Smartphones Supporting Monitoring Functions: Experiences from Sweet Potato Vine Distribution in sub-Saharan Africa.

Abstract

This chapter shares experiences in the use of smartphones to collect monitoring data for sweet potato vine multiplication and dissemination activities in sub-Saharan Africa. An Open Data Kit (ODK) technology is used to collect geo-tagged data, perform error validation, on-site data quality control, capture photos and much more, using Android mobile devices. The chapter outlines how monitoring and evaluation (M&E) personnel from countries across sub-Saharan Africa received training on how to develop the electronic forms and use them for data collection, which, over a period of two years, captured new registration data for 326 vine multipliers in Burkina Faso, Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania and Mozambique. The case study demonstrates enhanced efficiency and how the ODK system has boosted efforts to standardize the data collection across regions. Constraints related to user take-up and comparative costs are also addressed.