A Technical Guide for Collecting Farmers Social and Economic Data

The AfSIS project in its Objective 5 developed a method for conducting baseline surveys as the basis for generating knowledge on the involved farmers and their farming conditions. One of the aims of the project was to enhance farm productivity through a series of interventions and among the interventions was a documentation the farmers’ characteristics and practices and use the knowledge generated to determine the farmers preparedness to undertake effective soil and crop management. The technical guide presents a methodology that is generic across continents, countries and localities. The investigation method unpacks knowledge about the farmers farming conditions, agronomic practices, wealth status, access to knowledge, access to other needed resources, access to cash, as well as their access to markets. The details presented in the book include field data collection methods, a synthesis of the specific approaches including steps, questionnaire, training of the data collectors, the use of a GPS to locate the farm location in the field and thereafter the data coding, entry and analysis to produce knowledge on the status of the population of the farmers surveyed.