Reaching Gabonese Farmers Through CATI

Gabon’s agricultural sector has a distinctive challenge: the country has abundant natural resources and a large forest landscape, yet still relies heavily on imported food. Agriculture is concentrated around food crops such as cassava, plantain, bananas, maize and vegetables, while rural producers often face limited access to markets, transport, inputs and agricultural services. For organizations working to strengthen local food production, understanding these gaps requires regular insight from the farmers and households behind the numbers.

Technology is making that insight easier to collect. Through Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI), CATI Africa gives research teams a direct way to speak with farmers and agricultural households across Gabon. Telephone surveys can capture what farmers are producing, where they obtain inputs, how they sell their produce, what limits their productivity and whether agricultural programs are actually improving their livelihoods.

Supporting Agricultural Research, Monitoring and Evaluation

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

• Reach geographically dispersed farmers quickly
• Reduce fieldwork costs and logistics challenges
• Conduct surveys during critical farming periods without disrupting activities
• Improve data turnaround time for faster decision-making

Farmers are often categorized as "hard-to-reach" respondents not because they are unwilling, but because of accessibility barriers. CATI bridges this gap by meeting them where they are on their phones. In regions with security concerns or difficult terrain, telephone surveys also help protect interviewer safety while maintaining consistent data collection standards. With trained interviewers who understand local languages and cultural contexts, every conversation is conducted professionally, producing accurate and reliable agricultural insights.

Across Nigeria, organizations are increasingly adopting CATI for:

• Agricultural baseline surveys
• Monitoring of farming interventions
• Post-harvest assessments
• Livelihood and income tracking

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 monitoring and evaluation, improve programme accountability, and provide the evidence needed to make informed decisions that support agricultural development across Nigeria.