Local impact

 “After I started growing chilli I realised that it is a profitable crop, as I was selling chilli at 2500 kwacha per kilogram this year and I made a lot of money”, says Lucia with a smile. Things have not been always rosy for Lucia.

Alice Mtaira is a dairy farmer and Secretary for Mpemba Bulking Group in Blantyre, Malawi. She has a made a great contribution in lifting the profile of this group.

Using a laptop, we have increased projections to ten per month and can return to explain the content and to repeat the projection.

Access to information helps farmers to make wise decisions to enhance food security and improve livelihoods.

Farm Radio Trust turned existing radio listening clubs into video viewing clubs and information hubs, where farmers can meet regularly to discuss and share ideas about farming.

Farmers are as sensitive as anyone else to their setting and time of day. Where, when and how people watch a video influences how well they learn.

If the videos are good enough, and relevant enough, they may inspire farmers to organise themselves to watch the videos, overcoming the lack of TVs, DVD-players and electricity.

Ever since I started making farmer-to-farmer videos, my career has taken a new and interesting direction. I am gradually becoming a farmer.

Thanks to the video, the group not only heard, but could also see the techniques for soya cheese-making.

Videos capture the attention of student farmers. This is why we embed video sessions within the training at Songhaï.

Giving birth to global video innovation was the easy part for Bangladesh. But clearly more effort was needed to sustain the approach in this country.

Uprooting Striga has become a very popular and well appreciated activity wherever the Tominian farmers’ union has promoted the videos.

I probably could have avoided this situation had I given a farmer-to-farmer training DVD at the beginning

We loved our video van but apparently it wasn’t enough. Maybe we needed to think about new ways to make sure that farmers got their own copies of agricultural videos.

Making an agricultural training video is harder than it looks. It takes time and involves many people.

The Baganda are a proud people, and some might not admit that they do not understand every word.

“...if I could add a set of boxes onto the bed of a motorised tricycle, then I could use it to carry video screening tools to rural areas...”

Videos to train farmers are a success if farmers receive the message and remember it.

Donor programmes would have to restructure their communications and publications activities to make room for training videos.

Videos are not biased towards an individual in a community. So I started to try and understand how farmers receive videos.

If farmers are willing to pay for their own learning videos, distributing DVDs might become self-sustaining.

As the state gets out of extension and the private sector fills some of the void, it is time to ask if farmers will pay for extension. 

Farmers now need new information, now more than ever on how to solve issues affecting them and to adopt new farming practices.

At home, Boko brought out his TV around 8pm to watch his new videos.

I teach communication technology to students so it was easy to get students to start making videos for farmers.

“How do I get to watch this video after you are finished doing it?”

Combining fictional stories and training messages in one video called for a rethink.