people in Somalia and are a cornerstone to the humanitarian crisis in the country, especially to people living in the southern regions. To find out more about the situation, GeoPoll asked respondents about displacement and self-reported feelings of safety. First, respondents were asked if they had been forced or obliged to flee their homes recently, 41% of respondents stated that they had. Next, the respondents were asked if they had ever been either an internally displaced person or a refugee—19% of respondents had at once been either. Finally, GeoPoll asked if respondents feel safe in their homes due to the current security situation, where 33% of respondents noted that they do not feel safe. Due to the fact that the prominence of violence in Somalia is somewhat concentrated toward the south, the responses from this survey indicate the urgent need for humanitarian assistance that is impacting many of the innocent civilians affected.

Somalia Data Dashboard

Gathering information on-the-ground in Somalia, such as the above, is a crucial step in assessing the need associated with the humanitarian crisis and developing action plans for aid assistance for the inflicted. Data-driven decision making has been said to be one of the most important digital principles for development, and GeoPoll experts fully agree. GeoPoll can facilitate custom surveys in Somalia remotely and deliver real-time results quickly. Inquire about running a survey in Somalia, today.

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