1. Sampling and Methodology
Stratification
The survey design ensured the coverage of population groups that had been under-represented in the First Wave. The sample was designed to ensure representation of the strata of interest: population types (urban residents, rural residents, IDPs and nomads) as well as economic zones (South Central, Puntland and Somaliland).
Sampling
A stratified multi-stage household survey methodology was applied for populations living in urban and rural areas, as well as in IDP camps. The survey sampling frame for these areas was constructed based on the 2011 United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Population Estimation Survey (PES), which provides population estimates as well as regions, districts and enumeration areas’ decomposition. Given the mobile nature of nomadic populations, it was not possible to use classic household survey methodologies to survey nomads. This research, therefore, employed Data Collection at Water Points Methodology, which had already been used and tested during the Second Wave of the Somalia High Frequency Survey implemented in 2017.
The sampling frame is not representative of the entire Somali population. In addition to over-representation of the above-mentioned population groups of interest, only accessible areas (for security reasons) were included in the sampling frame. Households within urban, rural and IDP enumeration areas were selected using a random walk method. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with respondents aged 16 or above, who had been selected from a household through a randomization formula in the encoded questionnaire.
To randomly select nomads at water points, teams used a specific listing questionnaire. The team leader would list all households coming to a water point within an hour, in order to identify those that are nomadic and randomly select a household for each enumerator. The listing process was repeated every hour.
The sample size was computed with a confidence level of 95%, and a margin of error of 5%. Although the survey for the Second Wave was designed to ensure comparability with the First Wave, the results of the two surveys are not directly comparable. Given the Second Wave’s stronger emphasis on vulnerable groups, comparing the results of the two surveys could only be done to understand the trends.
Questionnaire
The questionnaire, consisting of about 200 questions, was translated into Somali, and then digitalized and administered through an electronic data collection software called SurveyCTO.
Calculations and Tools
The database is composed of 1190 valid and successful interviews. The research team used sampling weights and post-weighting adjustments to balance the sample along key demographics.
Other research modules
The second data collection module consisted in focus group discussions (FGDs) to understand and contextualize the quantitative data and delve deeper into the target population’s needs and behaviors. The FGDs were conducted with different population groups (IDPs displaced because of the drought, drought-affected rural and urban populations, female users and non-users of mobile money, nomads and returnees) and across economic zones to gather qualitative insights from various sets of audiences.
The third data collection module consisted in a market survey focusing on the mobile money ecosystem’s supply side. Information was collected via key informant interviews with humanitarian, development, private and public sector stakeholders, as well as via interviews and mystery visits to agents and vendors. These three research modules were also complemented by literature review.
Vulnerability Index
A vulnerability index was built based on the existing literature and international organizations’ best practices. It ranges from 0 to 1, with 1 being minimum vulnerability, and sums 4 indices, each having the same weight. It takes into account food security in terms of quantity of food, food security in terms of diversity of food, livelihood coping strategies and livelihood conditions. The “least vulnerable” represent the least vulnerable 50% of people based on that index. The “vulnerable” represent 40% of people who are neither the least vulnerable nor the most vulnerable. The “most vulnerable” represent the remaining 10% most vulnerable people.
2. Glossary
Agent
An agent is someone who facilitates mobile money transactions for users. The most important of these are cash-in and cash-out transactions; in many instances, agents register new customers too. In this report, agents only refer to accredited ones who are salaried by MNOs
Financial inclusion
Availability and equality of opportunities to access financial services, where individuals and businesses have access to useful and affordable financial products and services that meet their needs and that are delivered in a responsible and sustainable way.
Hagbad/Ayuuto
A traditional Somali rotating saving and credit association involving mainly (but not only) women. A group pools money, putting in the same amount each. Money is borrowed by each member in turn, for reasons ranging from the purchase of livestock and other agricultural items, to the setting up of small businesses and social expenses for funerals or weddings. The group sets the rules of the club, decides the timeframe and amount, and nominates a paid manager to keep the books. Participants sign an agreement defining the amount of money for which each member is liable.
Hawala
A traditional system of transferring money, where the money is paid to an agent who then instructs an associate in the relevant country or area to pay the final recipient, hence an informal value transfer system based not on the movement of cash, or on telegraph or computer network wire transfers between banks, but instead on the performance and honor of a huge network of money brokers.
Know Your Customer
Financial institutions and regulated financial services providers are usually obligated by regulation to perform due diligence in order to identify their customers. Due to the lack of formal identity documents in some markets, solutions such as tiered KYC and adjusting acceptable KYC documentation can help mobile money providers facilitate customer adoption and increase financial inclusion, especially in rural areas.
Mobile money ecosystem
The mobile money ecosystem includes mobile money providers and all third-party organizations which can benefit from mobile money, either by using it as a payment mechanism or leveraging mobile money accounts
Over-the-counter services
Applies when a mobile money agent performs the transactions on behalf of the customer, who does not need to have a mobile money account to use the service.
Household
A household was defined in the research as a group of people: a) eating their meals together and b) living under the same roof and/or in the same premises or compound for at least 6 months of a year.
Focus Group Discussion
A way to gather together people from similar backgrounds or experiences to discuss a specific topic of interest.
Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs)
Persons, or groups of persons, who have been obliged to leave their homes or place of habitual residence, because of conflict, generalized violence, violations of human rights, natural or other man-made disasters, but who have not crossed any internationally recognized state border.
Nomads
Nomads were defined as persons, or groups of persons, whose livelihood depend on livestock and who remain away from their permanent place of residence for at least 6 months per year or do not have a permanent place of residence.