Originally published for Agricultures Network.
Farmer-to-farmer training videos have the potential to trigger learning across culture and borders. While there is a growing demand for agricultural extension the focus has shifted to an increased attention given to farmer’s innovation.
‘The audience is able to visualize what is being taught. Some actions may be difficult to explain but easy to understand once someone has seen.’ Lebai Nsemwa, Zonal Agricultural Research and Development Centre, Tanzania
The survey, conducted from June to September 2011 focused on the production, dissemination and use of farmer training videos in developing countries for future capacity building. The data confirmed the claim that videos are a useful means to reach illiterate, youth, women as well as training groups but the problem lies in the inability for farmers to access the appropriate information due to a lack of knowledge on where to look for videos, or inability to find a video on the right subject or in their own language.
The information gathered through the survey, which included the input of over 500 respondents, highlighted the fact that farmers in developing countries need better access to quality agricultural training. The survey showed that agricultural workers mostly rely on outside agencies, such as research institutes, universities and NGOs as a source to provide them with educational resources. Hence came the suggestion of a new web-based platform to facilitate access to videos for farmers while promoting intercultural exchange across the globe.
One of the main challenges remain for the organisations, research institute and NGOs, that work at making these videos available, to be able to translate the increase demand for such product into appropriate and effective content. The survey revealed that one of the risk is to end up with highly prescriptive videos, with recommendations that are highly specific and therefore harder to ‘scale up’ and reach a wider public. Agro-Insight, the organisation responsible for the survey recommended that instead videos should focus on the technology itself and its practical use in order to make sure that the media is used as a collaborative means of transmitting knowledge rather than as a prescriptive method.
Read more:
- Report: Video-mediated farmer-to-farmer learning for sustainable agriculture [PDF, Agro-Insight, October 2011]
- Farmer-to-farmer videos
Samples of my writing 