Annex B Informal survey checklist

The author used the following checklist with questions to guide in the informal interviews held with the irrigation scheme farmers, AGRITEX Extension Workers and Irrigation Specialists.

1. How old is the irrigation scheme?
2. What was the objective of starting the irrigation scheme? What problem was to be solved?
3. Who started the scheme? Whose idea was it?
4. How big is the irrigation scheme?
5. How many households have plots on the scheme?
6. Can we access the list of irrigators?
7. How many villages or wards are covered by the scheme?
8. What type of water delivery system is used from source or reservoir to the field?
9. What maintenance activities have to be performed on the scheme?
• How often?
• By whom?
• If by farmers, how many hours are spent working on the scheme on maintenance activities
10. What types of fees do farmers on the scheme pay?
11. How much do farmers pay per month?
12. How much does operation and maintenance actually cost on the scheme?
13. How much do farmers pay for water (water charge)?
14. What are the major problems encountered by farmers on this scheme?
15. Do farmers in the scheme have access to dryland plots?
16. What types of records are kept on the scheme?
17. Can we access the following
• Area under different crops during the 1997 and 1998 irrigation seasons
• Yields, levels of input use, sales records, retentions etc.
18. In your opinion, what is the impact of the scheme to the villagers in general?
19. Which institutions are in one way or another involved in the scheme?
20. What is the role of each institution?
21. Who is the responsible authority in the scheme? Who runs the scheme?
22. Who decides the cropping programme in the irrigation scheme? Is this programme uniform from farmer to farmer?
23. Is there an Irrigation Management Committee (IMC) on the scheme? What is its role? How effective is it? How is it selected?

The author used the following checklist with questions to guide in the informal interviews held with councilors, village chairperson, village heads and the District social welfare officers

1. What criteria are used for allocating drought relief food?
2. Are the criteria the same from ward to ward or village to village?
3. Who determines these criteria?
4. Are there any problems encountered due to these criteria of allocating drought relief?
5. How have you solved/are you solving the problems?
6. How many types of drought relief handouts are there?
7. How many times was drought relief handed out per household during the 1997 and 1998 seasons? Do these records exist? How much was each family given?