All Projects
Local Forest Governance Scoping Exercise (July to September 2023) July - September 2023A pilot study on local forest governance was implemented by IPOR in collaboration with Vanderbilt University, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), and Ohio State University. The pilot aimed to identify potential units (groups) for a future study focusing on women’s involvement in local-level forest management. During the pilot, IPOR used a qualitative method and employed Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) and observations. A team of researchers at IPOR observed 10 local forest governance committees in the Tradition Authorities (T/As) of Nkula, Machinga district, and Malemia, Zomba district. Participants for KIIs were District Forest Officers and community leaders such as chiefs and Village Development Committee (VDC) chairpersons. Data collection was done between July and September 2023. The results of the study will help IPOR and its collaborators to conceptualize the main study. |
Rapid Mortality Mobile Phone Survey (RaMMPS)-Cyclone Freddy Follow-up Study (August – October 2023) August - October 2023IPOR is working on the Rapid Mortality Mobile Phone Survey (RaMMPS)- Cyclone Freddy Follow-up study, in collaboration with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), New York University- Abu Dhabi (NYU-AD), Malawi Epidemiology Intervention Research Unit (MEIRU), and University of Malawi (UNIMA). IPOR calls again RaMMPS respondents who were interviewed about the impact of COVID-19, to see if they were also affected by the impacts of Cyclone Freddy. A Hurricane named Cyclone Freddy occurred in the southern part of Malawi in March 2023. So, IPOR is not calling the southern region RaMMPS respondents only, it also calls the central region RaMMPs respondents as a control. IPOR is using the Computer Assisted Telephone Interviews (CATI) method (a telephone survey) to follow up with the 9,055 RaMMPs initial respondents. Apart from data collection, IPOR helped to develop study tools, manage fieldwork, provide bi-weekly reports, programming the study tool, data cleaning, quality assurance, and support data analysis. IPOR is hopeful that it will exceed a 50% success rate in following up on those individuals who were interviewed by phone between January 2022 and February 2023. The project started in August 2023 and is expected to end in October 2023. |
Online Survey on the Contribution of the Cultural and Creative Industries (CCIs) to the National Development 2023IPOR was contracted to carry out a study on behalf of the Commission for UNESCO in Malawi. The project aimed to find the contributions of artistic industries to national development. Phone interviews were conducted in addition to a desk review. Artistic groups were invited to participate in the study, and some union/association presidents were part of the key informants.The role of IPOR was to facilitate the entire study, including developing questionnaires, data collection tools, and conducting desk reviews, data cleaning, and data analysis. IPOR provided the findings in a report and blog, which were submitted to the Commission for UNESCO in Malawi for review and necessary actions. The study found that for artistic industries to be as effective as possible, certain things need to be done, namely: the government should establish the National Arts and Heritage Council, the Copyright Society of Malawi should work with unions/associations to hasten the protection of copyright material, the government must review and fully implement the Malawi Cultural Policy, and the government must ensure public awareness campaigns for policies. |
RaMMPS Pilot Trial (September - October 2021) 2021Before IPOR started implementing Rapid Mortality Mobile Phone Survey (RaMMPS) it conducted a pilot trial with support from New York University- Abu Dhabi. The mobile phone surveys were not common for collecting mortality data. The study assessed the feasibility of mortality data collection using mobile phone surveys. The study was a non -inferiority randomized trial (a quantitative study). The participants were subjected to two different kinds of questionnaires. One group was asked mortality questions while another group was asked economic questions. For that project, IPOR collected data, helped to develop study tools, manage fieldwork, provide weekly reports, programming the study tool, data cleaning, supported data analysis, and contributed to the write-up of the study’s article. In total, 7240 phone calls were pressed but 1683 interviews were completed. From the 1683 interviews that were completed, 1270 were for the mortality questionnaire while 413 were for the economic questionnaire. 5557 calls were not successful because either phone was not reachable, participants refused to take part in the study, were not eligible for the study, or did not complete the interviews. Participants for the study were mobile subscribers both men and women between the ages of 18 and 64 across all regions of Malawi. The mobile subscribers were randomly selected with the help of the Sample Solution B.V. of the Netherlands (https://sample.solutions). Data collection was done between September and October 2021. The challenge IPOR encountered during the course of implementing the project was that participants mistaken RaMMPS calls as fraudulent calls. But thorough consent was sort to build trust between interviewers and participants. The study found that the cooperation rate for the mortality questionnaire was 92.4% and for the economic questionnaire was 91.5%. That yielded a difference of 0.9 percentage points at a 95% CI of -2.3 to 4 which met the criterion for non-inferiority. The completion rate of interviews for the mortality questionnaire was 96.8% while for the economic questionnaire was 96.4%. The study concluded that collecting mortality-related questions using mobile phone survey is feasible. More information about the results of the study can be found at https://journals.plos.org/globalpublichealth/article?id=10.1371/journal.pgph.0000852 |
