A. POPULARITY
Growing medicinal plants for the market requires that a grower have some understanding of the demand for plants. A farmer will produce plants that he or she knows will be easy to sell. We need to find out how large the demand is for certain medicinal plants. If you think that there are other plants that are important as they are becoming scarce, then add them to this list.
1. Which medicinal plants have you sold the most of in the last year? This is the number of times that the plant has been sold. (Tick only).
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Name of medicinal plant |
High sales |
Moderate sales |
Low sales |
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Isibhaha |
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Indungulo, Isiphephetho |
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Igibisila |
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Umathunga |
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Unukani |
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Ikhathazo |
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Umlahleni |
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Inguduza |
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Umathithibala |
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2. Have the sales of these medicinal plants changed or not in the last five years?
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Name of medicinal plant |
Increased |
Decreased |
The same |
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Isibhaha |
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Indungulo, Isiphephetho |
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Igibisila |
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Umathunga |
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Unukani |
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Ikhathazo |
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Umlahleni |
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Inguduza |
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Umathithibala |
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3. Please give reasons why you think there have been changes.
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4. Which times of the year do people ask for these medicinal plants the most?
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Name |
Spring |
Summer |
Autumn |
Winter |
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Isibhaha |
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Indungulo, Isiphephetho |
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Igibisila |
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Umathunga |
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Unukani |
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Ikhathazo |
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Umlahleni |
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Inguduza |
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Umathithibala |
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5. Why would you say the medicinal plants are sold in certain seasons?
|
Name |
When plant can be found |
Time when illness is common |
Harvesting ritual |
Other reasons |
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Isibhaha |
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Indungulo, Isiphephetho |
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Igibisila |
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Umathunga |
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Unukani |
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Ikhathazo |
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Umlahleni |
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Inguduza |
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Umathithibala |
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B. USAGE
A farmer must have some idea how many plants he or she can sell to the market every year. We therefore need to get some indication of how many medicinal plants were sold in the market in the last year.
6. What unit of measure do you use for selling the medicinal plants?
|
Name |
Unit (cup, handful, etc) |
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Isibhaha |
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Indungulo, Isiphephetho |
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Igibisila |
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Umathunga |
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Unukani |
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Ikhathazo |
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Umlahleni |
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Inguduza |
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Umathithibala |
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7. How often do you sell these medicinal plants in a month?
|
Name |
Number of times a month |
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Isibhaha |
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Indungulo, Isiphephetho |
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Igibisila |
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Umathunga |
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Unukani |
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Ikhathazo |
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Umlahleni |
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Inguduza |
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Umathithibala |
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8. How long can you keep the medicinal plants before they loose their healing properties?
|
Name |
Shelf life (months, etc) |
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Isibhaha |
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Indungulo, Isiphephetho |
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Igibisila |
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Umathunga |
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Unukani |
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Ikhathazo |
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Umlahleni |
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Inguduza |
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Umathithibala |
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9. Where do you buy or collect these medicinal plants? (The name of the place)
|
Name |
Buy |
Collect |
Place |
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Isibhaha |
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Indungulo, Isiphephetho |
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Igibisila |
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Umathunga |
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Unukani |
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Ikhathazo |
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Umlahleni |
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Inguduza |
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Umathithibala |
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10. How often do you collect or buy these plants per month?
|
Name |
Buy/collect per month (sack, checkers) |
|
Isibhaha |
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Indungulo, Isiphephetho |
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Igibisila |
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Umathunga |
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Unukani |
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Ikhathazo |
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Umlahleni |
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Inguduza |
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Umathithibala |
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11. What costs other than buying plants have you had to pay in order to market your plants?
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Costs |
Amount per day/week |
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Travel |
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Rent |
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Assistance |
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Security |
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12. Which medicinal plants are regularly requested by the same customers? Do some customers regularly ask for the same plants?
|
Name |
Regular Customers |
Customers not regular |
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Isibhaha |
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Indungulo, Isiphephetho |
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Igibisila |
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Umathunga |
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Unukani |
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Ikhathazo |
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Umlahleni |
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Inguduza |
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Umathithibala |
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13. Where do most of your customers come from?
