From necessity to opportunity: lessons for integrating phone and in-person data collection for agricultural statistics in a post-pandemic world

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted survey and data systems globally and especially in low- and middle-income countries. Lockdowns necessitated remote data collection as demand for data on the impacts of the pandemic surged. Phone surveys started being implemented at a national scale in many places that previously had limited experience with them. As in-person data collection resumes, the experience gained provides the grounds to reflect on how phone surveys may be incorporated into survey and data systems in low- and middle-income countries. This includes agricultural and rural surveys supported by international survey programs such as the World Bank's Living Standards Measurement Study-Integrated Surveys on Agriculture, the Food and Agriculture Organization's AGRISurvey, or the 50x2030 Initiative. Reviewing evidence and experiences from before and during the pandemic, the paper analyzes and provides guidance on the scope of and considerations for using phone surveys for agricultural data collection. It addresses the domains of sampling and representativeness, post-survey adjustments, questionnaire design, respondent selection and behavior, interviewer effects, as well as cost considerations, all with an emphasis on the particularities of agricultural and rural surveys. Ultimately, the integration of phone interviews with in-person data collection offers a promising opportunity to leverage the benefits of phone surveys while addressing their limitations, including the depth of content constraints and potential coverage biases, which are especially challenging for agricultural and rural populations in low- and middle-income countries.

The uneven effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on National Statistical Offices

This paper presents an analysis of how the COVID-19 pandemic affected the operations of National Statistical Offices (NSOs), how NSOs responded and adjusted to the disruptions, and how they are transitioning to a post-pandemic equilibrium. The paper uses four rounds of the Global COVID-19 survey of NSOs conducted by The World Bank and the United Nations Statistical Division (UNSD), in coordination with the UN Regional Commissions. The paper highlights the heterogeneity of the COVID-19 disruptions among NSOs and provides evidence that statistical operations have been hardest hit in low- and lower middle-income countries. We find that NSOs with weaker Information and Communications Technology (ICT) infrastructure, and those more impacted by declines in funding tended to be more affected and lag in their recovery trajectory. These NSOs tend to be concentrated in low- and lower-middle income countries. The paper concludes that without targeted action the effects of the pandemic will exacerbate and widen pre-existing data production inequalities, despite the best efforts of NSOs that have in most cases responded to the pandemic with the adoption of innovative solutions and have ingeniously used this crisis as an opportunity to accelerate the modernization of the national statistical systems. © 2022 - The authors.

Turning COVID-19 vaccines into vaccinations: new evidence from sub-Saharan Africa

As COVID-19 vaccines have become more widely available in Sub-Saharan Africa, vaccination campaigns in the region have struggled to pick up pace and trail the rest of the world. This paper presents new evidence on vaccine hesitancy, uptake, last-mile delivery barriers, and potential strategies to reach those who remain unvaccinated. The data come from high-frequency phone surveys in five countries in East and West Africa (Burkina Faso, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, and Tanzania). The surveys were conducted by countries' national statistical agencies, have national scope, are cross-country comparable, and draw their samples from nationally representative sampling frames. The findings show that across the study countries, a majority is willing to get vaccinated. Still, vaccine hesitancy is non-negligible among those pending vaccination. Concerns about side effects of the vaccine are the primary reason for hesitancy. At the same time, many who are willing to get vaccinated are deterred by a lack of easy access to vaccines at the local level. Radio broadcasts have widespread reach and medical professionals have good rapport among the unvaccinated population. Furthermore, social ties and perceptions as well as intrahousehold power relations matter for vaccine take-up. Based on the findings, the paper elaborates policy options to boost vaccination campaigns in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Acceptance of COVID-19 vaccines in sub-Saharan Africa: evidence from six national phone surveys

Recent debates surrounding the lagging COVID-19 vaccination campaigns in low-income countries center around vaccine supply and financing. Yet, relatively little is known about attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccines in these countries and in Africa in particular. This paper provides cross-country comparable estimates of the willingness to accept a COVID-19 vaccine in six Sub-Saharan African countries. It uses data from six national high-frequency phone surveys in countries representing 38 percent of the Sub-Saharan African population (Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Malawi, Mali, Nigeria, and Uganda). Samples were drawn from large, nationally representative sampling frames providing a rich set of demographic and socioeconomic characteristics which are used to disaggregate the analysis. The findings show acceptance rates to be generally high, with at least four in five people willing to be vaccinated in all but one country. Vaccine acceptance ranges from nearly universal in Ethiopia (97.9 percent) to below what would likely be required for herd immunity in Mali (64.5 percent). Safety concerns about the vaccine in general and its side effects emerge as the primary reservations toward a COVID-19 vaccine across countries. These findings suggest that limited supply, not inadequate demand, likely presents the key bottleneck to reaching high COVID-19 vaccine coverage in Sub-Saharan Africa.