Livelihood of Women Program in Malawi 2020 - 2023The Institute of Public Opinion and Research (IPOR) in collaboration with the College of William and Mary in Virginia, USA, Brigham Young University in Utah, USA, the University of Michigan, Michigan, USA is implementing Livelihood of Women Program (LWP) in Malawi titled Catalyzing Cooperative Intra-Household Mobile Technology Use. The project is funded by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and targets 1500 married women in Blantyre rural and urban. The core purpose of the project is to test whether women’s ownership of a smartphone would improve their livelihood through access to market information, health information and mobile money transactions. A similar study was conducted in Tanzania and it was discovered that smartphones have a potential to improve women’s socio-economic status. In Malawi, IPOR and its research partners launched the LWP in 2020 and the program is expected to phase out in 2023. In this project IPOR was tasked to conduct baseline, midline and endline evaluations. So far IPOR has successfully done baseline and midline evaluation of the project. Baseline evaluation involved physical recruitment of participants followed by phone surveys to screen the participants in order get eligible beneficiaries for the project. Beneficiaries were supposed to be married women without a smartphone or access to it at the time of recruitment. At baseline IPOR distributed smartphones and trained 400 couples and 400 individual women on how to use a smartphone and its advantages. Another group of 400 women were given cash equivalent to the smartphone (K56 000) to see if they could acquire a phone and prosper like their counterparts. Again about 300 married women were put on control group and were contacted once during baseline and did not receive cash, phone or training. For the midline evaluation, IPOR conducted face to face interviews with the treatment group and similar exercise is expected to be carried to both control and treatment at endline evaluation. In addition, IPOR worked with Girls Empowerment Network (GENET) to recruit and train facilitators for the project. |
Metaketa II: Collective Action and Solid Waste Collection in Zomba, Malawi 2018 - 2020This study was part of Round II of the Metaketa Initiative which focused on Taxation. The Taxation Metaketa round comprised a series of field experiments in various locations around the globe aimed at assessing the role of providing information about tax compliance and formalization with the state on citizens’ intent to formalize and citizens’ formalization. In the case of Zomba city, the study’s main objective was to evaluate the effects of providing information and waste collection service on citizens’ attitudes about government, and their decision to pay and actual payment of city rates to Zomba City Council (ZCC). To achieve this objective, the study employed an experimental intervention approach by conducting an information campaign about city rates to randomly selected citizens in randomly selected neighbourhoods in Zomba City, providing increased waste collection service, and collecting data on payment of city rates. The study enrolled 1,800 participants. This longitudinal study had eight phases namely: household listing, baseline survey, information dissemination campaign, solid waste collection, midline survey, endline survey (which included a public goods game), funds distribution following the public goods game, and research dissemination events. Implementation of these various phases commenced in October 2018 and ended in March 2020. IPOR’s role on the study involved contributing towards the development of the study tools, translation of study tools, obtaining local ethical clearance, recruitment and training of Research Assistants, data collection, contributing towards data cleaning, conducting information dissemination events, procurement of a skip loader truck and eight skip bins, distribution of funds following the public goods game, and conducting research dissemination events. The study was a collaboration between IPOR and the University of Illinois with funding from the Department for International Development (DfID) through Evidence in Governance and Politics (EGAP). |
