Improving Household Survey Instruments for Understanding Agricultural Household Adaptation to Climate Change : Water Stress and Variability

The Living Standards Measurement Study
(LSMS) surveys which have collected information on many
dimensions of household well-being for over 36 countries
since 1980 are one of the most important data sources for
informing policy making on development. The LSMS surveys
have been used to assess household welfare, to understand
household behavior, and to evaluate the welfare impact of
various government policies. These surveys, however, lack
well-designed instruments for understanding farm-level
adaptation behavior to climate variability, in particular
water resource variability and stress in agriculture. For
the purpose of improving the quality, relevance and
sustainability of smallholder agricultural data in
Sub-Saharan Africa, the Living Standards Measurement
Study-Integrated Surveys on Agriculture (LSMS-ISA) project
was started with a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates
Foundation, and is implemented by the LSMS team in the
Development Research Group (DECRG) of the World Bank. Under
the LSMS-ISA initiative, the World Bank is supporting seven
countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, namely Ethiopia, Malawi,
Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Uganda, to establish
systems of multi-topic, panel household surveys with a
strong focus on agriculture. The surveys collect essential
information to improve our understanding of economic
development in Africa, particularly with regards to
agriculture and linkages between farm and non-farm activities.