This Research Note “Lessons from Fieldwork in Mozambique” explores some of the unexpected issues that arose during qualitative research data collection for the project ‘A political-economic analysis of electricity grid access histories and futures in Mozambique’ (POLARIZE). 2 It considers differences in the locations where the fieldwork took place, gender of respondents and authority collaboration, and it reflects on the strategies that the researcher adopted to overcome fieldwork challenges.

The data collection consisted of key informant interviews with staff from the Mozambique electricity company (EDM) and citizens from the target communities who are EDM customers/end users. The interviews covered topics such as the progress and challenges EDM faces to deliver electricity to the population as well as capturing citizen experiences of electricity connection and supply