MESIP Project Phase 3E Tracking 2022The Institute of Public Opinion and Research (IPOR) was contracted for three consecutive years by Center for Evaluation and Development (C4ED) to evaluate the Malawi Education Sector Improvement Project (MESIP) which was being implemented by the Ministry of Education in collaboration with the World Bank. The Project was funded by the World Bank and aimed at improving infrastructure and quality of education in public primary schools by focusing on efficient delivery. IPOR was tasked to assess school facilities, school records, observe class lessons on key subjects, and more important to survey relevant groups in the school setting ranging from teachers, students, School Management Committees, Mother Groups, Parents Teachers Associations and Group Village Headmen. In pursue of this assignment, IPOR recruited and trained 120 research assistants to collect data using Survey Solutions and PAPI. Apart from that, IPOR hired and drilled 20 Data Entry Clerks to conduct double data entry as a requirement for the World Bank. The project had a total sample of 70 000 and the most daunting task was tracking learners who had either moved to secondary school or dropped out of school for various reasons. By the end of 2022, IPOR had managed to conduct baseline, midline and endline of the project and reached out to about 1 500 primary schools spread in 28 districts including Likoma Island. Despite the challenges, IPOR worked with dedication and attained the highest response rate which resulted into contract renewal in the years that followed. The preliminary findings from the project reveal that there is poor record keeping in primary schools and low retention for female learners. NOTE: In this project School facilities refer to classrooms, shelters, toilets, teachers’ houses, water points, girls changing rooms. Key Subjects refer to Mathematics & English. School Records refer to staff return, enrollment, performance& financial records. |
Metaketa V: Pathways to Women’s Substantive Representation in Malawi 2022-2024Metaketa is a project of field experiments taking place in five countries and is organized by Evidence in Governance and Politics (EGAP). This particular study focuses on women's collective efficacy and political engagement in Malawi. During the experiment randomized trainings will be conducted for women's village savings and loan associations, with those in the treatment group attending facilitated sessions aimed at fostering a sense of gender-based collective efficacy. At the individual level, new members will be randomly incentivized to join existing VSLAs. The goal of the study is to determine whether participating in a women's VSLA alone increases political engagement among women, and whether participating in training designed to promote collective efficacy offers an additional benefit.The study is being carried out in two districts of Malawi, Mzimba and Zomba, where 100 existing VSLAs were randomly selected in each district. These VSLAs are comprised of 14 existing members who were randomly selected, and 6 new members who were nominated to join the VSLAs, with 3 of them being given seeds. A baseline survey was conducted by IPOR with 200 Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs), which were randomly selected during the identification process in Mzimba and Zomba. Additionally, an elite survey was conducted on all Village Development Committee (VDC) chairpersons where the VSLAs are allocated.Top of Form The intervention aspect consists of four sessions, with the first session being an informative session on local government structure and development processes targeting both control and treatment groups. Sessions two through four have been designed to promote a sense of gender-based collective efficacy and will only be administered to 100 treatment groups. After attaining the training sessions, VSLAs are expected to compete in proposal writing and 10 VSLAs will have a chance to win 1 Million Kwacha each as community grant for their area. For far, IPOR has conducted baseline and session one intervention and currently anticipating the commencement of session two. |
Malawi Political Economy of Corruption Study update 2022Basel Institute of Governance commissioned the project |
Final Evaluation for the Tilitonse Foundation CBO Window 2022Tilitonse Foundation commissioned the project |
Members of Parliament Survey 2021Governance for Local Development/ University of Gothenburg was the client for the project |
Poverty Monitoring in the Context of Covid-19 2021Overseas Development Institute commissioned the project |
State of the Judiciary in Malawi 2021The Democratic Governance and Rights Unit (DARU) at the Univ. of Cape Town were the clients for the project |
Deepening understanding of Malawi’s data ecosystem as it relates to MCC Compact needs, challenges, and opportunities 2021Development Gateway / MCCI commissioned the project |
GLD Post Election Survey in Malawi 2021Governance for Local Development/ University of Gothenburg commissioned the project |
The Topography of Democratic Accountability in Basic Service Delivery in Malawi 2020-2021Matt Kroenke, University of Cape Town was the client for the project |
GLD/IPOR Covid-19 in Malawi 1 & 2 2020Governance for Local Development/ University of Gothenburg commissioned the project |
IPOR Pre-Election and Governance survey 2020 2020IPOR (Financed by OSISA) commissioned the project |
Presidential Candidates Debates in Malawi 2020National Democratic Institute for International Affairs & Georgetown University were the clients for this project |
