A research team in the Equitable Education and Economies (EEE) reached a key milestone in the 2023 status report on agrarian livelihoods. To prepare for the collection of survey data from farm workers and small farmers, a lively and intensive week of fieldworker training was held in the Cape Town office of the HSRC. Tshintsha Amakhaya (TA), the project funder and chief beneficiary, requested the EEE-team to also train their own fieldworkers who reside in the 12 districts where the survey will be administered.
Figure 1: Fieldwork training participants and partners, Cape Town HSRC -09 to 13 October 2023
This TA request demanded an adaptation of traditional instruction-based models of capacitating enumerators. Training followed a participatory approach to ensure a comprehensive understanding of the survey instrument by all participants for its accurate administration. Additionally, the training equipped fieldworkers with a deeper understanding of the research process at various stages, emphasizing the critical value of accurate data collection for research. Throughout the training, the EEE-team prioritized skills transfers to participants from remote localities across targeted study districts. The training blended theory and its practical application, which include engaging in roleplay exercises, translating the survey tools (such as enumerator guides and consent forms) from English into the other 10 official languages, and gaining proficiency in data capture techniques using REDCAP, a digital tool for survey data collection.
Tshintsha Amakhaya (TA), an alliance of land and agrarian rights civil society groups, commissioned the EEE team with expertise on climate dynamics, land and agrofood systems research to conduct the 2023 survey. For more information about this study, please visit: https://hsrc.ac.za/news/latest-news/landmark-study-kicks-off-investigating-how-south-african-agrarian-households-work-and-live/
Data collection phases to kick off
The HSRC invites small farmers, farmworkers and farm dwellers to participate in the study over the next few weeks. See below for all the details:
