Assignment Name:

 

Zambia SWL Drought Survey

 

Approx. value of the contract (in current US$):

 

USD 249,991

Country: Zambia

 

Location within country: 10 districts of Zambia (Chifunabuli, Chilubi, Gwembe, Itezhi-Tezhi, Lufwanyama, Mafinga, Mungwi, Nalolo, Samfya and Zambezi)

 

Duration of assignment (months):

 

5 months

 

Name of Client:

 

The World Bank

Total No. of staff-months of the assignment:

 

210

 

Contact Person, Title/Designation, Tel. No./Address:

 

 

Contact Person: Andrew Brudevold-Newman

Title/Designation: Economist, Africa Gender Innovation Lab, World Bank – Office of the Chief Economist for Africa

Address: World Bank, 1818 H Street NW, Washington, DC 20433, USA

Email: [email protected]

Phone (mobile, public): +1 571 271 7923

Start date (month/year): March 2025

 

 

Completion date (month/year): August 2025

 

No. of professional staff-months provided by your consulting firm/organization or your sub consultants:

 

20

Name of associated Consultants, if any:

 

N/A

 

 

 

Name of senior professional staff of your consulting firm/organization involved and designation and/or functions performed (e.g. Project Director/Coordinator, Team Leader):

 

Project Director: Prof. Gelson Tembo

Field Managers: Aliness Tembo; Matildah Chishimba

Data Manager: Liseteli Ndiyoi

Description of Project:

 

Palm Associates Limited was contracted to conduct a drought impact assessment survey under the Supporting Women’s Livelihoods (SWL) programme, a Government of Zambia initiative supported by the World Bank. The primary objective of the survey was to evaluate the severity and impact of recent drought shocks on the welfare of SWL beneficiary households and to inform the government’s response mechanisms, particularly in terms of livelihood support and social protection interventions.

 

The assignment involved designing and executing a data collection exercise across 10 districts in seven provinces (Copperbelt, Luapula, Muchinga, Northern, North-Western, Southern and Western), targeting SWL beneficiaries. Palm Associates developed the field protocols, recruited and trained field teams, and coordinated all logistics and data quality assurance measures. The survey used tablet-based data collection tools and focused on household-level indicators such as food security, income loss, coping strategies, and exposure to climate-related shocks.

 

Description of actual services provided by your staff within the assignment:

 

Palm Associates Limited was responsible for the full design and implementation of the SWL Drought Assessment Survey across 10 districts in seven provinces of Zambia (n = 2,301 households in 200 communities). The team led the development of field procedures, adapted and programmed the electronic questionnaire, and managed the recruitment and training of all field personnel. A total of five field teams were deployed, each consisting of 1 supervisor and 5 enumerators, supported by a driver and a vehicle, with logistical oversight provided by two field managers and a central survey coordination team.

 

During implementation, Palm Associates conducted all operational planning, district-level engagements, and field mobilization. Staff ensured real-time monitoring and coordination using GPS tracking and tablet-based data collection (CSPro), conducted daily quality checks, addressed protocol violations, and led back-checks and spot-checks to ensure data validity. Upon completion of fieldwork, the team processed and cleaned the data, produced summary reports, and submitted anonymized datasets to the client in line with ethical and data security standards.