Global Agriculture and Food Security Program Private Sector Window Malawi Evaluation Baseline 2019The impact evaluation of the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program Private Sector Window Malawi Evaluation Baseline (GAFSP PRSW) Malawi Evaluation Baseline project followed a quasi-experimental design including quantitative as well as qualitative aspects. This evaluation was a collaboration between IPOR and the Center for Evaluation and Development (C4ED) with funding from the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC). The evaluation’s questions aimed at measuring the project’s impact on the productivity of Macadamia farmers and the livelihood of farming households. There were four main evaluation questions: · How did the project affect yields and farmer household income? · What was the project’s impact on poverty? · What was the project’s impact on food security and nutrition? · What was the project’s impact on women’s status and empowerment? The goal of the Evaluation was twofold: to evaluate the IFC investment (support to the Macadamia outgrower program) and the Advisory Services (AS) component. For the AS component, the quantitative evaluation focused on the financial literacy training provided to program beneficiaries. Data was collected through a survey that was administered to households of smallholder Macadamia farmers, focus group discussions with program beneficiaries, and key informant interviews with community leaders, field instructors and extension service officers. IPOR’s role on the Baseline Evaluation comprised contributions towards the development the study’s tools, translation of the study tools, obtaining of ethical clearance, recruitment and training of Research Assistants, and data collection and cleaning. The Baseline Evaluation was conducted in July and August of 2019 in the two districts where the GAFSP PRSW project was implemented: Thyolo district in Southern Malawi and Mzimba district in Northern Malawi. |
Zathu Comparative Evaluation and Behaviour Change Study 2019-2020This evaluation sought to measure the latest reach, consumption and engagement of the Zathu brand audience of and with the brand, and to assess any self-reported outcomes on the audience due to their exposure to the Zathu brand. It was conducted in 14 districts and cities namely: Chitipa, Mzimba, Mzuzu City, Nkhotakota, Kasungu, Mchinji, Lilongwe, Lilongwe City, Machinga, Zomba, Zomba City, Blantyre, Blantyre City, and Nsanje. The Comparative Evaluation targeted girls and boys aged 10-19 years, and men and women aged 20 years and above to whom a questionnaire was administered. On the other hand, the Behaviour Change component of the Evaluation targeted girls aged 15-19 years who are regular consumers of Zathu Pa Wailesi, one of the platforms of the Zathu brand to whom a questionnaire was also administered. Both components registered a total of 2099 interviews. Data collection was carried out in December 2019 and January 2020. This evaluation was commissioned and funded by Girl Effect, the proprietor of the Zathu brand. For this evaluation, IPOR made contributions towards questionnaire development, translated questionnaires, obtained ethical clearance, developed enumerator training materials, conducted enumerator recruitment and training, and collected and cleaned data. |
Social Institutions and Urbanization in Malawi 2019-2020Governance for Local Development/ University of Gothenburg commissioned the project |
Scientific Accompanying research of an explorative measure on Inclusive participatory village development planning in Malawi 2019This study aimed at evaluating an explorative measure to support inclusive and participatory development planning at local level through Village Level Action Plan (VLAP) development sessions and implementation. It sought to assess the participatory development planning and monitoring processes at village level and their outputs and potential outcomes, and to identify lessons learnt and practical recommendations for the improvement of the approach. The evaluation, among other things, involved Focus Group Discussions with citizens, Area Development Committee (ADC) members, extension workers, representatives of vulnerable groups, and District Taskforce members; a survey with participants and non-participants in the VLAP development sessions; and interviews with Village Development Committee (VDC) chairpersons, Village Heads and local consultants. Implementation of the study commenced in May 2019 and was completed in July 2019. Data for the study was collected in various Traditional Authority areas in Salima district, Central Malawi. The study was a collaboration between IPOR and Gesellschaft fuer Organisation, Planung und Ausbildung mbH (GOPA) with funding from Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ). IPOR’s role on the study involved contributing to tool development, tool translation, obtaining of ethical clearance, recruitment and training of Research Assistants, data collection and cleaning, writing of summaries of findings, and contributing to the study’s report. |
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Political and Cultural Implications of the Lomwe Cultural Revival in Malawi II 2018Prof. Amanda Robinson, Ohio State University commissioned the project |
Social benefits and costs of schooling in Malawi 2018Prof. Melina Platas of New York University Abu Dhabi commissioned the project |
