Following the videos for farmers training an initiative by the African Forum for Agricultural Advisory Services (AFAAS), Forum du Conseil Agricole (FCA) Madagascar have been collaborating with two local projects the Rural Autonomy and Development Training Center (CEDAR) and Rural Autonomy Empowerment (FM3A) to disseminate agricultural training videos widely among farmers through sustainable and well implemented structures at grassroots level.
FCA recognizes the potential of videos to reach out to a wider audience and provide information and guidance in a more engaging and accessible format for farmers. Nevertheless, previous experiences have shown that video production can be expensive and complicated, and sometimes may not be suitable for farmers. This is where this new approach promoted by AFAAS comes in. Indeed, to face the various challenges previously mentioned, FCA is aiming at empowering extension agents to create useful videos – with farmers – quickly and affordably using accessible tools like smartphones, tablets, and mobile video editing applications.
It is in this context that FCA Madagascar has been experimenting this approach in Madagascar since 2022. Through the local projects CEDAR and FM3A, we are currently experimenting videos for farmers concept with 380 beneficiary farmers. Based on the needs identified by their beneficiaries, these two projects have developed and disseminated 13 videos from permaculture techniques to urban agriculture, and agroecology. As reminder, these videos are designed to be informative, engaging, and relevant to the specific challenges faced by rural households in vulnerable environments, including those who are illiterate and poor.
At the same time, CEDAR and FM3A, with the support of FCA, are studying and analyzing the various data on the use and impacts of these videos at grassroots level. The final findings from this experimentation will be published in May 2023 at a workshop for decision-makers.
To conclude, FCA hopes that the outputs of this experimentation will serve as a model for other organizations and institutions working in the field of agriculture and rural development at national, and why not international, level. We dare to hope that this small step will lead eventually to the improvement of millions farmers’ lives around the world.
Written by: Samuel ANDRIANJAFY, Communication, Information, and Knowledge Management Facilitator at FCA Madagascar, April 2023
[1] If you want to know more about this activity led by FCA and AFAAS, please follow this link: https://d4aeas.afaas.africa/video-produced-by-fca-during-training/
[2] You can follow them through their Facebook page: https://web.facebook.com/autonomierurale
[3] You can follow them through their Facebook page: https://web.facebook.com/fm3a.org or their website: https://fm3a.org/