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This data is from a study conducted on informal food retail in three of Ghana’s cities – Accra, Kumasi and Tamale. The aim of the survey is to gather information on the livelihoods of these traders, the challenges they face, and the governance constraints they encounter, especially those selling different types of food products. Interviews with 1,214 informal food vendors – 474 in Accra, 516 in Kumasi, and 310 in Tamale – across 4-7 markets in each city, allow for a better understanding of the role of informal food vendors as a key component of agricultural transformation and food security, while also examining how their treatment by government officials affects their own food security and their ability to facilitate agricultural transformation. The survey is split into 11 survey modules:

1. Sampling (SA) – preliminary characteristics of the informal food trader
2. General Information (ID) – basic demographic, educational and household background information
3. Employment (EM) – details on current job
4. Business (BS) – information on business management and the associated fees paid to operate
5. Taxes and Fees (TX) – range of fees and taxes paid and the benefits received from those payments
6. Government Engagement (GE) – type and level of interaction between government officials and food traders
7. Food Safety and Food Security (FS) – awareness of food safety and source of personal food
8. Service Delivery and Accountability (SD) – services offered in the market and who could best deliver them
9. Public Participation and Associational Membership (PP) – involvement in different associations and participation in public and community affairs
10. Household Welfare (HW) – details on household assets and services
11. Final (FI) – enumerator observations

This survey data is openly accessible from here.

The Papua New Guinea (PNG) Household Survey on Food Systems is a multi-topic survey designed to investigate the food systems of rural households in four lowland areas of  PNG and how they assure sufficient food to meet the nutritional needs of their household members.

The survey was implemented in East Sepik (Maprik), Sandaun / West Sepik (Nuku), and Madang (Middle Ramu) provinces (districts) and the Autonomous Region of Bougainville (ARoB - Buin and Siwai areas of Southern Bougainville). A total of 1,026 households were surveyed. The survey set out to achieve two goals: 1) use the household survey results to inform agricultural productivity, enhanced food security, child nutrition outcomes; and 2) collect baseline data for recently development programs supported by World Vision (WV). The rural household survey includes modules on:

1. Household characteristics (demographics, education, migration, etc.)

2. Agricultural production (crop production, use of household labor, etc.)

3. Household assets (production equipment and consumer durables, livestock ownership, and housing quality)

4. Income apart from own agricultural activities (wage employment, own business activities, and income transfers and gifts)

5. Consumption and expenditures (nonfood expenditures, food consumption, and dietary diversity)

6. Economic shocks and food insecurity (perceptions of poverty, recent food insecurity, and health and nutrition extension)

7. Gender roles and social expectations (asked separately for men and women)

8. Female health (pregnancy care and breastfeeding practices)

9. Child health (healthcare, vaccinations, and anthropometry)

This survey data is openly accessible from here.

Extension and advisory services are a critical component of rural development and have been shown to contribute to the reduction of hunger and poverty, increase adoption of improved technologies, and increase productivity and capacity of clientele. In the past 20 years, extension has changed from technology-focused, public services-dominated, transfer of technology approaches to a much broader scope with many different actors from the private and civil society sectors. Since these major changes occurred in advisory services, no global assessment has been done on the status of programs, staffing, capacities, and financing. The last (and only) time these data were collected was in 1988 under the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (Swanson, Farner, and Bahal 1990).

The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), working in collaboration with the University of Illinois (UIUC), FAO, and the Global Forum for Rural Advisory Services (GFRAS), developed the Worldwide Extension Study database as part of the assessment of the status of agricultural extension and advisory services worldwide between 2009-2013. Also collaborating were the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), the Danish Agricultural Advisory Services (DAAS), and the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD). The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) supported the work. This database is now available publicly and can be accessed from here.