Data collection: Experiences and lessons learned by asking sensitive questions in a remote coca growing region in Peru

Coca is a native bush from the Amazon rainforest from which cocaine, an illegal alkaloid, is extracted. Asking farmers about the extent of their coca cultivation areas is considered a sensitive question in remote coca growing regions in Peru. As a consequence, farmers tend not to participate in surveys, do not respond to the sensitive question(s), or underreport their individual coca cultivation areas. There is a political and policy concern in accurately and reliably measuring coca growing areas, therefore survey methodologists need to determine how to encourage response and truthful reporting of sensitive questions related to coca growing. Specific survey strategies applied in our case study included establishment of trust with farmers, confidentiality assurance, matching interviewer-respondent characteristics, changing the format of the sensitive question(s), and non enforcement of absolute isolation of respondents during the survey. The survey results were validated using satellite data. They suggest that farmers tend to underreport their coca areas to 35 to 40% of their true extent.