Rwanda - Rwanda Seasonal Agriculture Survey 2016

Start	End	Cycle
2015-11-05	2016-01-27	Season A
2016-03-08	2016-06-30	Season B
2016-09-13	2016-10-02	Season C

Face-to-face [f2f]
The 2016 SAS used 118 enumerators grouped in 35 field teams and 28 team leaders. All fieldwork staff in 2016 possesses a degree in Agronomy Science and was trained before starting data collection. Higher level supervision staff from NISR visited the field teams during each phase of data collection to ensure quality control.

Enumerators and Team leaders had adequate materials composed of Enumerator's Instruction manual, Screening questionnaire, Farm questionnaires, Measuring tapes, Ruler, Pens, Pencils, Calculator, Weighing scales, Global Positioning System (GPS), Personal Data System (PDA), Maps, Rain coats, Boots, Umbrella, First aid equipment, etc. Each team was assigned a vehicle.

Before proceeding to the field, enumerators and their team leaders checked if they had all required materials for their fieldwork. All staff was required to arrive early on the field (Segment or LSF). Upon arrival in the field, the enumerators and their team Leaders took the related geographical coordinates that were used by supervisors to know the real starting time of the fieldwork.

The next step was the segment delineation or LSF and taking of geographical coordinates for the identified landmarks to allow supervisors to check if the segment was delineated appropriately and to ensure the collected data related to the plots inside the appropriate segment or LSF.

There were two types of questionnaires used for this survey namely Screening questionnaire and farm questionnaires.

A Screening Questionnaire was used to collect information that enabled identification of an Agricultural Operator or Large Scale Farmer and his or her land use.
Farm questionnaires were of two types:
a) Phase I Farm Questionnaire was used to collect data on characteristics of Agricultural Operators, crop identification and area, inputs (seeds, fertilizers, labor, …) for Agricultural Operators and large scale farmers.
b) Phase 2 Farm questionnaire was used in the collection of data on crop production and use of production.

It is important to mention that all these Farm Questionnaires were subjected to two/three rounds of data quality checking. The first round was conducted by the enumerator and the second round was conducted by the team leader to check if questionnaires had been well completed by enumerators.
For season C, after screening, an interview was conducted for each selected tract/Agricultural Operator using one consolidated Farm questionnaire.
All the surveys questionnaires used were published in both English and Kinyarwanda languages.

Name	Abbreviation	Affiliation
National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda	NISR	Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning

The survey used 118 Enumerators organised around 35 field teams and 28 team leaders giving a ratio of one team leader to 4 Enumerators.

At the bottom of the hierarchy, there are enumerators who would be assisted by a team leader also known as a controller. His/ her main function is to introduce the enumerators to the various key people from the sector to the villages leaders up to operators in the Secondary Sampling Unit (known as Segment), and assist enumerators during the whole course of the survey

A higher level supervision staff from NISR visited the field teams during each phase of data collection to ensure quality control.
Responsibilities of a Team Leader is to manage the interviewers to ensure successful completion and quality of data collected in a given time period for the fieldwork.

He/she was expected to record information about the fieldwork by completing the fieldwork forms, which track the status of completion of the work in the field, document problems in the field and solutions taken to resolve these problems, and track the data entry process. Specifically, his/her tasks included:

1. Introduce the survey and interviewers at local level where the survey is administered.
2. Review questionnaires and check that it has been correctly filled in.
3. Monitor and attend some interviews and make comments on the worker's performance.
4. Meet frequently with each member of the group to discuss, improve and organize work.
5. Check the availability of all the necessary items before going on field.
6. Help workers to solve the problems they encounter in dealing with respondents who are not responsive to questions or refuse to be interviewed.
7. Manage the team's work schedule, including tracking questionnaires completed in the field, questionnaires assigned to the data entry team, and questionnaires that require correction by interviewers.
8. Make sure all the big farmers are identified and surveyed.
9. Communicate with NISR/MINAGRI staff, regarding field issues, as necessary.
He/she was responsible for helping the interviewers to identify the segments and tracts that have been allocated to them, resolving any problems with reluctant operators observing interviews and making checks by visiting the operators after the survey to verify data.