Guest blog dedicated to Access Agriculture 10th Anniversary
Traditionally, inadequate delivery of agricultural support services has been, and still is, a major challenge in most parts of the world.
Since 2012, Access Agriculture has reached out to more than 90 million farmers, and is striving to reach more farmers globally, promoting agroecological principles and rural entrepreneurship through capacity development and South-South exchange of quality farmer-to-farmer training videos.
Access Agriculture facilitates the dissemination and screening of training videos to farmers in local languages as well as advocates for sustainable food systems, thereby improving farmers’ livelihoods.
This year is very special for Access Agriculture as it celebrates its 10th anniversary of excellence in support to farmers across the world through its quality training videos.
My experience with Access Agriculture started when I was granted an honorary position as Access Agriculture Ambassador in Uganda. I accepted this on top of my responsibilities as a professional agricultural expert working with farmers at the grassroots level.
My association with Access Agriculture has been magical, informative and equally challenging sometimes. I am particularly happy to share that, after Access Agriculture began providing and improving access to agricultural information through its video platforms and its social media channels like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc., I have noticed the following:
- Young men and women in the communities I work with are more attracted to take up agriculture, an enterprise that was once believed to be an old man’s job.
- Farmers and prospective farmers are astounded by how much easier it has become to access agricultural knowledge using Access Agriculture media platforms. This knowledge is now right at their fingertips. Their desire for more farmer training videos is also getting fulfilled.
- Training videos communicate information and knowledge about sustainable agricultural practices more efficiently and effectively to farmers since these are already translated into their mother tongues.
- Farmers are increasingly using the Access Agriculture platform as their reference point for any agricultural enterprise of interest.
- There is increased personal and farmers’ awareness about the new trends in sustainable agriculture.
- Training videos have improved farmers’ skills and knowledge, motivating them to make changes in their farming practices.
However, some of the challenges in my journey with Access Agriculture are that only a limited number of farmers in my country can afford, or have access to, electronic devices such as mobile phones or tablets on which they can reach the Access Agriculture platform, and this is worsened by high internet tariffs.
I lack equipment to screen training videos to farmers in different parts of the country. Most of the time, I improvise with my personal laptop, which gets overwhelmed by the demand. Once I get a good projector, it would be a big help to farmers who lack mobile devices and internet connection in far-off areas.
As I join the rest of the world in celebrating Access Agriculture’s 10th Anniversary this year, I urge all farming communities across the world to embrace Access Agriculture training videos for improved livelihoods, say “No” to GMOs, and go for sustainable agriculture. I pledge my continued support and allegiance to Access Agriculture.
