In-person Interview Guide

OMB Control No.: 0596-XXXX

Expiration: XXXX

Appendix II

Post-Hurricane Research and Assessment of Agriculture, Forestry, and Rural Communities in the U.S. Caribbean

INTERVIEW

Interview Guide

Interview Background and Objectives (read to participants by interviewer)

This interview is part of a larger study aimed at understanding people’s experiences with Hurricane(s) Irma/Maria and the associated effects on individuals, farms, forests, and rural communities in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

In this interview, we’d like to talk with you about four major topics: (1) the effects or impacts of the hurricane(s) on you, your household, your land, and your livelihood, (2) any preparations or preventative actions you may have made prior to its/their landfall, (3) how you coped with and what you did immediately after the hurricane(s) passed over the island, and (4) your plans for the future. Altogether, this should take about 90 minutes.

Interview Standards (read to participants by interviewer)

The information collected from you today and in any future interactions will be kept confidential. With your permission, we will use this audio recorder to help ensure the accuracy of captured information. The recording is strictly for research purposes and will not be used beyond the research team. We will transcribe the recording and use a coding system to keep your identity separate from your responses and all information that you provide. Your name or any other specific identifying information will not be used in the presentation or publication of results.

Your participation in this interview is completely voluntary. You may decline to participate or withdraw at any time. If you choose to withdraw from the study, any data collected will be returned to you or destroyed at your request.

Interviewee Code:	Date:
Interviewers:	Location:

I. LAND AND FARM CHARACTERISTICS

To get started, we’d like to ask you about your land and/or your farm.

1. Can you give us a basic description of your land and/or farm, as it was before the hurricane(s) (probe/prompt/listen for):

1. total area (ac/cuerdas); area by major crop; area for livestock grazing and number/head of livestock by type; area of forest/wooded land

2. type of ownership (individual; joint; family partnership; corporate; etc.)

3. is home on or within a mile of land/farm?

4. USDA, Puerto Rico Dept. of Ag. or other program participation

II. HURRICANE EFFECTS

Now, we’d like to learn about the effects or impacts of the hurricane(s) on you, your household, your land, and your livelihood:

2. Can you tell us about the most significant effects of the hurricane(s) on you and your family/household, and on your farm and/or forest/wooded land? (If the respondent is unsure about how to answer or what to focus on in his/her answer, use one or more of the following to probe/prompt/listen for:)

1. Effects on health, human life, access to basic necessities and services

2. Area/percent of farmland (by major crops) damaged by/lost to the hurricane(s)? Estimated economic cost associated with these losses?

3. Number/percent of livestock lost to or injured by the hurricane(s)? Estimated economic cost associated with these losses?

4. Area/percent of forest/wooded land affected by the hurricane(s)? Estimated economic cost associated with these losses?

5. Structural damages to housing, other infrastructure(s)? Estimated economic cost.

6. Indirect effects (e.g., product prices, input (gas, feed, fertilizer) prices, etc)

II. HURRICANE PREPAREDNESS

Now, we’d like to ask you about any preventative actions or preparations you may have taken prior to the hurricane(s) to reduce expected impacts and how prepared or unprepared you felt you were for it/them.

3. Can you briefly tell us what you did in the 3-5 days prior to landfall to prepare yourself, your family/household, your farm, and your forest/wooded land, etc. for the hurricane(s)? (If the respondent is unsure about how to answer or what to focus on in his/her answer, use one or more of the following to probe/prompt/listen for:)

1. On a scale of 1 (not at all effective) to 5 (extremely effective), how effective were these preparations/ preventative actions?

2. Was there any specific information that influenced your decisions to take these actions? If yes, what was it? Where did you get it from?

3. Is there any other information or other resource that you wish you would have had to better prepare for the hurricane(s)?

4. If there was one preventative action or preparation you wish you would have taken before the hurricane(s), what it would have been?

5. Have you taken any longer term (i.e., in the months-years prior to Hurricane Irma/Maria) measures to decrease the risk and/or vulnerability of you/your household, your home, your land, or your livelihood to tropical storms or hurricanes or other types of disturbance? If yes:

   1. Can you briefly tell us what you did and how effective (1 (not at all) – 5 (extremely)) it was/they were in preventing negative impacts from Irma/Maria?

   2. Was there any specific information or program that influenced your decisions to take these measures? If yes, what was it? Where did you get it from?

   3. Is there any other information or other resource that you wish you would have had to help you prepare in the longer term for this/these hurricane(s)?

III. COPING STRATEGIES DURING AND AFTER THE HURRICANE(S)

Now, we’d like to talk with you about what you did to cope with or respond to the hurricane(s) during and immediately after it/they passed over the island.

6. Did you leave or evacuate your home before the hurricane(s)?

   1. If yes: What was the primary reason you decided to leave? (probe/prompt/listen for: mandatory evacuation, watch or warning, etc.) Where did you go? How soon did you return to your home after the hurricane(s) had passed?

   2. If no: What was the primary reason you decided to stay? Where were you when the hurricane(s) made landfall? If you had to go through this again, would you do it the same way?

7. In the first few days to weeks after Hurricane(s) Irma/Maria, what did you do to respond to or cope with the effects of the hurricane(s) on you, your family/household, your home, your land, your livelihood?

   1. Probe/prompt/listen for: actions related to household/home; agricultural system(s); livestock; forests/wooded land;

   2. What were your primary sources of food, water, energy?

   3. Did you harvest any/all of undamaged agricultural products growing on your land? If yes, what crops?; what percentage?; for self consumption/for sale?

   4. Did you or anyone in your household collect/consume wild plants/mushrooms following the hurricane(s)? If yes: what was collected? Where was it/were they collected from? Were any of these for medicinal purposes? If yes: for what conditions? Is this a regular practice or new since the hurricane(s)?

   5. What was the most challenging issue/aspect for you to cope with or respond to in the first few days to weeks after the hurricane(s) passed?

8. What assistance or information, if any, have you received so far to respond to or recover from the hurricane(s)? (probe/prompt/listen for key USDA and Puerto Rico Dept. of Ag programs)

   1. What specifically did the assistance address? How satisfied (1: not at all – 5: extremely satisfied) are you with it/each? When did it/each occur? From whom did it/each come?

   2. What, if any, has been the most effective assistance/support you have received following the hurricanes? Can you tell us briefly about this (probe/prompt/listen for: issue: health and well-being, crops, livestock, etc.; source (including social networks and ties, such as cooperatives or community groups), delivery method, etc.)?

IV. MID-LONG TERM PLANS FOR COMMUNITIES, AGRICULTURE, AND FORESTS

Now, we’d like to ask you a few questions about your plans for the future…

9. What are your plans for yourself/family/household; your land; and your livelihood over the next six months-one year? And, in five-ten years?

10. (If landowner): How likely are you to sell or give all /any of your land away in the next year? Or, in the next five years?

11. Have your plans for the future changed because of the hurricane(s) and its/their effects? If yes, how so?

This brings us to the end of the interview. Do you have any additional comments or questions for us? Thank you for your time and contribution! If you would like a copy of the final report or other related products, please provide your address (email/physical) and we will be sure it gets to you.

According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, an agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB control number. The valid OMB control number for this information collection is 0596-xxxx. The time required to complete this information collection is estimated to average 60 minutes per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information.

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