Abstract

The Ethiopia Socioeconomic Survey (ESS) is a collaborative project between the Central Statistics Agency of Ethiopia (CSA) and the World Bank Living Standards Measurement Study-Integrated Surveys on Agriculture (LSMS-ISA) team. The objective of the LSMS-ISA is to collect multi-topic, household-level panel data with a special focus on improving agriculture statistics and generating a clearer understanding of the link between agriculture and other sectors of the economy. The project also aims to build capacity, share knowledge across countries, and improve survey methodologies and technology.

ESS is a long-term project to collect panel data. The project responds to the data needs of the country, given the dependence of a high percentage of households in agriculture activities in the country. The ESS collects information on household agricultural activities along with other information on the households like human capital, other economic activities, access to services and resources. The ability to follow the same households over time makes the ESS a new and powerful tool for studying and understanding the role of agriculture in household welfare over time as it allows analyses of how households add to their human and physical capital, how education affects earnings, and the role of government policies and programs on poverty, inter alia. The ESS is the first panel survey to be carried out by the CSA that links a multi-topic household questionnaire with detailed data on agriculture.

Geographic coverage

National Coverage. ESS2 and ESS3 covered all regional states including the capital, Addis Ababa. The majority of the sample comprises rural areas as it was carried over from ESS1. The ESS2 and ESS3 were implemented in 433 enumeration areas (EAs) out of which 290 were rural, 43 were small town EAs from ESS1, and 100 were EAs from major urban areas.

Analysis unit

Households Communities

Universe

ESS uses a nationally representative sample of over 5,000 households living in rural and urban areas. The urban areas include both small and large towns.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

The sample is a two-stage probability sample. The first stage of sampling entailed selecting primary sampling units, or CSA enumeration areas (EAs). A total of 433 EAs were selected based on probability proportional to size of the total EAs in each region. For the rural sample, 290 EAs were selected from the AgSS EAs. A total of 43 and 100 EAs were selected for small town and urban areas, respectively. In order to ensure sufficient sample size in the most populous regions (Amhara, Oromiya, SNNP, and Tigray) and Addis Ababa, quotas were set for the number of EAs in each region. The sample is not representative for each of the small regions including Afar, Benshangul Gumuz, Dire Dawa, Gambella, Harari, and Somalie regions. However, estimates can be produced for a combination of all smaller regions as one “other region” category. A more detailed description of the sample design is provided in Section 3 of the Basic Information Document provided under the Related Materials tab.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

The survey consisted of five questionnaires. These questionnaires are similar with the questionnaires used during in the ESS1 and ESS2 with revisions based both on the results of the ESS2 and also on identified areas of need for new data (see Section 7 of the Basic Information Document provided under the Related Materials tab). The household questionnaire was administered to all households in the sample. The community questionnaire was administered to a group of community members to collect information on the socio-economic indicators of the enumeration areas where the sample households reside.3 The three agriculture questionnaires consisting of a post-planting agriculture questionnaire, post-harvest agriculture questionnaire and livestock questionnaire were administered to all household members (agriculture holders) who are engaged in agriculture activities. A holder is a person who exercises management control over the operations of the agricultural holdings and makes the major decisions regarding the utilization of the available resources. S/he has technical and economic responsibility for the holding. S/he may operate the holding directly as an owner or as a manager. Hence it is possible to have more than one holder in single sampled households. As a result we have administered more than one agriculture questionnaire in a single sampled household if the household has more than one holder.

Household questionnaire: The household questionnaire provides information on basic demographics; education; health (including anthropometric measurement for children); labor and time use; saving; food and non-food expenditure; household nonfarm income-generating activities; food security and shocks; safety nets; housing conditions; assets; credit; and other sources of household income (Table 2.1). Household location is geo-referenced in order to be able to later link the ESS data to other available geographic data sets (See Appendix 1 for discussion of the geo-data provided with the ESS).

Community questionnaire: The community questionnaire solicits information on infrastructure; community organizations; resource management; changes in the community; key events; community needs, actions and achievements; and local retail price information (Table 2.2).

