Basile visited Tanzania to carry fieldwork research for my PhD, from September - November 2016.
My fieldwork took place in the Mtwara district (part of the Mtwara region), in Southern Tanzania. Prior to that, I had to stay for over a week to obtain working and resident permits in Dar Es Salaam. In Mtwara, I partnered with a team (two enumerators and one driver) from the Naliendele Agricultural Research Institute, a public research Institute very active in the area. The Institute has expertise in agricultural practices and research on many crops grown in the area (cashew, cassava, groundnut etc.), as well as a very good knowledge of the particular features of the region. On top of facilitating a fieldwork team, the Institute also provided institutional support (an office, internet connection, help with settling into an empty flat etc.), as well as personal help from Mr Bakari Kidunda, a local agricultural economist.
My aim with this fieldwork was to collect both quantitative and qualitative (albeit with a stronger focus on quantitative) data from farmers in the Mtwara rural district. The data collection process gave a special importance to a rather marginal crop in terms of academic research called the Bambara nut (which is a legume crop). Despite receiving limited research attention, this is an important crop to farmers, both economically and culturally. The aim of this research is twofold: first, to improve research on what are usually called ‘underutilised’ crops, and second, to assess whether there exist any significant socio-economic differences between farmers growing Bambara and farmers not growing it.
On the quantitative side, we decided to survey farmers in each ward within the Mtwara district in which growing Bambara is possible (soil conditions are not suitable in every ward for growing Bambara), which amounted to 16 wards. Within each ward, two villages were selected by the relevant agricultural extension officer, who then selected eight farmers in each village. Given that we wanted to learn as much as possible on Bambara farmers, we aimed at surveying five growers and three non-growers per village (rather than half-half). This target was often, but not always met. Indeed, in some villages there was some confusion regarding farmers’ selection process, and the balance was not always maintained. However, it was maintained in the majority of villages. In total, we surveyed 271 farmers across 32 villages. This gives me a precise agricultural quantitative dataset. For each farmer, we collected precise information on their crop mix during the previous season (2014/2015): which crops were grown, on what area, what harvest was obtained, how much of the output was stored (and how), and how much of the output was sold (and at what price). We further collected many socio-economic and demographic variables, as well as specific information regarding Bambara.
On the qualitative side, we conducted a series of four focus groups with a specific focus on Bambara. Four villages were selected to reflect the geographical and agricultural diversity of the district: one village along the coast (where fishing is the main source of income), one far inland and far from infrastructure networks, one close to the urban centre and well connected to it, and one close to infrastructures (i.e., good road) but not to the urban centre as such. During these focus groups, we enquired about farmers’ attitudes to Bambara. To be more precise, we explored the existing ‘taboos’ in some villages that inhibit the farming of Bambara. These are traditional beliefs that state that Bambara cannot be planted early, for it would delay the rainfall season. Other beliefs state that women on their period cannot pass by a Bambara plot, for it would dry up the production. We also enquired about how Bambara compares to other crops grown in the region, such as cassava, groundnut, or cowpeas to name a few. Finally, we also conducted a group interview at the Mtwara city central market. The idea was to obtain a ‘business’ opinion on Bambara, so we interviewed a group of three agricultural traders at the market. This allowed us to understand the commercial features of the crop and perceptions of individuals involved not in the farming of it, but in the buying and selling. Further, it allowed us to witness how Bambara is stored by traders.
Therefore, the output of this fieldwork is a fairly large quantitative dataset that reflects agricultural diversity in the Mtwara district, as well as qualitative precisions regarding agricultural practices and output marketing. The fieldwork went out well and no major problems arose. Minor issues such as ‘lost’ data during the pilot phase were inevitable, but these are not big problems. Conceptual issues also arose during quantitative data collection, because many farmers use different units of measurement, but these are hard to avoid, and we have tried to minimise their consequence by converting into kilograms whatever quantity was reported in another unit of measurement. Generally speaking, this fieldwork experience was of great benefit to me, not only for its immediate purpose, but also because it gave me a much better understanding of rural life in Tanzania, of agricultural practices and cultural norms that shape them. In that sense, this fieldwork benefits my whole PhD, which focuses on Tanzanian agriculture. It has also allowed me to practice Swahili a lot (I started learning it when commencing my PhD in September 2014), which will make potential future work in Tanzania easier to organise and implement.
With this mixed methods study, I hope to convey my analysis to a large public, beyond economics research audiences. Indeed, this work is at the intersection of economics, development studies, and agrarian and food studies. Therefore, I hope to be able to communicate my inter-disciplinary research in seminars, conferences and research groups with mixed. This work could also possibly be extended by a collaboration with researchers at the Crops for the Future Centre at the University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus, where several academics work on Bambara, from both the socio-economic and the biological aspect.
Visit Basile's profile at: www.nottingham.ac.uk/economics/people/basile.boulay
Posted on Tuesday 6th December 2016