From March 01 to 14, 20 surveyors, including 09 women, were trained at SAILD’s Maroua and Bertoua branches. This was a prelude to a survey that will assess the level of appropriation of agroecology in the Far North and East regions of Cameroon.
The “AgroEcology+” project implemented by the Support Service for Local Development Initiatives (SAILD) aims to contribute to the food and nutritional security of the populations of Far North and East Cameroon through the scaling-up of agroecology. To take better account of the needs of the population in these regions, SAILD’s primary activity is a field survey.
To this end, some twenty interviewers, including nine women, were selected for data collection in the two target regions. To ensure efficient work, these men and women had their skills reinforced during training workshops organized by SAILD. Over a two-week period, they were trained to understand the project’s indicators, the concepts specific to agroecological approaches and the mechanisms for marketing agroecological products..
500 small producers surveyed
For Kevin Boucheke, a member of the project team, the stakeholders have been adequately equipped. “It was imperative that these investigators learn about the project as a whole in order to work more effectively. In each region, training took place over two days, the first of which was devoted to presenting the project, the survey objectives, the questionnaires and the key concepts covered,” he explained.
The second day of training also “helped interviewers get to grips with the tools, by introducing them to the questionnaires in KOBOCOLLECT”, he added. The SAILD staff also saw their skills reinforced for effective monitoring of the interviewers’ deployment. In addition, simulation sessions were held with small-scale producers from the target localities, to simulate the levels of difficulty the interviewers would face during data collection.
In all, almost 500 small-scale producers and traders were interviewed and assessed on their perception of agroecological practices, entrepreneurial practices and green product marketing mechanisms. The actual data collection from the populations of the Far North and East regions of Cameroon is scheduled to take place over the coming months.
- Sharon Maché
