Use of focus group discussion as a qualitative research tool for empowering rural women in food security and milk processing activities: A field study in Geneina, West Darfur, Sudan

الملخص

This study applies focus group discussion (FG) as a qualitative research tool with the aim of empowering rural women engaged in food security and milk processing activities in Geneina, West Darfur, Sudan. To achieve this objective, the study adopted descriptive analytical approaches for qualitative data collection, with a purposively selected sample of 100 women engaged in animal husbandry (March 2019) from ten villages in three areas of the Geneina locality). Observation methods were also deployed to ensure the credibility of the qualitative data yielded by the FGD. Various techniques, including questions, audio recordings, role division matrixes, and role play were adopted to elicit and record the data and analyses. The moderators’ strategies were considered for implementing the study and hence assistant moderators were trained by the author in focus group strategies and techniques for gathering and analyzing data in relation to milk production, milk processing, and the role of gender in sheep/goat raising. Triangulation strategies were implemented to ensure validity and reliability in pursuit of the study’s objectives. The results indicated that women were sufficiently empowered through the FG sessions to express their ideas more explicitly, make their own decisions, and change their livelihoods by conceptualizing their own future projects and expectations for food security and, particularly, the livestock system

https://doi.org/10.24897/acn.64.68.407