Malawi Governance survey 2018This survey on public perceptions and views on Malawi’s political environment was conducted in August and September 2018. The main objective of the study was to gauge people’s views on the state of their country ahead of May 2019 presidential, parliamentary and local government elections. The study sought to map the country’s political landscape and highlight major factors that were likely to shape its political and economic future. A nationally representative sample of 1,350 adult Malawians was drawn from a framework provided by the National Statistical Office (NSO). Data for the survey was captured on tablets running on the Open Data Kit (ODK) application and submitted directly to an IPOR server. Among other tasks, IPOR developed and translated the study’s questionnaire; recruited and trained enumerators; collected, cleaned and analyzed data; and wrote the study’s report. The study found that significant proportions of Malawians held the views that the country was going in the wrong direction, the overall economic condition of the country was fairly bad/very bad and the political environment was relatively free for those who wanted to join organizations of their choice; that majorities of citizens were satisfied with how democracy was working in the country and said people were free to say what they want concerning politics; and that Malawians were split on the state of the country’s democracy with one half rating the country as a democracy with major problems or not a democracy at all and the other half saying it is a full democracy or a democracy with minor problems. The study also registered that people’s trust in religious leaders, the Malawi Defence Force and traditional leaders was high with elected political leaders pegged on the lower side of the public-trust ladder; that a majority of Malawians held the view that corruption had increased over the past 12 months; and that food shortage, management of the economy and poverty or destitution topped the list of critical challenges that Malawians expected their government to address. The study was commissioned by the Centre for Multiparty Democracy (CMD) with funding from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). |
Binding Constraints in Service Delivery in Malawi 2017The world Bank was the client for this project |
The road to parity: Gender and Political Recruitment in Malawian Local Councils within Malawi 2017Dr. Amanda Robinson, Ohio State University & Prof. Amanda Clayton, Vanderbilt University commissioned the project |
End of Project Evaluation of the Strengthened Citizen Participation for Accountability of Development Resources and Results 2017Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace - Mzuzu Diocese commissioned the project |
The Effects of Matrilineality on Gender Gaps in Political and Civic Engagement in Malawi 2017Prof. Amanda Robinson, Ohio State University commissioned the project |
Impact Evaluation of United in Building Life Expectations (UBALE) 2016-2018The clients of this project were Catholic Relief Services/ University of Notre Dame / USAID |
Cultural Revival and Electoral Politics: Mobilization of Lomwe Ethnic Identity in Malawi 2016Prof. Amanda Robinson, Ohio State University commissioned the project |
Healthy Policy Project 2014-2015Futures Group International was the client for Healthy Policy Project |
Endline evaluation of Strengthening Higher Education Access in Malawi Activity (SHEAMA) 2022Strengthening Higher Education Access in Malawi Activity (SHEAMA) is one of the activities that has been implemented by the Arizona State University as part of the Higher Education (HE) portfolio that sits within the Education Office at USAID/Malawi. The objective of SHEAMA was to increase Malawi’s skilled and employable workforce. The Endline Evaluation of SHEAMA had two objectives namely: to measure SHEAMA’s influence on HE access by disadvantaged groups, HE linkages to industry, quality of HE programming, and sustainability and scalability of HE programs; and to enhance understanding of how different modes of instruction for HE affect accessibility, perceived value/sense of satisfaction, cost, and post-graduation opportunities.Data for the SHEAMA Endline Evaluation was collected from 5 public universities with SHEAMA-supported programs namely: Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR), Mzuzu University (MZUNI), Malawi University of Science and Technology (MUST), University of Malawi (UNIMA), and Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences (MUBAS). Both quantitative and qualitative data collection methods were employed for the Evaluation and comprised phone surveys, focus group discussions and key informant interviews. Four stakeholder groups were engaged for purposes of data collection: Open, Distance and e-Learning (ODeL) and Face-to-Face students and alumni drawn from degree, diploma and short course programs; university staff and faculty; representatives of private sector stakeholders; and Malawi Government officials from the Ministry of Education and the National Council for Higher Education. Evaluation tasks commenced in February 2022 and are expected to be concluded later in 2023. The SHEAMA Endline Evaluation is a partnership between the University of Notre Dame (UND) and IPOR under Supporting Holistic and Actionable Research in Education (SHARE), a five-year cooperative agreement between USAID and UND being implemented alongside partners in HE with funding from USAID. UND and IPOR jointly designed the Endline Evaluation. UND led on tool design while IPOR led on adapting tools for the Malawi context. IPOR led on obtaining local ethical clearance, recruitment and training of Research Assistants, and data collection and cleaning with UND mentorship and support. UND and IPOR jointly analyzed the data, co-authored the Evaluation Report and jointly presented its key findings to USAID. As the Evaluation is winding down, outstanding activities include incorporation of feedback on the Evaluation Report and presentation of the Report’s key findings to other stakeholders. |
