Author: Allan Ligare

Allan Ligare read Environmental Science at Makerere University, Uganda from 2005 to 2008. He is a trained Disaster manager and Conflict assessment and resolution expert. having undergone an intensive hands-on course at the Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS) and the United States Institute of Peace (USIP). He has undertaken tasks with great organizations in Humanitarian work, Banking and Oil and Gas industries. He has a passion for nature and the beautiful human modifications that make it better. He loves reading, writing and thinking; then writing some more.
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The “Time-bottlenecks” in Research Integrity and Validity

Focus Group Discussion exercise

According to USAID research standards, quality data must exhibit five key attributes, V-TRIP; i.e. Validity, Timeliness, Reliability, Integrity and Precision.

Valid data is data that shows a true representation of the measure of interest (indicator), and its changes can credibly be associated with the interventions in question. It should be free of sampling and non-sampling errors. The validity of data is achieved by developing proper data collection tools and their subsequent effective use during the data collection exercise. Soon after the exercise, the integrity of the data in question must be protected, and this is often linked to the capabilities of the management system in place to reduce the possibility of introducing bias either by transcription error or deliberate manipulation during data entry and cleaning.

In reality though, isn’t this just idealism? During a data collection exercise, there are usually many factors in play that may hinder the collection of valid data. Therefore, what follows data collection is often putting in hard work on preserving the integrity of invalid data.

The challenge does not start at the field but from the planning of a research exercise, and most of it has to do with time. There are key areas that are associated with the issue of time that must be dealt with precisely to avoid these “time-bottlenecks”. I conducted a mini-research for purposes of getting opinions and experiences (basically qualitative in nature) from fellow researchers and here are some of the concerns raised:-

1.    Training period. Proper planning ultimately determines the level of success of any given project. Therefore, it is advisable to spend as much time as needed to prepare, so that on execution every possible angle of challenges and risks will have been mitigated or prepared for. Training of enumerators is part of planning. Spending only a day on training enumerators who are going to carry out a seven day survey only to end up getting 50% of the responses wrong doesn’t make sense. Wouldn’t it be wiser to spend two days on training and increase the precision and validity of collected data to 90%? Release enumerators to the field only when you are sure they will bring you, not good but excellent data.

2.    Data collection period. A questionnaire that takes an hour during a mock survey in the training venue will not take the same amount of time in the field. It will take probably a half an hour more. Therefore it is not logical to expect an enumerator to bring back eight questionnaires at the end of the day. The plan must consider sampling method used and time of travel to access target participants. All these are about TIME. If you give unreasonable targets the enumerator will use unethical means (compromised integrity) to reach the target and the result will most likely affect the validity of the data.

3.    Sample size versus daily target. Often, the aspect of bias and assumption among enumerators comes in when they have had to ask the same questions over and over and keep getting the same answers. By the time they are administering the one-hour-long, fifth questionnaire of the day they have basically switched to ‘auto-drive-mode’. What they do is to assume responses to some questions will be similar to what they got before and therefore they do not pose these questions to the respondent but fill in the assumed response. This is also reported to happen whenever respondents look unsettled, seem to be in a rush or when the enumerator is tired, feels like they are far from reaching set daily target or are running out of time as the day concludes.

Is it possible to deal with these “time bottlenecks” to beat the issue of validity and integrity at the level of data collection?

Several suggestions were put across but there was no single standing solution. The suggested approaches must be combined to move from 90% that can be achieved with proper planning, to 98%. First of all sufficient time must be allocated and used in the planning phase. Train, carry out mock-survey, re-train, pre-test with a sample of targeted respondents then re-train. Ask questions and engage trainees.  It helps in gauging their level of understanding of the tool, their confidence on the tool and their level of preparation to undertake the exercise. Do not depend on getting phone calls to clarify issues for enumerators after deployment to field. Network reception may be terrible or something else may render it impossible to communicate, then enumerators will make-do with guesswork.  Attain an excellent mark before deployment. 

