PES-ETHIOPIA RELIEF AND REHABILITATION PROGRAM - ACTIVITY E-7-NUTRITION/HEALTH EARLY WARNING SYSTEM. (12/4/77)

FIRST YEAR PROGRESS IS SATISFACTORY IN SPITE OF EXTERNAL FACTORS BEYOND PROGRAMME CONTROL. THE SECOND YEAR MUST INVOLVE HEAVY INCREASE IN DATA PROCESSING, BUT ETHIOPIA DOES NOT HAVE THE NECESSARY MANPOWER. INTERNATIONAL RECRUITMENT OF A SYSTEM ANALYST FOR 6 MONTHS, A PROGRAMMER FOR 24 MONTHS, AND A DATA PROCESSING MANAGER FOR 24 MONTHS IS NECESSARY. FORTHCOMING INCREASES IN STAFF AND VOLUME OF OPERATION WILL REQUIRE STRENGTHENED ADMINISTRATIVE CAPACITY. THE REPORTS UNIT REQUIRES MORE EFFICIENT EQUIPMENT TO HELP SPEED UP REPORT PREPARATION. THE PROGRAMME SHOULD INCREASE COMMUNICATION DATA USERS BY SYSTEMATICALLY ISSUING A QUESTIONNAIRE AND LIST OF ALL REPORTS AVAILABLE THROUGH THE PROGRAMME WITH EACH REPORT DISPATCHED. 10 DAY TRAINING AND RETRAINING SESSIONS FOR REPORTING AGENTS (RA) SHOULD BE HELD AT LEAST TWICE A YEAR. THE NUMBER OF RA SUPERVISORS SHOULD BE INCREASED AS EMPHASIS ON DATA QUALITY CONTROL INCREASES. THE EVALUATION TEAM RECOMMENDS A SYSTEMATIC STUDY BE MADE OF FIELD STAFF PROBLEMS IN DATA COLLECTION, PAYING PARTICULAR ATTENTION TO POSSIBLE IMPROVEMENTS. SHORT-TERM ASSISTANCE IS NEEDED IN THE FOLLOWING AREAS THAT LACK EXPERIENCED ETHIOPIAN MANPOWER: AGROMETEOROLOGY, RANGELAND SURVEILLANCE, ECONOMETRICS, FOOD CONSUMPTION SURVEY METHODOLOGY, AND HEALTH STATISTICS.