SIERRA LEONE maq 4ª.indd - agrilife - Europa

5 Survey Methodology
In this section, the methodological approach
followed to set up the farm-level survey in selected
rural areas of Sierra Leone is fully described.
Equally, the technical evaluation followed to
analyze the performance of smallholders (in terms
of economic viability, productivity and degree
of achieved food security) is presented in detail.
Sub-section 5.1 introduces the area surveyed, the
sample selection mechanism, the data collection
process and the main collected variables. Subsection
5.2 addresses the key theoretical concepts
and calculation procedures which guide the
analysis of the survey quantitative data.
5.1 Study Area
The aim of the survey is to identify the
major factors that may contribute to improving
Figure 19. The five districts identified for the survey
Souce: Own elaboration
Northern districts: Bombali and Tonkolili.
Eastern districts: Kono, Kailahun and Kenema.
the economic viability and productivity of
smallholders in the context of rural poverty
alleviation. As discussed in Section 4, the USTP
financed activities based on this precise aim in
five districts belonging to the Northern and Eastern
regions of Sierra Leone. For this reason, the survey
is conducted in the same regions which represent
the key components of the national agricultural
sector. On the one hand, tree crops found mainly
in the Eastern districts, are a major source of
income and foreign exchange; on the other hand,
rice, the national staple food, is the dominant crop
in the Northern districts. The five districts selected
for the survey are illustrated in Figure 19.
In the survey (as in the case of the STABEX
funded development programmes), special focus
was granted to the following types of agricultural
areas (and associated cropping systems):
Rural poverty reduction and food security: The case of smallholders in Sierra Leone
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