‘Correct data crucial in public works programme’

Mwanza District Council director of planning and development Ernest Kadzokoya says capturing correct data of beneficiaries of Climate Smart Enhanced Public Works Programme is crucial for the implementation of the project.

He said this on Monday in the district during a farewell ceremony for 28 data collectors.

Kadzokoya said to avoid suspicion of bias in the identification of beneficiaries, they engaged independent data collectors to undertake the task.

“We employed enumerators on temporary basis from July 27 to August 22 2022 to carry out the exercise using tablets in modern technology dubbed Open Data Kit,” he said.

Central level technical team official Jim Wotchi  commended the coordination between stakeholders and his team.

“However, long distance from one household to another due to scattered settlements was one of the challenges,” he said.

One of the enumerators, Nelson Chigaru, said he learned how to interact with community members during the exercise.

“If you are friendly, people will open up to you, which helps to get more information,” he said.

During the farewell, each data collector received a certificate of recognition and some utensils as a token of appreciation for their job and integrity demonstrated during the exercise.

The enumerators reached out to 10 746 households out of the targeted 10 880, representing 99 percent coverage.