Learning about the needs of households and traders in Nigeria to understand the difficulties they face

Over the last thirteen years, parts of northeastern Nigeria have endured prolonged insurgency. Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states have been the most affected. Over 2 000 000 people have been displaced and the lives of many more have been impacted. In order to understand the impacts of these shocks on livelihoods and food security, enumerators, like Deborah Bwala, travel around the region to conduct face-to-face interviews. 

Deborah, who was born and raised in Borno State and studied agriculture at the University of Maiduguri, has worked for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) since 2018. Before joining FAO, Deborah worked as an enumerator in the humanitarian world conducting assessments all over Borno State.

^{Deborah conducts interviews in Borno where she is from and neighbouring states and communities. This provides great advantages because she understands the culture of the household members and can speak the local language. ©FAO}

Deborah was drawn to enumeration because of her interest in gaining information from the field and learning from household members about the difficulties they face. She conducts interviews both in the area of Borno where she is from and neighbouring states and communities. This provides great advantages because Deborah understands the culture of the household members and she can speak the local language. This firsthand knowledge gives Deborah “more insight beyond the questions being asked in the field”.

DIEM

Deborah just finished conducting interviews for a Data in Emergencies (DIEM) Monitoring assessment in Yobe State. Data in Emergencies was established in 2020 as a way to better understand the impact of shocks on agricultural livelihoods in countries facing food crisis. DIEM-Monitoring provides a regularly updated and highly accessible picture of agricultural livelihoods and food insecurity through data collection in more than 25 countries. The assessment that Deborah participated in was conducted in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states and targeted agro input traders to understand input supply and access. The actionable data obtained by Deborah and the other enumerators will inform FAO interventions in both emergency and non‑emergency contexts.  

As an enumerator, Deborah has to be both adaptable and able to think quickly on her feet. She often has to “probe the respondent to understand how something has become a challenge to their business”. Deborah also notices the advantages that she has as a female enumerator. In Borno State, women do not always feel at ease speaking to men. Deborah is able to conduct interviews in female-headed households with ease, ensuring that the respondent feels safe and comfortable opening up. On the other hand, some men do not feel comfortable speaking to women. Oftentimes Deborah will have to conduct interviews through a middleman, a unique challenge faced by female enumerators in this part of the world.

While technology continues to advance, introducing new methods for data collection, Deborah hopes that future generations of humanitarians stick to an integrated approach. Deborah is drawn to the human connection that face-to-face interviews provide because “you can read body language and verify some of the answers by physically looking around you”. While this human connection is necessary, Deborah recommends that technology be brought to the field to create balance with the work conducted face-to-face.

Working with FAO has exposed Deborah to new people and helped her to make new friends. Deborah notes that this work has “given me the chance to have an impact in other people’s lives and has also improved my communication skills”. 

No matter what

^{Enumerators are a vital component of humanitarian response as they are able to find out directly from households about their needs contributing to decision making and programming. ©FAO}