ECHO is a global nonprofit that has worked for over 40 years to fight hunger by equipping small-scale farmers with sustainable agricultural practices. Through training, technical support, and seed distribution, ECHO empowers families and communities around the world to grow food and build resilience.
Each year, ECHO convenes its global network at the ECHO International Agriculture Conference and regional summits. Participants - often grassroots leaders working with subsistence farmers - attend practical training sessions on sustainable farming. But gathering meaningful feedback from attendees has always been difficult, especially in low-tech contexts like Burundi, where internet access is limited and online survey forms rarely succeed.
At the 2024 Summit in Burundi, ECHO integrated Simba’s WhatsApp-based surveys to capture feedback after training sessions and to run follow-up check-ins with participants. By meeting people on a platform they already use daily, ECHO was able to bypass connectivity and literacy barriers that hindered traditional survey methods.
Using Simba, ECHO achieved strong response rates and collected richer feedback than ever before. Trainers and participants shared candid reflections on session quality, learning outcomes, and areas for improvement. The organization now has a clearer picture of how its summits translate into on-the-ground impact and can use these insights to strengthen future training, track long-term outcomes, and better serve the communities at the heart of its mission.
ECHO uses Simba’s WhatsApp surveys to gather feedback at its agricultural summits, capturing candid insights from grassroots leaders in low-tech contexts like Burundi.
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