"Food security is a global concern, as all international and local agencies are putting various efforts to attain the Sustainable Development Goal number 2 of ending hunger by 2030. Nevertheless, achieving food security in the face of climate change seems to be unachievable in the foreseeable future
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. The study sought to investigate the coverage by newspapers in Zimbabwe on food security issues related to climate-smart agriculture. Quantitative data on food security issues were collected by reviewing newspapers namely The Herald, Newsday, The Standard and The Sunday Mail in 123 days. The main objective was to analyse quantitative coverage of climate-smart agricultural news. The study analysed newspaper coverage of crop production, animal production, fisheries, postharvest management, food safety, value addition, marketing and administration as they relate to climate change. Results of 469 food security articles revealed that 22.6% coverage was related to climate change whilst 77.4% covered food security issues not related to climate change. The study concluded that there was a significant variance in the coverage of various food security issues related to climate change with climate change issues related to postharvest management, food safety and fishery management not being covered during the period of study. It is recommended that stakeholders in the agriculture sector and the media industry should work towards improving the publication of climate change adaptation and mitigation in agriculture." (Abstract)
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"The purpose of this guide is to provide risk managers and communicators with a methodology for developing effective foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) risk communication strategies. The concepts presented can also be adapted to risk communication on other animal health threats. Eight steps help readers a
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pply strategic and empathetic thinking to their own peacetime and crisis scenarios. With practice, readers learn how to better develop new plans or contribute to existing ones.
Background: The document is based on the Emotional, Participatory, Imperfect and Continuous (EPIC) approach to risk communication developed by Cortney Price and adapted to animal health risk management by the author in collaboration with Food and Agriculture Organization staff.2,3 This guide gives FMDspecific examples, which formed the outcome of two EuFMD Workshops on “Managing a Crisis”, which took place in Budapest, Hungary, from 13 to 16 September 2016 and Kaunas, Lithuania, from 19 to 22 March 2018.
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"In order for climate information services to be effective in building resilience and supporting food and income security, they need to be designed and implemented in a way that is inclusive and accessible, reaching the last mile; relevant; actionable; holistic; accountable; part of a cohesive syste
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m; and which promotes sustainable and responsible practices." (Page 9)
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"mNutrition is a global initiative supported by FCDO, managed by GSMA, and implemented by in-country MNOs and third party providers to use mobile technology, that sought to improve the health and nutritional status of children and adults in the developing world. The potential to utilise mobile techn
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ology to change attitudes, knowledge, behaviours, and practices around health and agriculture for improved nutritional status has been recognised for some time, but to date there have been no rigorous evaluations of m-services at scale. A consortium of researchers from Gamos, IDS, and IFPRI were contracted to conduct a rigorous mixed-methods evaluation to estimate the impact of mNutrition on children and adults, and to understand how the context and the components of the mNutrition intervention shape its impact. In Tanzania, the service, Wazazi Nipendeni, focused on the provision of nutrition and health information and services to vulnerable pregnant women and caregivers of children under the age of five on their mobile phones, with the goal of improving nutrition outcomes and behaviours for mothers and young children." (https://opendocs.ids.ac.uk)
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"As a regional initiative, ComDev Asia has adopted the communication framework for family farming and the United Nations Decade of Family Farming (UNDFF 2019-2028). The framework emphasizes three main lines of actions directly linked to UNDFF-GAP Outcome 4.4. These are: 1) participatory communicatio
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n, 2) rural communication services, and 3) enhanced communication capacity of POs and other institutions. Likewise, the communication framework adds a fourth element on awareness and outreach for the UNDFF. Family farming organizations, community media, and FAO communication experts discussed and agreed on the communication framework for family farming and UNDFF during the “Inclusive Rural Communication Services for family farming and the UNDFF” held in Rome in December 2019." (Pages 2-3)
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"Every day we take dozens of decisions that influence the nutrition of our family members, friends, colleagues and our own. These decisions depend on the determinants for good nutrition of the UNICEF Framework and the four dimensions of Food and Nutrition Security: availability, access, use/utilizat
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ion and stability. They are therefore very different in the North of Mali, a mega-city in India or rural Europe. At the same time there is more to food than the socio-economic facts. Food has cultural and religious dimensions; it can define affiliation to groups of society or status. Not only long-term well-being but also short-term personal satisfaction is linked to our food intake.
