Feedback from the field: mobile data collection in Chad

As part of its ongoing collaboration with Institut Bioforce*, CartONG continues its awareness-raising and training work on mobile data collection (MDC) in France and abroad.

A MDC specialist working for CartONG went to Chad last week, in the city of Douguia - north of N’Djamena, to conduct a training on monitoring & evaluation (M&E) with a Bioforce consultant. The training was composed of 3 days on project cycle management, with a strong emphasis on M&E and of 2 days on MDC.

The MDC part of the training was designed to introduce participants on the understanding and use of KoBo Toolbox. KoBo Toolbox is a user-friendly online application which allows people – with minimal IT skills – to create surveys to collect and analyze data easily. The second day of the MDC training was more specifically focused on a hand-on exercise aiming at conceptualizing a survey, create it on KoBo and deploy it on the data collection application ODK Collect.

The five-day training was requested by NGO Diakonie, which financially supports other local organizations and accompanies them in the implementation of their own development projects in order to allow for capacity-building of their staff and better quality and sustainability of projects. In particular, Diakonie supports WASH (water, access to sanitation & hygiene) and food and nutrition-oriented projects in Chad.

The field mission allowed to train 20 members of their staff. Despite a few issues regarding internet access, the training went well. Participants expressed their interest in learning more about MDC so they can do an even better job in their function of support body for NGOs. This collaborative M&E and MDC training in the field was a first for CartONG, and we hope to have the opportunity to conduct other ones in the future! On a similar subject, CartONG will conduct a 5-day training on MDC in the Bioforce facility based in Dakar from November 6th to November 10th. To learn more about it and register, it's this way!

*The Bioforce Institute has been working as a non-profit organization, serving the public interest since 1983.​ Learn more about it on their website.