General Support to National Household Surveys in St. Lucia

The Survey of Living Conditions – Household Budget Survey (SLC-HBS) in Saint Lucia is a critical instrument for tracking poverty and informing social policy. The Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States and the national Central Statistical Office partnered with the World Bank to modernise survey operations for the 2025 round.

rowsquared was brought in to provide remote and in-country support, guiding the national team through every phase of the survey lifecycle. We revised the household questionnaires, especially the food consumption module and unit-size mapping to improve the accuracy of quantity estimates. We supported sample design and refined the CAPI Survey Solutions instruments.

The original design lacked a household listing strategy. rowsquared developed a tablet-based household listing form to enable systematic random sampling while in the field. We integrated GIS-based maps and satellite imagery for selected enumeration districts and built custom household assignment tools.

We planned and supported enumerator training, established a high-frequency data quality monitoring system using dashboards and automated risk scoring to flag quality issues. To reduce manual classification and increase consistency, we implemented an AI-assisted system to classify economic activity and occupations using an NLP model.

One of the core challenges was the need to introduce several digital systems—CAPI, GPS-based listing, and AI-assisted classification—into an institutional context with limited prior exposure to these tools. Through rowsquared’s support, the survey process moved from a fragmented, manual process to a digitally enabled, quality-assured operation, laying the foundation for better data, more efficient fieldwork, and stronger national capacity for future rounds.