2.3 Study methods
A single-visit, multiple-subject survey was carried
out using face-to-face interviews between October 2007
and May 2008. The recall, observation and measure-ment method was used to complete a pre-tested, semi-structured questionnaire. Information on farmers’ and
farms’ characteristics, roles of livestock and sources of
money were collected. The farmers’ characteristics in-cluded gender, age, level of education, livestock inheri-tance, farm experience and household size. Characteris-tics of farms were land size and use as well as livestock
and crop production. The importance of beef buffalo
and beef cattle farming was determined by asking for
the roles of livestock for farm households and the cover-age of unplanned and planned expenses during the last
5 years.