F3 - Monitoring questionnaire to measure Community Gardens’ impact at household level

Slow Food Monitoring and Evaluation System

for the Gardens Project in Africa

Objective

This form has the purpose of capturing and measuring the results, or immediate changes, and the impacts, or longer-term changes, of Community Gardens on member households. Changes are assessed by comparing a few indicators of household’s conditions ‘before and after’ its participation in the Community Garden, based on household members’ memory.

This information will contribute learning and evidence to Slow Food and its partners about the contribution of the Gardens in Africa programme to the improvements of participants’ livelihoods.

How to select the Gardens and the households where to apply the F3 form

The form will be used during interviews to be carried out once per year in a number of ‘representative gardens’ and randomly selected households that are members of the selected gardens.

By ‘representative garden’ is intended a Community Garden that, according to your knowledge of the area, broadly represents all other Gardens in a given district/county/area, based on the crops grown in the gardens, the number of members, the agroecological practices used and the challenges faced in managing the garden. If possible, the F3 form should be applied in at least 30% of the Community Gardens in each country.

Once the ‘representative gardens’ have been identified, please select randomly 30% of the total number of households that are members of those gardens. An easy way to choose randomly is to get a complete list of the households, and select every third one. If the number of member households is below 10, please interview at least 3 households, that better represent all others in terms of number of household members and level of income. If possible, at least one of the selected households should have developed its own agroecological garden after becoming member of the Community Garden.

Every year different Gardens, and households, should be selected to apply the F3 form, unless otherwise requested by SFI.

Interview organization

Interviews should take place with the household member/s who is/are member/s of the Community Garden and if possible, with the Household Head. Please reassure participants that information will be used in a confidential manner. Experience so far indicates that each interview will approximately take 30 minutes.

Before each interview, the SF Gardens Coordinator or the Garden Manager will assign a code to the household (to be reported in Question 4 below), developed as follows: the Slow Food Garden Code, a progressive number for each household and the ongoing year (e.g., 16200/01/2023). The code will be used to allow maintaining confidentiality about the households when entering the data in the Confluence-based system.

* Required

Adult woman/women (36 years old or above)	None 1 to 3 4 to 6 More than 6
Young woman/women (16 to 35 years old)	None 1 to 3 4 to 6 More than 6
Female children (15 years old or younger)	None 1 to 3 4 to 6 More than 6
Adult man/men (36 years old or above)	None 1 to 3 4 to 6 More than 6
Young man/men (16 to 35 years old)	None 1 to 3 4 to 6 More than 6
Male children (15 years old or younger)	None 1 to 3 4 to 6 More than 6
Person/s living with disability/ies	None 1 to 3 4 to 6 More than 6

The household head is female (e.g., widow)	Yes No
The household head is male	Yes No
The household head is 35 years old or younger	Yes No
The household head is 36 years old or above	Yes No

His/her main sector of work is Agriculture	Yes No
His/her main sector of work is Livestock	Yes No
His/her main sector of work is Fisheries	Yes No
His/her main sector of work is Beekeeping	Yes No
He/she mostly manages an Informal business	Yes No
He/she mostly manages a Formal business (e.g., shop)	Yes No
He/she is an employee in the Public or private sector	Yes No
His/her main sector of work is another one	Yes No

Household Head	Yes No
Adult woman/women, 36 years or above	Yes No
Young woman/women, 16 to 35 years	Yes No
Adult man/men, 36 years or above	Yes No
Young man/men, 26 to 35 years	Yes No
Children, during school holidays	Yes No

Agriculture (crops growing)	Yes No
Vegetable gardening	Yes No
Raising livestock (e.g., cattle, goats, sheep, chicken, rabbits, etc.)	Yes No
Fisheries and/or aquaculture	Yes No
Beekeeping	Yes No
Informal business	Yes No
Formal business (e.g., shop)	Yes No
Employment in the public or private sector	Yes No
Other	Yes No

Content

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F3 - Monitoring questionnaire to measure Community Gardens’ impact at household level

