Relief Applications

FRC - Mapping for Food Assistance in Guyane

Since 2011, the French Red Cross has supported food assistance in French Guiana, where demand rose sharply during the COVID outbreak. After an initial study of beneficiaries' needs, we are building a digital platform on the no-code tool Oort to strengthen monitoring and evaluation, help food assistance actors share data and support fairer distribution across the territory.

Client
French Red Cross
When
Apr 2023–Apr 2026
Team
5 people
Services
Info management & MEAL, App development
Technologies
Oort, Angular, Node.js, MongoDB
Industry
Food Assistance
SDGs
1. No poverty, 2. Zero hunger, 10. Reduced inequalities, 17. Partnerships for the goals
Client website
croix-rouge.fr

Since 2011, the French Red Cross has supported food assistance distribution to the most vulnerable in French Guiana, operating in most of the littoral areas (Cayenne, Kourou, St Laurent du Maroni, Rémire-Montjoly, Mana, and Matoury). However, accessing accurate and timely information about various aspects of food assistance has proven to be challenging. Additionally, mostly due to the COVID outbreak and its economic impact on the population, the Food Assistance Platform (PFA) of French Red Cross in Guyane saw the volume of food distributed multiply by 3 in 2020 (140 tons in 2019 to 490 tons in 2020 = equivalent 840.000 meals).

In this context, Relief Applications supported the organization along with experts in emergency need assessment, social work and transversal approach, cash transfers and information management to deliver cash transfer solutions from the programme. The distribution and questionnaire analysis were among the tasks executed. These questionnaires captured the consumption pattern of beneficiaries (which items are most needed, which market they use to shop...) to take their preferred practices into consideration and discover the main constraints.

Building upon the successful completion of this initial study, Relief Applications embarked on a second phase of the project, aiming to address the challenges identified in the initial phase; notably, the lack of robust Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) systems which made apparent that a digital solution would be instrumental in enhancing a fair distribution of food assistance activities across the territory.

Relief Applications contribution entails the development of such a solution. We proposed a comprehensive digital platform or application built using Oort, a no-code digital tool that allows for a quicker and more cost-efficient creation of applications. The main goal is to put technology at the service of enabling robust M&E practices, facilitating data-driven decision-making, providing insights into food assistance needs, and ensuring equitable distribution of aid.

Therefore, with Oort, we developed Alimentaide 973, a tool to track food assistance activities, monitor their impact, and collaborate effectively to enhance the effectiveness of food assistance through:

- Identification of food assistance actors in underserved areas and integration of their data into the digital platform and mapping system. - M&E practices, and data utilization capabilities. - Development of a comprehensive digital platform/ application that enables continuous data collection, monitoring, evaluation, and visualization of food assistance activities. - Training and ongoing support to ensure food assistance actors effectively utilize the digital platform to optimize their operations and impact.

The challenge

  • Ensuring accessibility and user-friendliness of the digital platform
  • Facilitating collaboration and data-sharing among diverse food assistance actors
  • Enhancing M&E practices and effectively utilizing data insights for decision-making

What we did

  • Designing an intuitive and user-friendly digital platform that accommodates various skill levels
  • Features within the platform that encourage information exchange and collaboration among food assistance actors
  • Implementing tools and training modules that guide actors in effective M&E practices and data-driven decision-making
Mapping for Food Assistance in Guyane, French Red Cross: screen 1 Mapping for Food Assistance in Guyane, French Red Cross: screen 2 Mapping for Food Assistance in Guyane, French Red Cross: screen 3 Mapping for Food Assistance in Guyane, French Red Cross: screen 4 Mapping for Food Assistance in Guyane, French Red Cross: screen 5

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