Secondly, allocate sufficient time for the survey. Don’t give unreasonable targets because enumerators will hit the target but will deliver invalid data. It was also suggested that sound recording would be a great tool for confirming validity.

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Ecosystem-Based Adaptation for Food Security Assembly

One speaker, Mr. Michael O’Brian of Green Peace Africa said “If there was an Olympics Competition for Policy drafting between continents, Africa would win hands down”. All conference participants burst out in laughter, but not because it was funny. The reason is because it is true. We are very good at drafting policy documents, but devoid of action.

The Plenary_2nd Africa EBAFOSC
The Plenary_2nd Africa EBAFOSC

Delegates__2nd Africa EBAFOSC
Delegates__2nd Africa EBAFOSC

The Drafting committee_2nd Africa EBAFOSC
The Drafting committee_2nd Africa EBAFOSC

 

 

 

 

 

 

Like I had informed you earlier, the ‘2nd Africa Ecosystem Based Adaptation for Food Security Conference 2015’  ended with adoption of  “Nairobi Action Agenda on Africa”   and a “Constitution of the Ecosystem-Based Adaptation for Food Security Assembly” symbolized the official start of the “Ecosystem-Based Adaptation for Food Security Assembly (EBAFOSA)”. We hope this time we are going to be a continent of action.

Follow the links below to read the declaration and constitution:

  1. THE NAIROBI ACTION AGENDA ON AFRICA 31072015.pdf
  2. CONSTITUTION – EBAFOSA FINAL 31072015.pdf
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Ecosystem Based Agriculture for Food Security Conference 2015

I had the opportunity to attend the ‘2nd Africa Ecosystem Based Adaptation for Food Security Cnference 2015’ held at the UN complex Gigiri, Nairobi Kenya on 30th and 31st July 2015. There were over 1200 invited attendees, comprising of dignitaries, professionals, farmers and students.

2nd Africa EbA Conference
2nd Africa EbA Conference

A Major concern of the conference was addressing the continent’s transecting challenge of

hunger and malnutrition in the growing and increasingly young unemployed population, in the face of climate change. The conference intended to showcase how, by investing in its ecosystems and working with nature, Africa can climate proof its food production systems and achieve sustainable agricultural productivity hence enhance food security under the changing climate; and how, by investing in value addition process along the agro-value chain, potential opportunities for employment for the youth are created.

Here are some powerful quotes from some of the speakers;

“Imagine Africa without hunger, poverty, malnutrition, obesity…” Dr. Patrick Kormawa , FAO SRC Eastern & Rep to AU, ECA

“It is not the analysis that we need at this time, we need to go beyond that. We need to take action.” Dr. Cosmas Ochieng, Executive Director, ACTS

”It is within the power of our generation to sort out the challenges of food security in Africa” Dr. Cosmas Ochieng, Executive Director, ACTS

”From a youth perspective? It is our time now. The youth should take over” Youth Delegate from South Africa

”Let us not just speak about what the government can do for us, what the private sector can do for us.. We must be self determining” Alice Kaudia , Environment Secretary. Min. of Environment Kenya

The Drafting Committee_2nd Africa EbA Conference
The Drafting Committee_2nd Africa EbA Conference

Food Security, as defined by World Food Summit is the condition where all people at all times have social, economic and physical access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary and preferential needs for an active and healthy life. Africa has an immense agricultural potential. It is estimated that about 65% of the world’s arable land and 10% of internal renewable fresh water sources are in Africa, yet;

  • About 240 million people (25%) in Africa go to bed hungry and over 200million people suffer the debilitating symptoms of chronic to severe malnutrition. (UN-FAO)
  • 6million tones of grain annually are lost due to degraded ecosystems. These are enough to meet annual calorific needs for 30million people.
  • Sub-Saharan Africa loses food worth up to USD4billion annually (about 23% of field harvests), enough to feed 48million people per annum in Post harvest losses (PHLs) due to inadequate financial and structural resources for proper harvesting, storage and transportation, as well as unfavorable climatic conditions for food storage. (UN FAO)
  • Africa’s annual food import bill is over USD35 billion. Imports exceed exports by 30%.
  • In Africa, a 10% increase in crop yields translates to approximately a 7% reduction in poverty, according to the World Bank.