Therefore, these guidelines cover a topic that goes beyond these four dimensions by addressing the existing scope for behavioural changes in any given environment. Our joint vision to overcome hunger and malnutrition in all its forms by 2030 will only come true, if we not only strengthen the socio-economic capacities of people but also strengthen the capacities to make the right nutrition choices and stick to them. Information on healthy diets is important but not enough to make a difference in the long run. We have to question our approach and develop it further based on evidence not assumptions. Sound analyses of the target group and the underlying factors of nutrition choices are key. Applying the knowledge of behavioural science helps to tap into the psychological and social effects. This tool guides you systematically with concrete examples to work on increasing motivation and breaking barriers for nutrition. With frequency and consistency." (Foreword)
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"Globale Transformationsprozesse wie steigende Rohstoff- und Nahrungsmittelpreise, die Finanzkrise und der Klimawandel haben seit Beginn des 21. Jahrhunderts zu tiefgreifenden Veränderungen in der Landnutzung und den Landbesitzverhältnissen beigetragen. Konflikte um Land und Rohstoffe stehen seit
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einigen Jahren im Fokus einer lebhaften wissenschaftlichen und zivilgesellschaftlichen Debatte und führen vielerorts - insbesondere im Globalen Süden - zu Protesten. Mit über 40 Essays von »Agrarbewegung« bis »Water Grabbing« präsentiert das kritische Handbuch zentrale Themen der Debatte und macht sie einer breiten Leser_innenschaft zugänglich." (Verlagsbeschreibung)
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"This contribution surveys learning approaches in the field of agricultural extension, agricultural advisory services, and rural communication and explores their relationships with Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). It makes a distinction between theory-based approaches to learning a
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nd design-based approaches to learning. The reviewed theory-based approaches are social learning, experiential learning, collaborative learning, and transformative learning and the design-based approaches are visual learning, intercultural learning, and distance learning. The choice for surveying these specific approaches is based on the relevance that these approaches have for the field of agricultural extension, agricultural advisory services, and rural communication. It is concluded that learning itself is to be seen as social and behavioral change and that the group is much valued in existing learning processes. Furthermore, experiences and reflections are central elements in all reviewed learning processes, and the visual and the cultural play crucial roles." (Abstract)
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"With a focus on entertainment education, this article sheds light on the effects of radio drama in addressing conflict over land governance. The discussion is built around the broadcast of Bush Wahala radio series during the recent land acquisition process that has taken place in Sierra Leone. Thro
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ugh the analysis of semi-structured interviews conducted by the author with rural farmers affected by this issue, on the one hand, this work generates reflections on the role of radio drama in providing listeners with alternative options to the use of violence and confrontation with the authorities in order to claim land rights; on the other hand, it represents an important contribution to the literature of edutainment in contexts of conflict, with a specific focus on the increasingly complex issue of land grabbing in the developing world." (Abstract)
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"En el proyecto PLAID se realizaron cursos de capacitación en vídeo para agricultores y consultores. Las experiencias obtenidas en estos cursos constituyen la base de esta guía. En ella se dan consejos sobre cómo producir vídeos informativos utilizando medios sencillos. Esta guía sigue los tre
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s pasos de toda producción de vídeo: planificación, rodaje y edición. Está centrada en los requisitos específicos de los videos para la agricultura. Esta guía está dirigida a principiantes: agricultores, consultores, pero también investigadores en proyectos nacionales e internacionales que deseen producir vídeos de instrucción sencillos como parte de sus actividades de difusión." (Resumen)
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"Community radio’s relationship with the farming communities has a long history in India. The earliest successful experiments in community broadcasting involved both farmers and agriculture. In terms of development communication, community radio in India represents a confluence of somewhat conflic
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ting paradigms. While community radio is generally presented as a highly democratic, participatory medium, the way it is operationalized in India more closely aligns with the modernization/diffusion paradigm. In 1976, Joseph Ascroft observed the phenomenon of ‘interpersonal diffusion’ among farmers, whereby for each farmer trained in new techniques, three more would adopt the innovations. While this ‘interpersonal diffusion’ was by no means perfect, it was illustrative of the complex communication networks involved in the diffusion process. It also hints towards the ways in which community radio can act as a facilitator of these processes; as somewhat of an intersection between diffusion and participatory communication. Drawing on ethnographically inspired qualitative research conducted at a rural community radio station in South India, this article explores the role of community radio at the intersections of participatory development and diffusion. This article argues that community radio facilitates the sharing of technical information and innovations among farmers and contributes to amplifying existing knowledge communication systems. The implications of this article suggest that a focus on existing local knowledge communication and transfer systems could contribute to achieving broader development outcomes and further situating the role of community radio within development and social change initiatives." (Abstract)
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"Grameen Foundation, Farm Radio International and other partners implemented the project “Achieving Impact at Scale” from 2015 to 2018 18. The objective of the project is to test the scale up of AgroTech, an ICT platform, in the delivery of agricultural extension and agribusiness advisory servic
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es to smallholders, through private sector value chain players. AgroTech combines interactive radio broadcast and customized field coaching by an agent, bring together information, inputs and markets through private businesses. The goal of the project is to contribute to policy reform of the agricultural extension system with the view of improving responsiveness, accountability and operational sustainability. The project has been implemented through six community radio stations and 260 individuals and entities, including market aggregators, nucleus farmers, individually owned outgrower businesses, small-scale enterprises, credit cooperatives and farmer-based organizations/association. Geographically six regions were covered, involving some 83 districts. Interactive radio broadcast reached and estimated 300,000 smallholders, majority of whom implemented what they heard and gained yield increase more than those not exposed to interactive radio. The agent component emrolled over 14,000 smallholders who also gained in a similar way. Our experience indicate that digital platforms in agricultural extension and agribusiness services delivery can be successful at scale, but requires policy change and support." (Executive summary)
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"As farmers, foresters and providers, women have a unique understanding of the ecosystems they live alongside. A pioneering radio programme in Malawi is tapping into this immense body of knowledge by creating a platform for women to engage in landscape restoration." (Page 1)