Gender, Deliberation, and Natural Resource Governance: Experimental Evidence from Malawi 2022Gender, Deliberation, and Natural Resource Governance: Experimental Evidence from Malawi research project was implemented by IPOR in collaboration with the University of Malawi, Vanderbilt University, International Food Policy Research Institute, and Ohio State University. In Malawi, women are formally required to occupy either half or one-third of the positions on Malawi’s key land administration institutions, including land tribunals and customary land committees. However, some individuals and organizations/institutions suggested weak enforcement of such requirements and that women face barriers in participating for such. The aim of the study was to find out whether and how including women in deliberative bodies around communal forest governance affects participatory forest management practices. A pre-survey was administered to all participants one by one through a face-to-face modality. Thereafter, they deliberate the topic in groups (FGDs). After FGDs, participants took part in the post-survey. During FGDs and in each village, 42 participants were divided into 7 groups. Each group consisted of 6 participants. The first group had females only, the second group had 5 Females and 1 man, the third group had 4 females and 2 males, the fourth group had 3 females and 3 males, the fifth group had 2 females and 4 males, the sixth group had 1 female and 6 males, the last group had 6 males. In total, IPOR visited randomly selected 90 villages in four Traditional Authorities (TAs) of Zomba and Machinga districts. There were 3,768 individuals that participated in this study. The sampled villages were not more than 3km radius away from Zomba Mountain and Malosa Plateau. Data collection was done between August to September 2022. The study participants were men and women aged 18 years and above. For that project, IPOR collected both quantitative and qualitative data, cleaned data, supported data analysis, supported report and manual script writing, donated tree seedlings, and disseminate the findings of the study to the sampled communities. The preliminary study findings reviewed that 97% of the participants felt deforestation as a big problem in their communities. During group deliberations, participants discussed and voted for policies or solutions to curb deforestation and most of the participants (41%) voted for replanting incentives. As part of the study, participants were given K2,000 and asked if they could donate part of it towards purchase of tree seedlings for planting during the rainy season. 76% of the participants donated some money and together they contributed a total sum of K658,820.00 which was used to purchase seedlings. The participants showed interest in the restoration of the forest by contributing that amount of money. IPOR donated Mk6,000,000.00 towards purchasing of tree seedlings which were given to participating communities in February 2023. There were no major challenges encountered during the implementation of the project. |
Improving Basic Education through integrating Information and Communication Technology (ICT) into Teacher Education 2020-2022Improving Basic Education through integrating Information and Communication Technology (ICT) into Teacher Education is a component of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für International Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH Basic Education Programme (BEP). As part of this component, Gesellschaft fuer Organisation, Planung und Ausbildung (GOPA) Worldwide Consultants GmbH, with funding from GIZ, commissioned IPOR to undertake an evaluation of improvements in ICT knowledge and application by lecturers and students at Teacher Training Colleges (TTCs) and Teaching Practice Schools (TPSs).The evaluation comprised five separate tasks namely: Conducting Baseline and Endline phone surveys, data analyses and reporting on ICT use by student teachers from 8 TTCs Baseline and Endline survey data analysis and reporting on ICT knowledge improvement of lecturers from 8 TTCs Baseline and Endline survey data analysis and reporting on ICT knowledge improvement of TPS lecturers Conducting a phone survey, data analysis and reporting on the competence level of student teachers from 8 TTCs with regard to ICT, and on which challenges to integrate ICT into teaching and learning were considered particularly relevant by the student teachers, both in the context of their training at the TTCs and in their future job at the TPSs The evaluation tasks commenced in September 2020 and were concluded in August 2022. Phone Survey respondents comprised Teachers Training Colleges (TTC) students from Blantyre, Chiradzulu, Karonga, Kasungu, Lilongwe, Machinga, Phalombe, and St Joseph TTCs. Data was also collected from TTC and TPS lecturers who voluntarily filled a questionnaire at the beginning and end of a training course on Integrating Technology in Teaching and Learning (ITTL). IPOR’s role on the evaluation comprised revision and translation of questionnaires; recruitment and training of enumerators; data collection, cleaning and analysis; and report writing. |
