As part of our interview series, we talk to the people whose work and experience sit behind development research. For this interview we spoke with Alix Naugler.
Alix Naugler is a PhD student at Cornell University. Alix has done fieldwork in Tanzania, while completing a master’s at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and in Zambia, where a conversation in a grocery store queue turned into a job market paper proposal on the market agents who sit between farmers and traders in horticultural wholesale markets.
ETRM: Your first experience doing fieldwork was in Tanzania. What questions were you trying to answer, and why couldn’t you answer them with data that already existed?
Alix: With the Tanzania research project, we were looking at agro-dealers, and agro-dealers are small-scale retailers that sell agricultural inputs to smallholder farmers in developing countries, especially in more rural agricultural communities. They are pervasive across Sub-Saharan Africa and South and East Asia. The challenge with these agro-dealers is that they operate in highly informal settings. Some may register with the government, but governments generally do not have thorough systems for tracking these types of small- and micro-enterprises. Moreover, some agro-dealers are seasonal, meaning they operate only during certain periods of the agricultural cycle. As a result, there was no existing data systematically documenting the characteristics of these firms, their behavior, their decision-making processes, or their entry and exit over time.
Thus the project required collecting these data in the field, mapping agro-dealer locations within Tanzania’s Morogoro Region, and then returning over multiple rounds to track which agro-dealers remained in business, which exited, and which new agro-dealers entered the market. My own fieldwork conducted in the summer of 2022 was particularly focused on a follow-up survey of agro-dealers and a supplemental survey of smallholder farmers. With the agro-dealers, we wanted to better understand their motivations: why they started their businesses and, for those that had exited, why they left the market. The supplemental farmer survey allowed us to examine how farmers form beliefs about agricultural input quality and how they perceive the quality of agricultural inputs offered by established versus newer agro-dealers in their respective markets.
One of the striking findings from the broader project was just how dynamic this sector is: agro-dealers entered and exited at much higher rates than what has typically been documented for non-agricultural small- and micro-enterprises in comparable low-income settings. The broader research also showed why this high level of agro-dealer turnover matters, as farmers operate in markets where the quality of agricultural inputs is often difficult to assess before purchase and use. Therefore, we find that relationships with established agro-dealers, as well as the entry and exit of these firms, can shape farmers’ beliefs about agricultural input quality and, in turn, their technology adoption decisions.
In broad terms, a major motivation for doing fieldwork, especially in developing-country contexts, is that the data needed for understanding the mechanisms driving economic decision-making, informality, market dynamics, and structural transformation often do not exist. And when such data do exist, there can be substantial concerns about their quality. Thus, going into the field and collecting the data yourself is certainly an ambitious undertaking, but it allows you to develop a much clearer understanding of what is actually happening on the ground and to generate evidence that can reveal market functioning and individual behavior that would otherwise remain difficult to observe.
ETRM: For someone about to start their first fieldwork project, all the steps can look frightening. What would you say are the main components of a fieldwork project?
Alix: Starting off, one of the most important things is to establish a relationship with an existing faculty member who already has ongoing fieldwork that you can be a part of. There may not be a great deal of topical overlap with your own research interests, but it still gives you the opportunity to travel to these places, immerse yourself in different cultural contexts, and learn what fieldwork requires of you. A lot of the success that I have had in fieldwork has stemmed from that initial faculty connection and, when possible, from having the faculty member travel with me, which was enormously helpful. Simply observing how they navigated the setting, engaged stakeholders in intellectually curious conversations, and built trust and rapport helped me identify and strengthen those same skills in my own fieldwork. That might not always be possible, but even if they can initiate an introduction to local collaborators or networks, then when you arrive, you already have people you can connect with, trust, and rely on.
Another critical component I have learned over the years is to go into the field with a clear objective but a flexible plan, recognizing that things will rarely unfold exactly as expected. You might arrive with particular research questions, theories, or hypotheses, but once you start talking to people―having these conversations and observing transactions and relationships in real time―what you see and hear may fundamentally challenge what you thought before going into the field. We call that process ground-truthing. You might initially believe, okay, I think I understand what is happening here, but then once you get on the ground, you realize, oh wait, the reality is quite different from what I expected. In fact, the opposite might be true. Going into fieldwork knowing that you may need to pivot, whether by refining your research questions or changing your methodological design, is completely normal. That is not a sign that the original idea was poorly conceived. It is part of the research process. The project becomes sharper and more rigorous as it is informed by what you actually observe in the field.
The last component is being willing to put yourself out of your comfort zone and actively build relationships. Some of the most productive experiences I have had doing fieldwork have come from starting conversations with people. Fieldwork is fundamentally about relationship building. The research idea for my job market paper actually came from an offhand conversation I had with someone at the grocery store while I was waiting in line in Lusaka, Zambia. It is often through these conversations that we encounter something unexpected and think, oh wait, that’s interesting. Let me push a little further on that question, concept, or observation. The initial curiosity can then develop into another conversation and, eventually, into a research question. The ability to build relationships, listen carefully, and recognize those moments is an essential fieldwork skill, and it is one that often develops only through experience in the field.
ETRM: You mentioned a conversation that inspired your research question. Could you tell us about it?
Alix: I was buying produce at a grocery store and making small talk with the cashier who was checking me out. I jokingly commented on how high some of the produce prices were, and she told me, oh, you really should not be buying those items here. You should instead be going to the wholesale markets. It is substantially cheaper. I asked what those horticultural wholesale markets were and whether people were buying directly from farmers. She explained that, in these markets in Lusaka, there are market agents who serve as intermediaries between farmers and traders and sometimes consumers, facilitating the sale of produce rather than farmers necessarily selling directly to buyers.
As a foreigner, I found that really interesting because it revealed a market structure quite different from what I had encountered in agri-food value chains in the United States. When I later visited these markets on my own, I observed these market agents at work, which immediately raised a number of questions for me: Why does this intermediary exist? What services does it provide on both sides of the market? What market frictions create demand for those services? And, at the same time, do those same market frictions give intermediaries greater bargaining power or allow them to capture a larger share of the gains from trade? That initial conversation prompted me to reach out to local contacts I had established through agricultural policy and research organizations in Zambia and ask, I keep hearing about these market agents—how long have these markets been structured this way? What exactly do market agents do? Why do farmers and traders rely on them? And how much bargaining power do they have? Those conversations eventually developed into what is now my job market paper proposal.
ETRM: Another component is hiring a research team or enumerators. What has your experience been, and what did you learn?
Alix: I have never gone through a formal survey firm or a more established organization to recruit enumerators for the fieldwork that I have done, although I know some researchers do use that approach. It can also be a relatively costly option, and given tighter grant budgets, it may not always be as feasible as it once was, especially for graduate students. For me, enumeration recruitment has largely grown out of the relationships and professional networks I have made through fieldwork.
In Tanzania, my professor had an existing relationship with a faculty member at a local university. Through that connection, we were able to recruit enumerators whom he had worked with previously and could evaluate in terms of their reliability, quality of work, level of engagement, and other characteristics we were looking for. That experience gave me a much clearer sense of the qualities I should look for when I begin thinking about building my own field team for future research.
That is essentially the approach I am now taking in Zambia. Part of my initial scoping trips has been to begin recruiting enumerators, and much of that process has happened through informal referrals and trusted local networks. It has often been a matter of, I know someone who has worked with a strong enumerator, and then that person connects you with others who also may be qualified. From there, I still want to speak with each person directly to learn about their prior fieldwork experience, communication skills, familiarity with the local context, and overall fit with the research team. Over time, those referrals allow you to start building a reliable and capable team.
One of the main things I have learned is that if you know researchers who have worked in your geographic area before, you should really leverage their contacts. For instance, Nick Swanson is an Assistant Professor of Economics at Cornell University who has worked in Lusaka before, and he connected me with someone he had previously worked with who is now helping me identify additional potential enumerators. I followed a similar process with Protensia Hadunka who is Zambian and currently an Assistant Professor of Business at the University of Tennessee Southern. We overlapped during our graduate studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His in-country connections gave me access to another pool of potential enumerators to draw from. I have also learned that beyond technical qualifications and prior experience, personality fit is important. You are working very closely with enumerators in often demanding field settings, so having people who are dependable, communicate well, and fit the working dynamic of the research team can make a substantial difference.
ETRM: Networking sometimes means getting time from busy people, like local officials or government staff. Do you have an example of convincing someone to give you their time, and how you did it?
Alix: For my job market paper, these horticultural wholesale markets are organized and overseen by local market councils, which are part of the local government. You try emailing and calling these market council members, and sometimes you will get an initial response, but then securing a specific time, date, and location to meet can take much longer. Even at higher levels of government, communication can sometimes taper off after the initial contact or even after preliminary conversations have already taken place.
What I have learned is that, in many cases, the most effective approach is simply to show up in person. In the larger horticultural wholesale markets, there is typically a small office near the market entrance where these local officials work. Thus I began going there with a translator I had gotten to know, and we would stop by on different market days and ask to speak with the relevant official. I also think it is important to be clear about who you are and why you are there. Saying, I’m a PhD student and I am hoping to learn more about this particular issue, can help establish your purpose, reduce uncertainty about why you are there, and begin building trust with the individual you are speaking to.
Scheduling is still difficult because these government officials are busy, so persistence matters. I have certainly been the person who sends multiple follow-up emails, and if I have their phone number, I will call and try to get something on the calendar. What has worked for me is being persistent without being overly demanding. There is a certain rhythm to it, and you have to be patient, flexible, and respectful while continuing to follow up so you can progress forward on your research.
ETRM: Fieldwork rarely goes to plan. Tell us about something that went awry, and how you adapted the design or the timeline.
Alix: Broadly, a lot of my experiences with things not going as planned have come from doing a great deal of preparation beforehand and then arriving in the field and realizing that some of those assumptions simply do not hold. What we had theorized based on prior conversations was not always what was actually happening in the market. In those cases, I think it is important to be willing to pivot and to recognize that accurately representing the setting is more important than trying to force the research design or question to fit your initial expectations. You want to have ideas and hypotheses in the back of your mind as you are having these conversations, but you also have to be careful not to project those expectations onto what people are actually experiencing. You might think that A is happening, but if people in the field are consistently telling or showing you B, then continuing to push A is not the right approach. Part of good fieldwork is allowing the setting itself to reshape the questions you are asking.
Logistically, some of the biggest challenges have involved local approvals and access. You can do all the preparation you think is necessary―secure approvals from market councils or village chiefs, gather the relevant paperwork, identify the right contacts, and speak with the appropriate people―and still arrive in the field and be told that you cannot operate or conduct interviews. That has happened to me more than once. In one case in Tanzania, we spent about an hour with a village chief explaining why we were there, why the research we were conducting mattered, and making the case for being allowed to proceed. In other cases, we have had to make a more substantial adjustment and say, okay, we unfortunately cannot collect data in this village, so we need to identify a replacement site and move forward from there. That is why I cannot emphasize enough how crucial it is to be adaptive in fieldwork. That applies not only to logistics and timelines, but also to your research questions, assumptions, and even your empirical strategy. You have to be willing to respond to what is actually in front of you rather than trying to make the field conform to the design or preconceived notion of the world that you had in mind before you arrived.
ETRM: Thanks for meeting us!
