Kilimokwanza Reporter | 8 October 2026

The Avocado Society of Tanzania (ASTA) has opened a Member Satisfaction Survey and a Farmers’ Needs Assessment, calling on everyone in Tanzania’s avocado value chain to describe the problems they face and the support they need.

The survey is part of the Business Capacity Building Programme (PRCC), which is implemented by COLEAD. ASTA takes part in the programme as a Business Membership Organisation. The exercise is not limited to ASTA’s membership: the society says it is open to both members and non-members. This means smallholder growers, nursery operators, aggregators, processors, exporters and others who have not yet joined the association can still have their views counted.

ASTA says the findings will guide three areas of its work. First, they will shape a broad farmer training programme that will follow straight after the survey. Second, they will feed into ASTA’s new Five-Year Strategic Plan. Third, they will inform the planning and implementation of projects aimed at strengthening the sector.

The questionnaire is bilingual, in Kiswahili and English, and takes about 15 to 20 minutes to complete. According to its introduction, the survey is anonymous and voluntary. Responses will be analysed in aggregate and in confidence, solely to improve services and monitor progress, and ASTA itself will not have access to individual answers. The introduction also states that there are no right or wrong answers and invites respondents to answer honestly from their own experience.

The first section builds a respondent profile. It asks for the name and type of the respondent’s organisation, which can range from a farmer group, cooperative, association or SACCO to a sole proprietorship, partnership, limited company, processor, exporter or service provider. It then asks for the organisation’s main activity, such as production, aggregation, processing, exporting, input supply, marketing or advisory and extension services. Respondents are also asked for annual turnover, in three bands: below TZS 50 million, between TZS 50 million and TZS 200 million, or above TZS 200 million. The section closes with the respondent’s name, their position (technical staff, sales and marketing staff, management, employee or other), how long they have been an ASTA member (from non-member and under one year through to more than three years, or former member) and their gender.

The second section tests how well respondents know and use ASTA’s services. It covers six service areas: training, coaching and technical support; market access, business-to-business links and trade fairs; market information and intelligence; representation and advocacy; access to finance; and other services. For each area, respondents say whether the service is clear to them, whether ASTA currently offers it, and whether they have used it in the past 12 months. A comments box follows.

In the third section, respondents rate their satisfaction with each of those six services on a scale of 1 (unsatisfactory) to 5 (very satisfied), entering 0 where ASTA does not offer the service. The fourth section asks for an overall satisfaction rating of ASTA’s services on the same scale, and whether those services meet the respondent’s priority needs, fully, partially or not at all. Both sections end with space for comments.

The fifth section looks ahead. Respondents choose up to three existing services that should be improved, and up to three services ASTA does not yet offer that should be developed. They can then add comments on priorities and how services should evolve.

The sixth and final section goes directly to conditions on the farm and in the market. Respondents pick their three biggest production challenges from a list that includes pests and diseases, climate change, water stress, poor access to quality planting materials, limited knowledge of Good Agricultural Practices (GAP), and the high cost and limited availability of agricultural inputs. They are then asked to explain why these challenges matter to them. The same follows for marketing challenges, where the options include prices, buyers, transport, grading and delayed payments.

Respondents are also asked to list their top five training priorities for ASTA, and to say which services the society should prioritise over the next five years. A question on strategic investment asks which facilities would benefit members most: packhouses, avocado oil extraction plants, aggregation centres, nurseries, cold storage or other investments. The questionnaire closes by asking for the respondent’s preferred communication channel (phone call, SMS, WhatsApp, email, face-to-face meetings or other) and whether they own a smartphone or have regular internet access.

ASTA says the feedback will help ensure its training, plans and projects respond to what farmers actually need. For an association whose stated identity is “ASTA — Sauti ya Mkulima wa Parachichi” (“ASTA — the Voice of the Avocado Farmer”), the survey is a direct test of that claim. The strategic plan will only be as representative as the number of growers who respond.

The questionnaire can be completed online at https://ee.kobotoolbox.org/x/knYxcIem, or by scanning the QR code on ASTA’s survey poster. Respondents who cannot finish in one sitting can save a draft and return to it later, then click Submit (Wasilisha) once complete. ASTA’s notice does not give a closing date, so respondents are encouraged to take part as soon as possible.

“Shiriki. Toa maoni yako. Saidia kujenga mipango inayotokana na sauti ya mkulima.” (Take part. Share your views. Help build plans shaped by the farmer’s voice.) — ASTA, Avocado Society of Tanzania.