Nationally representative household surveys have not previously collected detailed data on migration and remittances in any sub-Saharan African country, with the exception of the 2005–06 Ghana Living Standards Survey. As a result, little is known about the characteristics of households which have migrant members, and even less is known about the migrants themselves. As part of the World Bank’s Africa Migration Project, household surveys were conducted in six countries: Burkina Faso, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, Uganda and – the only country in the group which was predominantly a receiver of migrants – South Africa.

The surveys were conducted by local research institutions in Africa, but a standardised methodology was developed in workshops where survey managers from all six of the implementing institutions came together with the advisers who were coordinating the project. This, added to the fact that field-work took place over roughly the same period in all six countries, means that the data can be compared across countries.

The international advisers included Sistemas Integrales, whose expertise in sampling was of particular importance. Migrants are relatively rare, even in countries with a high incidence of migration, and so it is not at all easy to capture a sufficient number of households with emigrants. In some cases, the most recent population census was used as a sample frame; where this was not possible, household surveys and other data were used. Various listing strategies were then followed, although methodological differences were mainly at the early stages of sample selection.