One of the key elements within any project is monitoring and evaluation. This allows us to know if the objective of the project is being met and if there is any significant impact. In order to gather the necessary information we administer questionnaires to beneficiaries of the project. Below are pictures of a visit to a fish farm to complete a questionnaire:

The team being introduced to the owner of the fish farm, she was the first female Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives in Lagos state (the Lady in blue)

One of the collapsible fish tanksThe questionnaire being administeredThat’s me in the black blazer 🙂

I was part of the team that put together the questionnaire although I joined at the very end, like one minute to printing. Nevertheless this is what I learnt, it is one thing to seat in the comfort of your office and conjure up grand questions and it is another thing to go out in the field and appreciate the realities of administering a questionnaire. My experience on the field taught me that questions should be as simple and straight forward as possible. It must not be very direct at all times and you must understand the mind-set of the farmers. It’s important for you to appreciate the realities of the farmers and connect with the farmers and enumerators on their level for the exercise to be successful.

In conclusion the next-gen African Farmers might not necessarily be farmers, but they must understand farmers in terms of their requirements, life style, aspirations and expectations. They must be able to connect and communicate with them in an efficient and productive way. The next-gen African farmer must be a team player and have a holistic view of the chosen area of specialty

Have you had the opportunity of putting together a questionnaire and administering it? I would like to read about your experience and lessons learned.

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