Nineteen Entrepreneurs for Rural Access (ERAs), constituting six ERA teams, from five districts (Buikwe, Bugiri, Sembabule, Soroti and Lira) in Uganda participated in a training on Smart Projector and Monitoring, Learning & Evaluation. Other participants included five Master Trainers from Uganda Forum for Agricultural Advisory Services (UFAAS).
The training was conducted by Access Agriculture in Iganga in the Eastern Region of Uganda. from 10 -13 December 2024, where the ERA teams were equipped with Smart Projectors and trained on how to assemble these digital tools, keep them safe and use them to screen videos for farmers in rural areas.
The teams had the opportunity to practice what they had learnt, including community mobilisation skills, preparing for video screening, organising venues for video screening, importance of teamwork in video screening and community engagement to ensure active participation for effective learning.
As part of their training, the ERAs screened Access Agriculture farmer-to-farmer training videos for 161 farmers, including 45 women farmers in Nakasiita and Nabigingo villages in Bugiri district. “I enjoyed watching the videos, especially as they were in our own local language,” said one of the farmers who came to watch the videos.
“We thought that channeling runoff into one’s garden is bad, but we have learnt today that runoff is actually a treasure that can enable farmers to manage water stress in gardens and enjoy better yield,” said one of the farmers after watching the video Road runoff harvesting in Nabingingo village.
The training was facilitated by Ezra Masolaki and Sylvia Nakanyike, ERA Coaches for Access Agriculture in Uganda, together with Karine Rakotoniainasoa, ERA Coach in Madagascar.
The ERA teams were also trained in entrepreneurship, how to build successful business models with the Smart Projectors, and how to make effective brands for their businesses. In addition, Nafissath Fousseni Barres, Access Agriculture Monitoring, Learning & Evaluation Officer, trained them on how to collect data and develop meaningful reports.
During the closing ceremony Blessings Flao, Project Manager for the Global Programme for Small-scale Agroecology Producers and Sustainable Food Systems Transformation (GP-SAEP) Project at Access Agriculture, congratulated the participants upon successfully completing the training and thanked the facilitators. “The workshop has ended, but your work has just begun. Use the Smart Projectors to drive change in your communities,” he said.
Ruth Mugisha, Programme Officer for GP-SAEP at UFAAS, urged the ERAs to follow the GP-SAEP culture of creating winning teams, learning from pioneer teams and thinking beyond boundaries, while Phil Malone, Co-founder of Access Agriculture, encouraged them to effectively use the Access Agriculture video platform so that their local communities can benefit from the videos.
The official closing was done by Beatrice Luzobe, Executive Director of UFAAS, who thanked Access Agriculture for helping build strong working relationships with UFAAS, which has made the GP-SAEP Project a reality in Uganda.
The GP-SAEP Project is being implemented in four countries – Uganda, Madagascar, Ecuador and Costa Rica – through support from the Global Forum for Rural Advisory Services (GFRAS) in close collaboration with the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD), with funding from the European Union.
