Sharing local knowledge

Abstract

Researchers now use information & communications technology (ICT) to gather information more effectively from the field. Smartphones and tablets are now used frequently in agricultural and rural research. IITA did a baseline survey on occupational health and safety in 2012 among 420 adult cocoa farmers in Ghana without using paper. All phones were equipped with a special data SIM card, normally used in USB sticks for mobile broadband. This kind of SIM card only allows outgoing data connections, thereby effectively preventing misuse of credit by enumerators for calls or SMS messages. An alternative approach is Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing, a similar methodology that uses laptops, netbooks or tablets as an interface during the interview process. With relatively highly trained enumerators this allows for even the most complicated and in-depth (multi-hour) household surveys to be administered with a maximum amount of support for the enumerator.