Slow Food Monitoring and Evaluation System

for the Gardens Project in Africa

Consumption within the household	Nothing/zero A small quantity About a quarter Half of it About three quarters Most/All
Sale	Nothing/zero A small quantity About a quarter Half of it About three quarters Most/All
Exchange for other products (barter)	Nothing/zero A small quantity About a quarter Half of it About three quarters Most/All
Seeds for the next cropping season	Nothing/zero A small quantity About a quarter Half of it About three quarters Most/All
Gift	Nothing/zero A small quantity About a quarter Half of it About three quarters Most/All
Other	Nothing/zero A small quantity About a quarter Half of it About three quarters Most/All

Before the Community Garden was established the household consumed fresh produce…	Every day Every two days Twice per week Once per week Less than once per week Never Other frequency
Before the Community Garden was established, the household bought fresh produce…	Every day Every two days Twice per week Once per week Less than once per week Never Other frequency
Currently, during the Community Garden cropping season, the household consumes fresh produce…	Every day Every two days Twice per week Once per week Less than once per week Never Other frequency
Currently, during the Community Garden cropping season, the household buys fresh produce…	Every day Every two days Twice per week Once per week Less than once per week Never Other frequency

Before the establishment of the Community Garden, the household had to reduce the quantity of all type of food during the lean period	Yes No Does not know
Before the establishment of the Community Garden, the household had to change the type of food consumed during the lean period	Yes No Does not know
Before the establishment of the Community Garden, the household had to reduce the number of meals during the lean period	Yes No Does not know
Currently, since the establishment of the Community Garden, the household has to reduce the quantity of all type of food during the lean period	Yes No Does not know
Currently, since the establishment of the Community Garden, the household has to change the type of food consumed during the lean period	Yes No Does not know
Currently, since the establishment of the Community Garden, the household has to reduce the number of meals during the lean period	Yes No Does not know

The Garden generated savings and/or additional income	Yes No Does not know
The Garden increased food availability for household members	Yes No Does not know
The Garden contributed to pay school fees for children	Yes No Does not know
The Garden contributed to pay for medical assistance/purchase of medicines	Yes No Does not know
The Garden contributed to pay for house improvement	Yes No Does not know
The Garden contributed to pay for livestock (cattle, sheep, goats)	Yes No Does not know
The Garden contributed to pay for courtyard animals (poultry, rabbit)	Yes No Does not know
The Garden contributed to pay for investment in the farm	Yes No Does not know
The Garden contributed to pay for investment in a new business	Yes No Does not know
The Garden contributed to pay for other expenses	Yes No Does not know
The Garden contributed to seed availability and accessibility	Yes No Does not know
The Garden contributed to availability of other products (e.g., animal feed, medicinal plants, etc.)	Yes No Does not know

The contribution of the household members to the Community Garden…	... increased ... continued as usual ... was reduced ... stopped completely
The household’s consumption of fruits and vegetables from the Community Garden…	... increased ... continued as usual ... was reduced ... stopped completely
The household’s income/savings related to the products of the Community Garden…	... increased ... continued as usual ... was reduced ... stopped completely

Household members have learned about agro-ecological gardening	Yes No Does not know
Household members have learned about the SF philosophy on good, clean and fair food	Yes No Does not know
Household members have learned about food conservation and transformation	Yes No Does not know
Household members have applied what they have learned at the Community Garden in their own garden	Yes No Does not know
Household members have received/have seen the SF publications on agroecological gardening	Yes No Does not know
Other	Yes No Does not know

The household had its own agroecological vegetable garden before joining the Community Garden	Yes No
The household has established its own agroecological vegetable garden since joining the Community Garden	Yes No
The household consumes the production of its own vegetable garden	Yes No
The household sells the production of its own vegetable garden	Yes No
The household does not have its own vegetable garden due to lack of space	Yes No
The household does not have its own vegetable garden due to lack of time	Yes No
The household does not have its own vegetable garden due to lack of financial resources to establish it	Yes No
The household does not have its own vegetable garden because the Community Garden provides it with sufficient fresh produce	Yes No

Content

Space Tools

F3 Community Garden

F3 - Monitoring questionnaire to measure Community Gardens’ impact at household level

Slow Food Monitoring and Evaluation System

for the Gardens Project in Africa