Survey preparation involves several essential steps before conducting a survey. CGIAR’s Regional Initiative on Transforming Agrifood Systems in South Asia (TAFSSA) is preparing to conduct a local agrifood systems survey, which aims to establish a body of evidence that connects agricultural production, market access, eating habits, climate change adaptation measures, and sustainable management of natural resources across several South Asian countries, including Bangladesh.
Last month, under TAFSSA, researchers and a local survey firm, Data Analysis and Technical Assistance (DATA), trained 100 data collectors for TAFSSA’s upcoming local agrifood systems survey. Afterward, on February 19-20, 2023, TAFSSA team members visited the field to monitor another essential step of the survey process –household listing. This part of survey preparation helps researchers quickly gather fundamental household information and identify eligible households for a specific survey. Starting on February 19, DATA began identifying households from 50 randomly selected villages in the northern districts of Rajshahi and Rangpur in Bangladesh.
What kind of households is TAFSSA aiming to gather data from in its local agrifood systems assessment? Rural households, with a particular focus on those with adolescents because the future of food systems relies heavily on young people. This is because their aspirations, involvement in farming and other food-related activities, and dietary habits can shape food systems moving forward.
DATA is working closely with village leaders to produce village maps, which will be used to distribute the households across the data collectors for the listing exercise. In Bangladesh, the assessment will be implemented in a subset of TAFSSA learning locations, including 16 upazilas (sub-districts) in Rangpur and Rajshahi districts. After households are listed, a random sample of eligible households are invited to participate in the survey.
Additional information on the local agrifood systems assessment approach and design can be found here. For more information on TAFSSA, please visit the official TAFSSA website.