Agriculture questionnaire: The post-planting and post-harvest agriculture questionnaires focus on crop farming activities and solicit information on land ownership and use; farm labor; inputs use; GPS land area measurement and coordinates of household fields; agriculture capital; irrigation; and crop harvest and utilization. The livestock questionnaire collects information on animal holdings and costs; and production, cost and sales of livestock by products (Table 2.3). The livestock module implemented in ESS3 is significantly difference from the module implemented in ESS1 and ESS2.

Cleaning operations

The interviews were carried out using pen-and-paper (PAPI) as well as computer-assisted personal interviewing (CAPI) method. A concurrent data entry arrangement was implemented for PAPI. In this arrangement, the enumerators did not wait until all the interviews were completed. Rather, once the enumerators completed approximately 3-4 questionnaires, supervisors collected these interviews from enumerators and brought them to the branch offices for data entry. This process took place as enumerators continued administering interviews with other households. Then questionnaires were keyed at the branch offices as soon as they were completed using the CSPro data entry application software. The data from the completed questionnaires were then checked for any interview or data entry errors using a STATA program. Data entry errors were flagged for the data entry clerks and the interview errors were then sent to back to the field for correction and feedback to the ongoing interviews. Several rounds of this process were undertaken until the final data files were produced. Additional cleaning was carried out, as needed, by checking the hard copies. In ESS3, CAPI (with a Survey Solutions platform) was used to collect the community data in large town areas.

Response rate

During wave 3, 1255 households were re-interviewed yielding a response rate of 85 percent. Attrition in urban areas is 15% due to consent refusal and inability to trace the whereabouts of sample households.

Abstract

The 2019 Ethiopia Mini Demographic and Health Survey (EMDHS) is the second Mini Demographic and Health Survey conducted in Ethiopia. The Ethiopian Public Health Institute (EPHI) implemented the survey at the request of the Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH). Data collection took place from March 21, 2019, to June 28, 2019.

Financial support for the 2019 EMDHS was provided by the government of Ethiopia, the World Bank via the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development’s Enhancing Shared Prosperity through Equitable Services (ESPES) and Promoting Basic Services (PBS) projects, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). ICF provided technical assistance through The DHS Program, which is funded by USAID and offers support and technical assistance for the implementation of population and health surveys in countries worldwide.

SURVEY OBJECTIVES The primary objective of the 2019 EMDHS is to provide up-to-date estimates of key demographic and health indicators. Specifically, the main objectives of the survey are: - To collect high-quality data on contraceptive use; maternal and child health; infant, child, and neonatal mortality levels; child nutrition; and other health issues relevant to achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) - To collect information on health-related matters such as breastfeeding, maternal and child care (antenatal, delivery, and postnatal), children’s immunisations, and childhood diseases - To assess the nutritional status of children under age 5 by measuring weight and height

Four full-scale DHS surveys were conducted in 2000, 2005, 2011, and 2016. The first Ethiopia Mini-DHS, or EMDHS, was conducted in 2014. The 2019 EMDHS provides valuable information on trends in key demographic and health indicators over time. The information collected through the 2019 EMDHS is intended to assist policymakers and programme managers in evaluating and designing programmes and strategies for improving the health of the country's population.

Geographic coverage

National coverage

Analysis unit

Households Women age 15-49 Children age 0-59 months

Universe

Household members Woman aged 15-49 years Children aged 0-59 months

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

The sampling frame used for the 2019 EMDHS is a frame of all census enumeration areas (EAs) created for the 2019 Ethiopia Population and Housing Census (EPHC) and conducted by the Central Statistical Agency (CSA). The census frame is a complete list of the 149,093 EAs created for the 2019 EPHC. An EA is a geographic area covering an average of 131 households. The sampling frame contains information about EA location, type of residence (urban or rural), and estimated number of residential households.

Administratively, Ethiopia is divided into nine geographical regions and two administrative cities. The sample for the 2019 EMDHS was designed to provide estimates of key indicators for the country as a whole, for urban and rural areas separately, and for each of the nine regions and the two administrative cities.

The 2019 EMDHS sample was stratified and selected in two stages. Each region was stratified into urban and rural areas, yielding 21 sampling strata. Samples of EAs were selected independently in each stratum in two stages. Implicit stratification and proportional allocation were achieved at each of the lower administrative levels by sorting the sampling frame within each sampling stratum before sample selection, according to administrative units in different levels, and by using a probability proportional to size selection at the first stage of sampling.

