Reaching Burundian Farmers Through CATI

In Burundi, agriculture is a vital source of food and income for rural households, yet farmers face growing pressure from limited farmland, declining soil fertility and unpredictable weather. These conditions make reliable information from farming communities essential for effective monitoring, evaluation and agricultural planning.

Reaching farmers across Burundi for M&E, baseline studies and impact assessments can be challenging, particularly in rural and hilly communities where distance and difficult access can make face-to-face data collection slow and costly. As mobile phone access continues to expand, Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI) offers a practical way to connect with farmers without requiring researchers to travel to every community. Through structured telephone interviews, farmers can share information about their farming activities, household livelihoods, access to services and the challenges affecting their work.

Supporting Agricultural Research, Monitoring and Evaluation

For M&E and baseline studies, CATI helps researchers and organizations to:

• Reach farmers across rural communities more efficiently
• Reduce fieldwork costs and travel challenges
• Collect information at different stages of the farming season
• Improve data turnaround for faster programme decisions

Farmers are often the first to experience changes in production, income, access to services or weather conditions. Telephone surveys create a direct channel for organizations to hear these experiences and understand whether agricultural initiatives are reaching the people they are intended to support. With trained interviewers who understand local languages and cultural contexts, CATI can make these conversations clear, consistent and accessible.

Across Burundi, organizations can use CATI for:

• Smallholder farmer research
• Agricultural livelihood assessments
• Access to agricultural services studies
• Monitoring of agricultural support programmes

At CATI Africa, we help governments, NGOs, development partners, agribusinesses and research institutions collect dependable agricultural data through professionally managed telephone surveys. Our CATI solutions strengthen M&E, help clients understand farmers’ realities and provide the evidence needed to make better decisions about agricultural development across Burundi.