The Malawi High-Frequency Phone Survey (HFPS) is implemented by the National Statistical Office (NSO). The first 12 rounds of the study were conducted on a monthly basis during the period of May 2020 and June 2021. Follow up rounds of the study are conducted on a bi-monthly basis starting in February 2022. The survey is part of a World Bank-supported global effort to support countries in their data collection efforts to monitor the impacts of COVID-19. The financing for data collection and technical assistance in support of the Malawi HFPS COVID-19 is provided by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the World Bank.
The households were drawn from the sample of households interviewed in 2019 as part of the Integrated Household Panel Survey (IHPS 2019). The IHPS 2019 households were interviewed in 2010, 2013, 2016, and the extensive information collected in the IHPS 2019 just over a year prior to the pandemic provides a rich set of background information on the HFPS COVID-19 households which can be leveraged to assess the differential impacts of the pandemic in the country.
The objective of HFPS is for routine monitoring and understanding the impacts of shocks including the COVID-19 pandemic. These data will contribute to filling critical gaps in information that could be used by the Malawian government and stakeholders to help design policies to mitigate the negative impacts on its population. The HFPS in Malawi is designed to accommodate the evolving nature of the crises, including revision of the questionnaire on a bi-monthly basis.