To ensure that survey precision was comparable across regions, sample allocation was done through an equal allocation wherein 25 EAs were selected from eight regions. However, 35 EAs were selected from each of the three larger regions: Amhara, Oromia, and the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples’ Region (SNNPR).

In the first stage, a total of 305 EAs (93 in urban areas and 212 in rural areas) were selected with probability proportional to EA size (based on the 2019 EPHC frame) and with independent selection in each sampling stratum. A household listing operation was carried out in all selected EAs from January through April 2019. The resulting lists of households served as a sampling frame for the selection of households in the second stage. Some of the selected EAs for the 2019 EMDHS were large, with more than 300 households. To minimise the task of household listing, each large EA selected for the 2019 EMDHS was segmented. Only one segment was selected for the survey, with probability proportional to segment size. Household listing was conducted only in the selected segment; that is, a 2019 EMDHS cluster is either an EA or a segment of an EA.

In the second stage of selection, a fixed number of 30 households per cluster were selected with an equal probability systematic selection from the newly created household listing. All women age 15-49 who were either permanent residents of the selected households or visitors who slept in the household the night before the survey were eligible to be interviewed. In all selected households, height and weight measurements were collected from children age 0-59 months, and women age 15-49 were interviewed using the Woman’s Questionnaire.

Mode of data collection

Computer Assisted Personal Interview [capi]

Research instrument

Five questionnaires were used for the 2019 EMDHS: (1) the Household Questionnaire, (2) the Woman’s Questionnaire, (3) the Anthropometry Questionnaire, (4) the Health Facility Questionnaire, and (5) the Fieldworker’s Questionnaire. These questionnaires, based on The DHS Program’s standard questionnaires, were adapted to reflect the population and health issues relevant to Ethiopia. They were shortened substantially to collect data on indicators of particular relevance to Ethiopia and donors to child health programmes.

Input was solicited from various stakeholders representing government ministries and agencies, nongovernmental organisations, and international donors. After the questionnaires were finalised in English, they were translated into Amarigna, Tigrigna, and Afaan Oromo.

The Household Questionnaire was used to list all of the usual members of and visitors to selected households. Basic demographic information was collected on the characteristics of each person listed, including his or her age, sex, education, and relationship to the head of the household. The data on age and sex of household members obtained in the Household Questionnaire were used to identify women who were eligible for individual interviews. The Household Questionnaire was also used to collect information on characteristics of the household’s dwelling unit, such as source of water, type of toilet facilities, materials used for the floor of the dwelling unit, and ownership of various durable goods.

The Woman’s Questionnaire was used to collect information from all eligible women age 15-49. These women were asked questions on the following main topics: background characteristics, reproduction, contraception, pregnancy and postnatal care, child nutrition, childhood immunisations, and health facility information.

In the Anthropometry Questionnaire, height and weight measurements were recorded for eligible children age 0-59 months in all interviewed households.

The Health Facility Questionnaire was used to record vaccination information for all children without a vaccination card seen during the mother’s interview.

The Fieldworker’s Questionnaire collected background information about interviewers and other fieldworkers who participated in the 2019 EMDHS data collection.

Cleaning operations

All electronic data files were transferred via the secure internet file streaming system (IFSS) to the EPHI central office in Addis Ababa, where they were stored on a password-protected computer. The data processing operation included secondary editing, which required resolution of computer-identified inconsistencies and coding of open-ended questions. The data were processed by EPHI staff members and an ICF consultant who took part in the main fieldwork training. They were supervised remotely by staff from The DHS Program. Data editing was accomplished using CSPro System software. During the fieldwork, field-check tables were generated to check various data quality parameters, and specific feedback was given to the teams to improve performance. Secondary editing, double data entry from both the anthropometry and health facility questionnaires, and data processing were initiated in April 2019 and completed in July 2019.

Response rate

A total of 9,150 households were selected for the sample, of which 8,794 were occupied. Of the occupied households, 8,663 were successfully interviewed, yielding a response rate of 99%. In the interviewed households, 9,012 eligible women were identified for individual interviews; interviews were completed with 8,885 women, yielding a response rate of 99%. Overall, there was little variation in response rates according to residence; however, rates were slightly higher in rural than in urban areas.