Consent Framework

Core principles

WEDGE Africa's consent framework is built on the principle that participants are partners in our work — not subjects of it. Consent is never assumed, never coerced, and always explained in language that is clear and accessible.

No participant name, photo, story, or personally identifiable information is ever published publicly without explicit, informed, and documented consent from the participant.

Our consent process is designed to meet international development sector standards and the expectations of our donors and institutional partners. All field officers are trained in ethical data collection and participant rights before beginning programme delivery.

What we collect about participants

WEDGE Africa collects the following types of information about programme participants:

Programme data — attendance, farm visit records, training participation, practice adoption
Baseline and endline assessments — economic indicators, farming practices, digital tool usage, income estimates
Market data — voluntary information about sales, buyers, and prices
Stories of change — qualitative accounts of change experienced during the programme
Photos and audio — where explicitly consented to for communication purposes

We do not collect national ID numbers, bank account details, or biometric data.

WEDGE Africa uses a tiered consent model. Each tier requires separate, explicit consent:

Stories and photos on this portal

Stories of change that appear on this portal have passed through the following process:

The story was recorded by a field officer with the participant's knowledge and in their presence
The participant was offered the story to review (read back in their preferred language)
Specific Tier 3 consent was obtained in writing, documenting exactly what may be shared publicly
The consent record is held in WEDGE Africa's safeguarding system
A WEDGE Africa staff member with authorisation has marked the story as approved for publication

Stories that have not completed this process are visible internally to programme staff only and never appear in public or donor views.

Right to withdraw consent

Any participant may withdraw consent at any time, at any tier, without consequence to their participation in the programme. Withdrawal requests can be made verbally to any field officer or WEDGE Africa staff member and will be recorded and actioned within 5 working days.

Where consent is withdrawn for published content, WEDGE Africa will remove that content from public-facing platforms as quickly as practically possible.

How consent shapes portal access levels

This portal's role-based access system is designed to reflect our consent commitments:

Public and donor views — participant names are never shown. Only aggregated, anonymised data is visible
Programme and executive views — participant names and records are visible to authorised staff only
Stories section — only stories with full Tier 3 consent approval appear in public views
Safeguarding records — visible only to executive-level staff and above

Safeguarding and vulnerable participants

The GROW Programme works exclusively with adult women (18 years and above). Where programme activities involve interactions with family members or community members who are minors, WEDGE Africa's safeguarding policy applies. No data about minors is collected or published on this portal.

Questions about consent

If you are a programme participant and have questions about your data, wish to withdraw consent, or want to know what information WEDGE Africa holds about you, please speak directly with a WEDGE Africa field officer or contact us through wedgeafrica.org.