Very interesting facts there. The road to Food Security in Africa, it is believed, lies with the adoption of the Ecosystem based Adaptation driven Agricultural strategies that aim not only at maintaining but also improving the fertility and productivity of ecosystems which often include traditional practices such as conservation agriculture, crop rotation, inter-cropping and biological pest control.

The delegates summarized the conference with strong resolutions to achieve Food Security in Africa, adopting the “Nairobi Action Agenda on Africa’s Ecosystem Based Adaptation for Food Security” declaration. The chief guest  H.E. Mrs. Rhoda Peace Tumusiime, Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture of the Africa Union Commission closed the conference with a strong message; ”Together we can build the Africa we want”.

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Beans Farming in Narok; Lessons on Planting, Weeding and Pest Control

I will give you a very brief description of the lessons we learnt on planting weeding and pest control because. Take them very seriously. This phase of crop cultivation is what really determines whether you will reap bountifully or not.

  • By all means, select your seeds well. Seek help from available agricultural institutions/practitioners if you aren’t sure. If you cannot get certified seeds, get the ones that you can but take you time to sort them well, selecting the healthy, undamaged ones for planting. Good quality seed means high quality produce.
  • If possible, pre-spray a broad spectrum herbicide two days before planting. This will go a long way into saving you the trouble of dealing with the weed menace when your crops germinate. Even if weeds grow later, you will have more time concentrating on improving yield rather than controlling weeds. Remember that more weeds means more pests, so if you are going to wait to deal with weeds later, you sure will have to deal with very destructive pests harbored in there at the same time. If you destroy weeds and leave pests, they will have only crops to feed on.
  • Do a good research on modes of planting. I will tell you for sure that so far, in Narok, there is no planter for beans. They lie to you that they have but truth is that they are using the maize planter. The gauge (spacing and number of seeds) will not be right. Available planters are for wheat and maize. Last year (2014) I cultivated 10acres of beans and used people (manual laborers). I did not regret.
  • When planning to spray, whether herbicide, fertilizer or pesticide, consult agricultural experts if you aren’t sure what chemical to use. It is also wise to decide early whether you want to use a tractor or knapsack sprayer. Whatever you choose to use, consult the operator on the amount of water they normally use on an acre of land or per drum used. It will help you make closer approximations on the amount of chemical(s) to buy for your job.
  • Do not do things in a hurry. Plan well your timing and finances. It will cost you much if you delay in carrying out any particular measure, be it weeding or any other. Close monitoring of crop is critical and so is quick decision making. Delays will cost you.
  • If you come across a situation, be it weeds, pests or disease invasion that you do not comprehend well, a photograph can help when you are seeking help from an expert. Make use of your smart phone.

 

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Beans Farming in Narok; Germination, Weeds and Pest Control

We kept in contact with our landlord, checking on the beans’ progress for two weeks before we traveled back to Narok. The rains had disappeared ever since we put seeds in the ground, and we were getting worried. Last year had been bad news, the rains had started well but after a week and a half they disappeared for good. Farmers in Narok did not harvest anything, literally. The cultivated wheat became livestock food. The beans withered and fed soils with their humus.

So there we were, worried that we were going to face same catastrophic fate. Our beans had germinated, but not very well. There were gaps, areas that had not germinated at all. We went digging randomly along the planting strips and our only relief was seeing the bean seeds still lying in the soil desolate but hopeful. We prayed for rains. It was the best we could do.

