This project was concerned with using a human centered design approach to appropriately develop a small-scale bean threshing machine, contributing to agricultural mechanization and development efforts in Zambia. This data asset contains an extensive ‘design’ survey of farmers in the northern region of Zambia. The purpose of this survey was to collect information related to a) key design variables used to develop appropriate technology and b) the problem definition of the project. Baseline demographic, agricultural production, and livelihood information was collected to describe the problem in more detail and generate a data-driven design specification for a bean threshing machine.

In total, 249 farmers in three districts of Zambia (Mbala, Luwingu and Mporokoso) participated in the survey. The Zambian government has sub-divided the northern province into eight districts. Three of these eight districts, Mbala, Mporokoso and Luwingu were enrolled in survey based on their levels of bean production, providing the study with a representative sample of bean production characteristics and challenges in the region. High (Mbala), medium (Mporokoso), and low (Luwingu) production districts were chosen, referencing annual production data collected by the Central Statistics Office (CSO, 2016). Districts are further divided into agricultural camps comprised of several villages. Three camps within each district were chosen to participate. Camps were selected based on their proximity to one another (neighboring camps were not selected) and accessibility by road. Within each camp, thirty farmers were randomly selected to participate in the research by camp officers, who act as extension agents of the Zambian Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock.