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The initial step of the scoping and preparation phase involves a kickoff meeting where the data collection team gathers essential information using the contextualisation form (you can find this sheet in the first tab of the survey builder). This meeting aims to:
  • Introduce the different parties involved in the Living Income Price (LIP) analysis.
  • Present the survey content, discussing specific data needs for the particular context with the local partner.
  • Review and fill out the contextualisation form.
The contextualisation form is designed to efficiently gather the required information to properly tailor the survey to the local context and avoid missing any critical context details for field data collection. It serves several key purposes:
  • Defines the scope criteria (see table below).
  • Adjusts the survey to reflect local contexts, such as customising multiple-choice answers to enhance data quality and reduce outliers.
  • Provides contextual validation for data, offering insights into reasonable ranges for specific variables like farmgate prices.
The responsibility to fill out the contextualisation form ideally sits with the local partner that actively works with the farmers and knows the context. If needed, a local agronomic expert can be involved to ensure survey relevance.

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Scope Criteria of Data Collection

FactorScope
Population definitionSmallholder farmers**
Sample sizeSee sampling section later in this chapter (uses population-based approach)
GeographyDefine the specific areas (e.g. provinces, districts…)
Focus crop1 focus crop
Reference periodThe last 12 months → Important to properly calculate the LIP and compare with the Living Income benchmark (also based on 1 year)
**Smallholders are defined by the producers, as the definition of smallholder varies per country and crop.

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Filling Out the Contextualisation Form

The contextualisation form has two main parts: 1. Survey context, which transforms a generic survey template to a context specific survey, with the correct multiple choice options and both questions and structure adjusted to the focus crop. The goal here is to essentially customise the choices for multiple-choice questions, to best reflect what farmers may commonly answer and improve the relevance of the responses. With most questions, farmers also have the option to answer “Other” after which they will be prompted to specify what they meant. This means that it is not necessary to input every single possible answer, but rather the most common ones, which are likely to be answered by multiple farmers. The contextualisation sheet further includes hints and prompts to provide further guidance. 2. Parameter value part, which will be crucial during data quality monitoring and analysis. The Living Income Price analysis includes a lot of variables, which makes data quality essential in deriving correct results. This part of the contextualisation form is meant to ease the process by setting up an expectation about common ranges in the data. The contextualisation sheet also includes a manual checklist for tasks that cannot be automated.