Then there was this other disappointment concerning the spacing; the strips were almost a foot and a half apart, maybe even two. You could see a whole lot of space inhabited by very healthy weeds, wasted. Weeds occupied greater space than crop, a sore sight. We reminisced how we had asked those planter guys whether they had used right ratio and spacing, and how they swore that it was the correct bean planter setting.

We left, and it wasn’t until after another week that it rained for the first time. The rains were so heavy that the entire farm was flooded. From that day on it continued pounding like it was paying up for disappointing farmers the previous year, and early this season. There were reports of flooding in Narok town, and the big damages caused by waters trying to find their way into the Enkare-Narok river. The heavy rains and resulting floods lasted for weeks and it was wise to stay away from that town until they subsided. The next time we visited was weeks later, and alas! The farm was all green and pretty. Most of the beans had germinated well, but you couldn’t miss to notice how choked they were by weeds.

C360_2015-06-18-13-13-04-429 C360_2015-06-18-12-47-31-403 C360_2015-06-18-12-42-37-081

 

 

 

Common weeds in Narok

It was only given then that we had to weed the farm to save our crop. After consulting the, and with consideration on costs and time, we chose to use herbicides instead of doing the manual weeding. 32 acres of land with that amount of weeds would take a whole month to dig out, and at Kes. 3,000 per acre would cost a whooping Kes.96,000. However, having chosen to use a herbicide, we were advised to get “Beans Clean”, a broad spectrum herbicide that is selective on beans only. An agricultural officer advised us to use 1.5litres of the chemical in every 200litres of water. Ideally the entire farm was to be sprayed using 2600litres of water. The summary of cost for spraying was as below:-

  • 20litres of Bean Clean@1200= 24000 – (11litres@1200)= 10800
  • Labour (spraying using the engine pump) at Kes.300 per acre = 9600
  • Water supply at Kes.15 per 20litre can= 675 (we used 900litres of water)

You notice that we only use 900litres of water against the predicted 2600litres. That is one ambiguity that puzzles me till today. This is my fourth year in farming but not once have we ever used the predicted amount of water while spraying. That should also tell you that we only used a few bottles of herbicides, nine to be precise. We had to sell the remaining 11 bottles with the help of the agro-vet shop we’d bought them from; and you guessed right, that took quite a number of weeks. Sad truth is that this herbicide did not work very well and as usual there were a myriad of excuses from all corners. The agro-vet guy told us the weeds had grown too strong and we sprayed quite late. The fact however was that spraying against herbicide in so much rain would have been useless. Other people said the guys who sprayed did a shoddy job. When things go wrong there are many local doctors around with all sorts of ‘solutions’.

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Images of  Mature weeds on some parts of the farm even after spraying

About three weeks later we came back to spray liquid fertilizer and insecticide as we had been reliably informed that worms had invaded the crop. After looking at the farm we decided against using fertilizer. By then the weeds were flourishing, and adding fertilizer would only invigorate their growth. Our beans weren’t doing so bad, but the worms had done quite some damage.

C360_2015-06-18-12-15-42-012IMG-20150714-WA0004 IMG-20150714-WA0003

 

 

 

Images; Bean leaves damaged by caterpillars

Pesticide cost 1000 per liter, and we used 5litres in 1200 litres of water. The worms were surely eradicated, thankfully. So far that was the single most successful activity we had undertaken, maybe because this time we did it differently. We split the farm into three portions of about 10 acres each and gave strict instructions for spraying to be done on each strip on three different days unlike the herbicide that was done in about four hours the entire 32 acres.

As I write this, the beans are mature, and have started turning (ripening) for harvest. We can only wait to see how much harvest we shall get. Good thing is that we have a ready market, one thing that most people forget to work on till it is harvesting time. A few lessons were learnt over the period between after planting to date, and those will be my main discussion in the next article “Beans Farming in Narok; Lessons on Weeding and Pests”

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