Ethnic Diversification, Inter-Ethnic Cooperation and Economic Development in Malawi 2021The study on Ethnic Diversification, Inter-Ethnic Cooperation and Economic Development in Malawi was a phone survey that was conducted to gauge public attitudes on ethnic identity and diversity, COVID-19 vaccination, and development partners and their assistance. A total of 3,243 survey interviews were conducted with respondents from across Malawi via phone from August to October of 2021. The respondents comprised those who had taken part in previous COVID-19 phone surveys that IPOR had conducted and new respondents from IPOR’s database of active mobile phone numbers. The study was commissioned and funded by University College London (UCL) and University of California San Diego (UC San Diego). IPOR’s role in the study’s implementation included contributions towards the development the study’s tools, translation of the study tools, recruitment and training of Research Assistants, and data collection and cleaning. |
Social Welfare Policies November 2021This was a study done by IPOR in collaboration with The University of Connecticut in the United States of America. Basically the study was trying to gauge people's propensity to vote in presence of social welfare policies as regards to other policies in developing countries.The specific objectives of the study were to assess how people in Malawi prioritize welfare provision and to measure preferences for specific welfare interventions among MalawiansThe study targeted Malawian citizens of 18 years and above. Data was collected from five districts spread across Malawi namely Mzimba, Lilongwe, Dedza, Chikwawa and Zomba. A sample size of 1200 respondents was drawn from 75 Enumeration Areas in the five districts. The project started and ended in November, 2021 and a clean dataset was presented to our partner the University of Connecticut. |
Rapid Mortality Mobile Phone Surveys (RAMMPS) 2020-2022IPOR is working on the Rapid Mortality Mobile Phone Survey (RaMMPS) research project in collaboration with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), New York University- Abu Dhabi (NYU-AD), Malawi Epidemiology Intervention Research Unit (MEIRU), and University of Malawi (UNIMA). For this project, IPOR collects excess mortality data during COVID-19 pandemic period. RaMMPS aims at measuring the impact of COVID-19 in terms of mortality in countries where Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS) are weak. It is a national across-section study carried out in Malawi, Mozambique, Burkina Faso, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Bangladesh. RaMMPS collects quantitative data using the Computer Assisted Telephone Interviews (CATI) method (a telephone survey). Apart from data collection, IPOR helped to develop study tools, manage fieldwork, provide bi-weekly reports, programming the study tool, data cleaning, quality assurance, and support data analysis. The study aims at collecting data from 20,000 random mobile subscribers in Malawi. But as of early May 2023, IPOR conducted 12,000 completed interviews. The mobile subscribers are randomly selected with the help of The Sample Solution B.V. of the Netherlands (https://sample.solutions). Participants for the study include men and women between the ages of 18 and 64 across all regions of Malawi. The project started in January 2022 and is expected to end in June 2023. The challenges IPOR encountered during the course of implementation of the project included difficulties reaching out to women in rural areas through mobile phones and participants would mistake RaMMPS calls as fraudulent calls. But with the help of LSHTM, IPOR is using Interactive Voice Response (IVR) survey for screening rural women and thorough consent is sort to build trust between interviewers and participants. |
Donation of a Skip Loader Truck and Skip Bins 2019What can be termed an epitome of IPOR's contribution to residents of it base, Zomba City, is a donation of a skip loader truck and eight skip bins. On a sunny morning of Friday, 29th March 2019, IPOR's Founding Partner, Prof. Blessings Chinsinga handed over keys to the skip loader truck on IPOR's behalf to the Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr. Charles Kalemba who received the donation on behalf of Zomba City Council (ZCC) watched by management and staff members of both the Institute and ZCC. The donation was part of an experimental study on Collective Action and Solid Waste Collection in Malawi's old capital city part of which involved waste collection in various locations in the city.Speaking at the handover function, Prof. Chinsinga said unlike other studies that IPOR conducts that only end at making recommendations for the formulation of good governance and development policies of this research stands out as it will see people benefit as it is still going on. In his remarks, the then ZCC Acting Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Mussa Mwale hailed the donation, saying this would be the first time for the Council to have a skip loader and skips as the Council had been using compactors and waste bunkers for waste collection. He also said that the equipment is expected to reduce the workload as well as time taken in refuse collection in the city. Echoing these sentiments, the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development's Principal Secretary, who was the event's Guest of Honour, applauded the partnership between the players involved in the project, describing the study as beneficial as it would bring out positive results to Zomba residents and the City Council.The research project was a collaboration of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and IPOR with funding from the Department for International Development (DFID) through Evidence in Governance and Politics (EGAP). |