1. Within town
2. From other provinces
3. From out of town
4. Do not know
14. Are your customers concerned about price?
1. Do they bargain with you
2. Do they accept your prices
3. Do they leave if your prices are too high for them
15. Would you say customers are concerned about quality?
1. Not concerned
2. Do not know
3. Very concerned
16. Are your customers (tick the appropriate block):
|
Male |
[ ] |
female |
[ ] |
|
Well dressed |
[ ] |
poorly dressed |
[ ] |
|
Literate |
[ ] |
illiterate |
[ ] |
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Speak English |
[ ] |
don't speak English |
[ ] |
|
Poor |
[ ] |
wealthy |
[ ] |
17. How do you package the medicinal plants you sell?
18. How many sacks or checkers do you sell a week? If it is not know, then ask how much Is transported to the market every week?
|
Sacks |
[ ] |
|
Checkers |
[ ] |
19. Do you throw medicinal plants away?
1. No
2. Yes How many checkers per week [ ]
20. Do you know other places to sell medicinal plants?
1. Yes
2. No
21. What do you do to ensure that there are plants for you to harvest in the future?
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
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C. PRICES AND SEASONAL VARIATIONS
If medicinal plants are going to be grown for the market, then farmers need to have some understanding of their prices and variations that can be expected in the market. To determine whether growing these plants will be profitable or not, we need to compare the costs of producing the plants and the prices that may be received in various places within the market. For example, a farmer would need to know what prices could be expected at different times of the year, in different regions, and from different buyers.
22. What are your selling prices for the medicinal plants listed below?
|
Name |
Unit |
Price |
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Isibhaha |
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Indungulo, Isiphephetho |
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Igibisila |
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Umathunga |
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Unukani |
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Ikhathazo |
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Umlahleni |
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Inguduza |
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Umathithibala |
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23. Can you recall how the number of plants have changed in recent years? How much did time did you take to collect a sack of medicinal plants in 1985, 1990, and in 1995? (Remember to quote the time for the same size sack.)
|
Name |
Unit |
Time in 1995 |
Time in 1990 |
Time in 1985 |
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Isibhaha |
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Indungulo, Isiphephetho |
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Igibisila |
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Umathunga |
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Unukani |
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Ikhathazo |
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Umlahleni |
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Inguduza |
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Umathithibala |
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24. Are you having to move to new areas to collect your medicinal plants? Please fill in the place names.
|
Name |
Same areas |
Use new areas |
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Isibhaha |
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Indungulo, Isiphephetho |
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Igibisila |
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Umathunga |
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Unukani |
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Ikhathazo |
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Umlahleni |
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Inguduza |
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Umathithibala |
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D. INFORMATION ON CULTIVATION OF MEDICINAL PLANTS
An important factor in the marketing of medicinal plants are the attitudes which users will have towards cultivated plants. We need to understand how traders, traditional healers and other users feel about cultivated plants to assess the potential for cultivating these plants.
25. If these medicinal plants were grown by local farmers, would you buy them or not?
|
Name |
Buy them |
Not buy them |
|
Isibhaha |
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|
Indungulo, Isiphephetho |
|
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Igibisila |
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Umathunga |
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Unukani |
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Ikhathazo |
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Umlahleni |
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Inguduza |
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Umathithibala |
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26. If you answered 'not buy them' to any of the plants above, please explain why?
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27. How would you recognise a cultivated medicinal plant compared to a plant that has been harvested from the bush?
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28. If these medicinal plants could be farmed, would you grow them or not?
|
Name |
Grow them |
Not grow them |
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Isibhaha |
|
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Indungulo, Isiphephetho |
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Igibisila |
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Umathunga |
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Unukani |
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Ikhathazo |
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Umlahleni |
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Inguduza |
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Umathithibala |
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29. What do you think are the most important reasons reducing the availability of medicinal plants?
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30. What do you think are the most important reasons for growing or not growing medicinal plants?
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31. What would you do if certain wild plants can no longer be found in the bush?
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32. Why do you sell here? Choose the most important reason.
1. There are lots of people passing through
2. The prices people pay are higher here
3. It is easy for me to travel to here
4. I know the other traders here
5. Nobody bothers me when I trade here
6. Other reason
33. What would help you run your business better?
1. More information on how to run a business
2. An organisation to help you improve your business
3. Easier access to credit to help you run your business
34. For improving your well being as a street trader, rank the following resources (1 being the most important - 2 less important and so on).
|
Building for storage |
[ ] |
|
Building for selling |
[ ] |
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Accommodation |
[ ] |
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A traders organisation |
[ ] |
|
Other reason |
[ ] |
35. Which of the age categories do you belong to?
|
1. |
15-25 |
2. |
26-35 |
|
3. |
36-45 |
4. |
46-55 |
|
5. |
56-65 |
6. |
66+ |
36. What is the traders:
|
Age |
[ ] |
|
Gender |
[ ] |
37. What amount of money best describes your income per week from trading in medicinal plants?
1. Less than R50 per week
2. R50 per week
3. R100 per week
4. R150 per week
5. R200 per week
6. R250 per week
7. R300 per week
8. R400 per week
9. R500 per week
10. More than R500 per week
38. How many people help you trade here on the street?
39. How many people gather plants for you to sell here?
40. What educational levels have you got?
1. No schooling
2. Attended junior school
3. Completed standard 8
4. Completed standard 10
5. Completed a diploma or degree
41. Where is your home?
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42. Where do you stay if you do not go home at night?
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