"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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"This paper presents the participatory video methodology as an effective tool to establish a two-way communication channel between researchers and marginalized communities. The discussion begins by describing the transition from one- to two-way communication in the research for development field, fo
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llowed by how participatory video opens a two-way communication process that contributes to research for development objectives. This is illustrated through a participatory video experience conducted within an agricultural research for development program in Nicaragua, where the methodology was linked to the program’s learning, innovation, and gender and youth empowerment objectives while supporting its productive, economic, and environmental objectives. The paper concludes with an analysis of the effectiveness of participatory video in establishing a two-way communication channel, considering its limitations and its possible applications in various research fields." (Abstract)
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"This study analyses the content of the messages on the Facebook Page 'Support for Farmers' from the premise of Habermas's 'Public Sphere'. The results show that the discussions in support of the farmers' protest on Facebook galvanized the public interest on the problematic issues faced by farmers a
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nd rally support for their cause." (Abstract)
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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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"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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"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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"Between August 2017 and July 2018, CRF implemented the Kilimo Mtaji project (“agriculture makes sense” in Swahili) in Tanzania and DRC. The aim of the project was to seize the power of youth-produced radio shows and outreach events in order to share key messages that raise awareness around fina
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ncial literacy and agriculture as a business, incentivise uptake of services and increase access to service providers, advocate for youth-friendly policy changes and create pathways of opportunity and access to employment for youth [...] The first chapter unpacks the communication campaign model CRF used and its achievements. The chapter further explains the reasons why this campaign model is effective in an African context. The chapter then unpacks the youth-centred approach and shares some of the achievements of this model during the pilot phase in Tanzania and the DRC. The second chapter unpacks the pedagogic approach used to capacitate the youth reporters with the ability to produce quality radio shows and conduct outreach events around these topics. The third chapter provides guidance on the use of various tools developed for the purpose of this project. These tools are the fact sheets, radio guides and outreach guides. Fact sheets are developed for youth reporters to use as factual foundations for their own research and localisation of project topics. Radio guides unpack the process of developing a specific topic for radio shows. Outreach guides look at the process of using radio skills to develop interactive live events with radio listeners, or specific targeted audiences, on a particular topic." (Pages 2-4)
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"Edutainment, the combination of education with entertainment through various media such as television, radio, mobile phone applications and games, is increasingly being used as an approach to stimulate innovation and increase agricultural productivity amongst smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Afri
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ca. Shamba Shape Up, a widely publicised makeover reality TV programme, is an example of edutainment that has received considerable attention, and airs in three countries in East Africa where it is estimated to be watched by millions of viewers.
There is no published academic research on the influence of makeover television formats on innovation systems and processes in smallholder agriculture. Using an Agricultural Innovation Systems approach, this paper explores how makeover edutainment is influencing smallholder farmer innovation systems together with the effect this is having on smallholder farms. In the absence of previous research, it articulates a Theory of Change which draws on research traditions from mass communication, agricultural extension and innovation systems. Data came from two large scale quantitative (n=9885 and n=1572) surveys and in-depth participatory qualitative research comprising focus group discussions, participatory budgets, agricultural timelines, case studies and key information interviews in Kenya. An estimated 430,000 farmers in the study area were benefiting from their interaction with the programme through increased income and / or a range of related social benefits including food security, improving household health, diversification of livelihood choices, paying school fees for children and increasing their community standing / social capital.
Participatory research showed SSU enhanced an already rich communication environment and strengthened existing processes of innovation. It helped set the agenda for discussions within farming communities about opportunities for improving smallholder farms, while also giving specific ideas, information and knowledge, all in the context of featured farm families carefully selected so that a wide range of viewers would identify with them and their challenges.
Broadcasts motivated and inspired farmers to improve their own farms through a range of influences including entertainment, strong empathy with the featured host farm families, the way ideas emerged through interaction with credible experts, and importantly through stimulating widespread discussion and interaction amongst and between farmers and communities of experts on agricultural problems, solutions and opportunities. The fact that local extension workers also watched the programmes further enhanced the influence on local innovation systems. The findings indicate that well designed makeover edutainment can strongly influence agricultural innovation processes and systems resulting in impact on the agricultural production and behaviours of large numbers of smallholder farmers." (Abstract)
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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)
"Through case studies and examples of ICTS for agriculture (ICT4Ag) initiatives from across Asia, the Caribbean and sub-Saharan Africa, the first chapter looks at how ICT4Ag actually works to drive economic development across developing economies. Further, the chapter reviews the ICT applications, i
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nfrastructure and resources built, as well as the policies and frameworks put in place by international bodies, governments and practitioners to ensure that ICT4Ag becomes viable for investment [...] The second chapter outlines the need for viable business models – with profit as the end goal – to entice private sector players to become involved in the provision of ICT4Ag services, and to ensure sustainability of the sector. Suitable areas for potential investment, such as food traceability, reducing post-harvest losses, and remote sensing for precision agriculture are explored [...] By drawing on case studies and interviews with practitioners from the field, and by outlining the nature of the challenges facing ICT4Ag, the third chapter explains the constraints to widespread adoption. The chapter also explores how the challenges identified can inform investment opportunities, as well as policy recommendations, in order to unleash the full potential of ICTs in development programmes [...] The fourth chapter explains the theory behind cross-sectoral partnerships (CSPs) as entities with the expertise and vision to successfully deliver ICT4Ag solutions, and provides examples of CSPs already in practice, along with lessons learned. The chapter also provides a three-step framework for ICT4Ag investment, which includes the implementation of ICTs into payment systems, marketing, agriculture extension and supply chain management by CSPs." (Executive summary)
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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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