Malawi Education Sector Improvement Programme II 2021Against the backdrop of the government's overall aim to provide equitable access to safe and adequate learning spaces to all students, the underlying objective of this midline survey is to provide information for an effective and efficient implementation of the Malawi Education Sector Improvement Project (MESIP). This midline survey is part of the independent school survey, the Malawi Public Schools Survey (MPSS) initiated by the Government of Malawi, conducted in three rounds. This will inform the relevant stakeholders on the progress towards achieving the project's expected outcomes and the results can be utilized to formulate policies and improvement in the quality of education in Malawi.The baseline and an initial round of midline data have already been collected. After successfully collecting the Midline data in 136 schools in 2019, IPOR has again been contracted to collect the Endline evaluation data from 700 primary schools in Malawi. The first phase f the project has been completed after our 11 teams visited and collected the data from 345 primary schools. The next phase will commence in September 2021.The survey is being implemented in a total of twelve districts in Malawi namely: Chikwawa , Thyolo, Mulanje, Machinga, Mangochi, Dedza, Dowa, Kasungu, Lilongwe, Nkhotakota, Mzimba and Rumphi. |
Corruption Perception Survey (2019) 2019-2019IPOR's research director, Dr. Boniface Dulani, was hired to lead a team of researchers in the drafting of a new National Anti-corruption Strategy (NACS) to guide the anti-corruption efforts in Malawi over the period 2020-2025. Working alongside anti-corruption experts from the Basel Institute on Governance and the Malawi Anti-corruption Bureau (ACB), IPOR was tasked to generate research insights to inform the new strategy. This included soliciting national input from various stakeholders through a series of stakeholder consultation workshops that were organized in the country's major cities, focus group discussions with ACB staff and key informant interviews. As part of the research efforts, IPOR received funding from the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA) to conduct a nationwide survey to generate public perceptions on the State of Corruption in 2019. The survey had a sample size of 1352 and covered 150 enumeration areas across Malawi. Conducted in Chichewa, Chitumbuka and English, the survey sought the views of adult Malawians on the state of corruption in the country, knowledge of the NACS and ACB, and effective ways to combat corruption in the country. The findings of the survey have informed the drafting of the NACS II especially in identifying areas of focus in the anti-corruption drive in the country. The findings will be shared to the public through dissemination meetings. |
Completion of GLD's Local Governance Performance Index Survey Data Collection Exercise (November 2019) 2019-2019Our teams for the GLD Local Governance Performance Index Survey completed data collection in the first week of this month. The teams spent about 42 days in the field collecting data mostly in central and northern parts of Malawi. Last week, we held a debriefing session to learn more about their experiences in the field and to thank the teams for the job well done. Different insights including challenges and highlights of the study were brought forward during the session. The issues raised will be used in the development of the fieldwork report. At the end of the session, IPOR management took time to award teams that did exceptional work during the study. |
Catholic Relief Services United in Building Life Expectations (UBALE) 2016-2016The Impact Evaluation of United in Building Life Expectations (UBALE) was a governance project currently which was implemented in Blantyre, Chikwawa and Nsanje districts. This work was contracted to IPOR by our client, the University of Notre Dame. It involved gathering and delivering of data to our client to be the basis for formulation of benchmark indicators. The project did an assessment of the impact of implementation on the following six major outcome variables at the lower level of social organization in Malawi: -Village-level development in village -Administrative indicators -Information delivery (transparency variable) -Fairness -Competence -Coordination The Impact Evaluation of UBALE governance project was designed to be done in three phases: Phase 1: Baseline Survey (to construct benchmarks for midline and end line evaluation) Phase 2: Midline Evaluation Phase 3: End Line Evaluation Fieldwork for baseline evaluation was undertaken between August 8 and August 23, 2015 and comprised two components: -Villager Survey which interviewed randomly selected respondents comprising a sample of over 2,800 in all the three districts -Village Development Committee (VDC) Survey involved interviewing the Group Village Headmen, Village Development Committee members and other committee members from the Natural Resource Management Committee, Village Civil Protection Committee and Youth Club. It is interesting that as an institution we managed to collect quality data for our clients. The study team comprised Dr. Boniface Dulani (Principal Investigator); Mr. Peter Beza and Ms. Hannah Swila (Field Managers) and 12 teams of 4 members each. |