Getting Started on the Portfolio Analysis for CGIAR New Project ‘Climate Security’

I have been helping as part of a group of four to build a portfolio review for the Climate Security project, the aim of the process is to categories CGIAR contributions to peace by reviewing literature, coding and entering data to be able to use the data to map and categories CGIAR contributions.

At the end of April, I took part in a week long training and testing week with Zulia, who is also on the CCAFS masters course, which was over seen by two of CIAT Climate Security members. During that week we did data entry training on the process base of the protocol, as well as several testing rounds to ensure we understood the process and identify and address issues or missing points in the procedure, data frames and codes, as well as to make sure that codes, categories and terminologies are understood by all and used in a consistent way. The testing week also was beneficial in helping practicing entries to build a faster pace to be able to increase the number of entries achieved in a day / week. 

We have now started entering that data into the master file by downloading the selected sources to examine and extracting relevant data. We are always doing weekly cross-checks, where each individual checks another member’s entries for errors, this is to help identify any issues or misunderstandings and improve the consistency of data entry among collaborators. The aim is to have it finished by the end of May.