Selected Country Experiences​
In Kenya, the census preparation involved multiple field tests and a pilot census conducted a year before the actual census date. These activities aimed to evaluate the questionnaire's content, flow, and technical aspects such as consistency checks and skip patterns. Two additional pre-tests followed the pilot to address gaps, including testing newly added questions and the supervisor module, which had not been included earlier. The pilot and pre-tests were conducted in a wide range of environments, including urban slums, high-end residential areas, border counties with connectivity issues, and regions with nomadic populations. Despite these efforts, some lessons from the pre-tests were not fully integrated into the pilot, such as the need for more comprehensive training on specific topics like disability and labour. The pilot also revealed practical issues, such as tablet failure rates and the spread of fake job advertisements, which led to adjustments in equipment allocation and recruitment strategies for the main census.
Ethiopia conducted three pilot censuses between 2016 and 2018, but the main census enumeration did not occur during the 2020 round. The first two pilots tested both paper-based and digital enumeration methods, while the third was fully digital with paper backups. Several challenges emerged, including the recruitment of fieldworkers who were physically unfit, unfamiliar with digital tools, or unable to speak local languages. These issues were compounded by poor communication regarding fieldworker entitlements, leading to disruptions during training. Additionally, the pilot was conducted before finalizing data collection tools, resulting in problems like inconsistent translations and faulty skip patterns. Technical shortcomings, such as inadequate power banks and poor network coverage, led to a revision of IT equipment specifications and a new budget. Training was also affected by the lack of suitable facilities, prompting the inclusion of specific requirements for training centres in future plans.
In Namibia, the pilot census was conducted from September to October 2021 and provided valuable insights into field organisation, supervisory structures, training programs, and data processing plans. Preliminary tests helped refine the batch editing program and monitoring dashboard. The sampling design was purposive, targeting diverse population groups and living environments, including nomadic communities in Kunene and Tsumkwe, holiday homes along the coast, commercial and resettlement farms, gated communities, and various urban settings. These efforts aimed to ensure that the actual census would be well-informed and effectively executed.