RWANDA - Comprehensive Food Security and Vulnerability Analysis 2015

Start	End	Cycle
2015-04	2015-05	N/A

Face-to-face [f2f]
Survey preparation: The survey protocol was cleared by the National Ethics Committee, and a visa request was
approved by the National Institute of Statistics.

Selection of enumerators and team leaders: Survey team members all had previous experience in similar food security and nutrition surveys. The training included 20-30% more personnel than finally recruited for the actual data collection, this allowed the coordination team to select the best enumerators based on their performance during the training. Also reserve enumerators could be called upon if any selected enumerators defaulted. The training consisted of 6 full days of classroom instruction and practice and 1 day of pre-testing of all survey procedures. The assessment managers ensured that all enumerators were fully aware of the enrolment and
consent process as well as of inclusion and exclusion criteria for households.

During data collection: For each selected village, Team leaders recorded the following information, 1) number of households in the village, reasons (if any) for skipping the households, contact details of village authorities and
number of women/children measured in each household. These data will allow calculation of response rates and
the determination of reasons for non-response. A mobile phone communication system was put in place between each team leader, survey supervisor and the survey coordination team. Tips and revised procedures were communicated immediately to all survey teams by sms.

Three instruments were used for primary data collection: a community survey administered to key informants, a
household survey administered to randomly selected households and a mother and child questionnaire
administered to women of reproductive age in the households. The instruments were first developed in English and subsequently translated into Kinyarwanda. Tablets programmed with the questionnaires using the Open Data Kit (ODK) were used for the data collection.

Village questionnaire:

For each visited village, key informants were gathered in a group and interviewed with a structured questionnaire.
The participants normally consisted of village leaders, members of local government, teachers, health workers and
farmers. In total, 749 village interviews were conducted. Topics covered included community infrastructure,
market information, agricultural crop calendar, shocks and received assistance. This information was used to
contextualize the results from the household questionnaire.

Household questionnaire:

The study gathered information through household questionnaires that included sections on demographics,
housing and facilities, assets and access to credit, agriculture, livelihoods, expenditures, food consumption and
sources, shocks, coping strategies and assistance.
In total, 7500 households participated in the survey.

Women and child questionnaire:

A questionnaire was administered to women of reproductive age (15-49 years old) including questions regarding
pregnancy, health, hygiene and food consumption. In total, 6768 women were interviewed.
Questions asked regarding children under 5 years covered the topics of breastfeeding, health and supplements. In
addition, for children between 6 and 24 months a section on infant and young child feeding practices (IYCF) was
included.

The questionnaires were developed in English and administered in Kinyarwanda. Careful training was conducted to reduce individual variations on how enumerators interpreted the questionnaire and understood the questions.

Name	Abbreviation	Affiliation
National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda	NISR	MINECOFIN
World Food Program	WFP	UN
Ministry of Agriculture and Annimal Resource	MINAGRI	GoR

All 30 districts in Rwanda were covered by teams of carefully selected enumerators. Steps taken to ensure that the results accurately represent the food security and nutrition situation in Rwanda were: training of enumerators, careful translation of the questionnaires and close supervision of the data collection process. The enumerators were also trained to facilitate interviewee recall and to collect accurate anthropometric data. Respondents were informed that participation was voluntary, no benefit would be affected by their decision to participate or not participate and that the interview was anonymous.
During data collection, team leaders recorded number of households in the village, reasons (if any) for skipping the households, contact details of village authorities and number of women/children measured in each household. These data will allow calculation of response rates and the determination of reasons for non-response and facilitate the linking of the food security and nutrition questionnaires.

A mobile phone communication system was put in place between each team leader, survey supervisor and the survey coordination team. Tips and revised procedures were communicated immediately to all survey teams by sms.

National supervisors ensured that the study was conducted in a standardized manner