Abstract
BackgroundMany field entomology research projects involve local communities in mosquito-collection activities. Since 2012, Target Malaria, a not-for-profit research consortium, has been working with community members in various studies of mosquito collection, release and recapture in the village of Bana, in Western Burkina Faso. Target Malaria’s long-term goal is to develop innovative solutions to combat malaria in Africa with the help of mosquito modification technologies. Since the start of the project, members of local communities have shown interest in playing an active role in the implementation of the project’s research activities, but their actual motivations for such an interest remain under-investigated. This study therefore aimed to examine the factors that motivate the local community to contribute to the implementation of Target Malaria’s activities in the village of Bana. MethodsA qualitative approach was used to examine the factors motivating the local community to assist in the implementation of Target Malaria’s entomological research activities in Bana. 85 individual in-depth and semi-structured interviews were conducted, followed by interviews with three focus groups, one with youths who had participated in mosquito collections and two with men and women from the village. All data collected were fully transcribed, processed, and submitted for thematic content analysis. ResultsData showed that the willingness of local community members to participate in the entomological research activities of Target Malaria was informed by a wide range of motivational factors. Although the actors interviewed expressed their motivations under different semantic registers, the data showed a degree of consistency between different motivations advanced. These similarities enabled us to classify all of the motivational factors under 5 distinct categories: (a) assist in field research, (b) contribute to a better future, (c) acquire knowledge, (d) earn financial compensation, and (e) gain social prestige.ConclusionThese varying motivations reflected fundamentally different personal and collective perceptions about the participation process. In addition, this study shows that the interest of research on participation is a useful part of understanding public perceptions.
Community expectations and motivations in entomological research activities for the development of innovative malaria vector control tools: Target Malaria as a case study in Bana, Western Burkina Faso
