For MEAL teams across Africa and beyond
Monitoring, evaluation, accountability and learning for teams across Africa and beyond — from the first household visit to the donor report, in one record.
In the field
Every answer starts at someone’s door, often far from a network. Amana RC forms keep working offline and sync when the signal returns.
Behind the door
The people the evidence is about. Their answers are checked and approved before a single figure reaches a report.
Scroll to step insideKeys 1–6 move between scenes
Amana RC carries an evaluation from the theory of change to the donor report: offline field forms, data checks, approvals, baseline–endline analysis and a report built from approved figures.
Built for teams that answer to evidence
The evaluation journey
Each step hands the next the same data, so nothing is retyped and every figure can be traced back.
Build the theory of change, indicators and targets. Draw a reproducible sample, then write the forms or import an XLSForm.
Enumerators fill forms on phones or laptops. Answers save on the device and sync when the network returns.
Automatic flags catch duplicates, out-of-range answers, interviews done too fast, straight-lining and GPS outside the site. A value counts only once it is approved.
Compare baseline and endline with confidence intervals, break results down by sex, age or site, or run difference-in-differences and regression.
The report builder fills from approved figures, checks its claims against the record and exports to Word and Excel.
Sample data
Inside the desk
Three screens a MEAL lead opens every week, shown with a sample water project.
Analyse
Pick a question and the rounds to compare. Amana RC writes each finding with its 95% confidence interval and p-value, breaks it down by any category, follows respondents interviewed in both rounds, and says what the data cannot show.
Monitor
The indicator tracking table puts each approved value beside its target, with the pace for the period in words: met, near, behind or not yet scored. Indicators that should go down are compared the right way round.
Design
Lay out the pathway from activities to impact, with the assumptions and risks on each link. Indicators sit on the results they measure, so the plan and the evidence stay connected.
Field-ready
What a MEAL team in Turkana or Mogadishu needs on a bad-network day.
Once the app has opened on a device, it keeps working without a network. Answers, drafts and changes wait on the device and sync when the connection returns. The copy on the device can be encrypted.
Import XLSForms and the data exports from KoboToolbox, ODK Central, SurveyCTO and CommCare, and export forms back to XLSForm. File based today; there is no live API connection yet.
One form can carry several languages. The desk itself is available in English, Kiswahili, Soomaali, French, Spanish and Arabic, and some screens are still being translated.
In a cloud workspace every change is written to an append-only log, with who made it and when. Records are archived, never deleted, so the history behind a figure stays intact.
Workspaces are kept apart by row-level security in the database. Each person's role decides what they see, and safeguarding cases are visible only to the focal point and administrators.
Draw a sample from a frame with a recorded seed and method. The frame's SHA-256 fingerprint is logged, so anyone can check the draw later.
An honest comparison
Kobo is excellent at collecting data. Most of the work after collection then happens in spreadsheets. That is where Amana RC differs.
| Task | Kobo + Excel | Amana RC |
|---|---|---|
| Collect offline | Yes: KoboCollect on Android and offline web forms | Yes: in the browser, once the app has opened on the device |
| Design forms | Form builder and XLSForm | Form builder, with XLSForm import and export |
| Indicators and targets | Kept in a separate spreadsheet | Built in and linked to the data |
| Approve figures | By email and file names | An approval step: only approved values count |
| Baseline vs endline | Formulas rebuilt for each round | Built in, with confidence intervals and breakdowns |
| Know which data a result used | Depends on how files are named | A named dataset version with a fingerprint |
| Write the report | Figures copied into Word by hand | Filled from approved figures, exported to Word and Excel |
| History of changes | Spreadsheet edits are usually not logged | Append-only audit log in cloud workspaces |
A mature Android app, a large community and many years in the field. You can keep collecting in Kobo: Amana RC imports its exports and XLSForms.
Pilot
A pilot is one real evaluation or monitoring round, in its own workspace, with your own team and a guided setup.
Choose a baseline, midline or endline survey, or a monitoring round. Its indicators, targets and forms go into one workspace.
Invite field staff, reviewers and managers. Each person gets a role, and what they can see and change follows it.
We set up the workspace with you and walk the team through offline collection, approving figures and exporting the report.
The button opens an email to sharahbill@ammanarc.com in your mail app. Nothing is sent until you press send.
FAQ
Yes, for field work. Once Amana RC has opened on a device, forms can be filled with no network. Answers are saved on the device and sync when the connection returns. Signing in and the first load need a connection.
Yes. Import your XLSForms and the data exports from KoboToolbox or ODK Central, and SurveyCTO or CommCare exports too. The exchange is by file today; there is no live API connection yet.
Forms can carry several languages, such as English, Kiswahili and Soomaali. The desk is available in English, Kiswahili, Soomaali, French, Spanish and Arabic; some screens are still being translated.
Only the people in your workspace, and only what their role allows. Workspaces are separated by row-level security in the database, and safeguarding cases are restricted to the focal point and administrators.
No. Records are archived, not deleted, and in a cloud workspace every change is written to an append-only audit log with who made it and when.
One real evaluation or monitoring round in its own workspace, with your team and a guided setup. Write to us with your organisation, country, evaluation type and team size, and we will reply with how a pilot would work for you.
A modern browser on a laptop, tablet or Android phone. There is nothing to install from an app store, and the app can be added to a phone's home screen.
Support
Questions about a workspace, sign-in or how Amana RC works? Write to us and we will get back to you.
Partnerships
If you would like to partner with Amana RC — as a consultancy, NGO, research institute or technology partner — tell us about your organisation and how you would like to work together.
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