Three new Filipino languages added to farmer video website
Following a series of training workshops, Access Agriculture has been able to add three new Filipino languages to its award-winning website. After holding the Tagalog training at the campus of South East Asian Regional Centre for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) in Los Banos near Manila, three new translations have been uploaded to the Access Agriculture website. The organisations taking part included the Agro-Forestry Department of the University of the Philippines Los Banos, the Philippines Permaculture Association and the Catholic Media Network.
A few days later at the headquarters of the First Community Cooperative (FICCO) in Cagayan de Oro, more than 16 participants including farmers translated four videos to the Bisaya language. The organisations taking part included the Xavier Science Foundation, ab2cd and FICCO. They have been able to produce new versions of videos about organic biofertilisers and organic growth promoters.
Finally a training course was held at the University of Saint La Salle in Bacolod with participants from the Negros Island Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development (NISARD), the Central Philippines State University (CPSU), and the agribusiness department of Saint La Salle University (USLS). Here the videos were translated into the Hiligaynon language.
At the end of each course, the final work was displayed to potential partners of Access Agriculture including the Organic Department of the Ministry of Agriculture and the agricultural departments of City and Provincial Governments.
During the next 3 months more than 200 translations will be carried out by the teams following the training. This will then be a resource for Filipino farmers to use as they learn from others in a “farmer to farmer” approach.
Later in the year some Filipino organisations will learn how to produce this style of video in the Philippines, highlighting how local farmers have been using organic techniques to improve the livelihoods of their families.
The training was organised by local partners, together with Access Agriculture Philippines Co-ordinator, Danessa Lopega. Training and mentoring were given by Global Translation Co-ordinator, Kevin Mutonga; Executive Director, Josephine Rodgers; and Co-founder, Phil Malone.
