During March and April 2022, opinion surveys were conducted among stakeholders in the villages of Maesot, Thailand, to understand land rights issues. The implementation steps included preparing the questionnaire in consultation with the Landesa research team, explaining the questionnaire to respondents, interviewing small-holder farmers and women, and consulting land rights experts. The outcomes were compiled into a research paper, prepared in collaboration with Landesa, and launched internally or distributed to stakeholders. Target beneficiaries were women activists, women CSOs, small-holder migrant farmers, and local poor landless farmers in Myanmar and Thailand, particularly Maesot. 

Monitoring and evaluation involved field visits, consultations with farmers, and compiling an activity report and survey assessment report. The survey’s output was an assessment report, with the outcome being a better understanding for stakeholders, including donors and related groups. Challenges included staff being new migrants who needed to build trust within the local community, language barriers with ethnic Kayin farmers unfamiliar with Burmese, and legal status issues. Despite being first-time comers discussing land rights and living standards, the staff were welcomed for future visits. An additional outcome was increased awareness about direct selling of farm products to the market.