Ghana to benefit from ISFM write-shops
In July 2012 ASHC and AGRA will be hosting intensive write-shops in Ghana with grantees and their partners, including the Ministry of Food and Agriculture. The aim of the write-shops will be to design dissemination materials that help to change the way farmers prepare and manage their soil. In particular it will explore how to package integrated soil fertility management lessons – in a way that farmers really respond to.
Working with 5 projects partners, these write-shops develop the practical solutions for creating information messages that stick. As well as write-shops there will be extensive field-testing and peer review of the planned extension materials.
This approach should increase the up-take of soil health improvement techniques by farmers in Ghana. Jane Frances Asaba ASHC’s information and communications specialist, said: “We are experimenting with a different process for the write-shops in Ghana. In the past we brought together a large group of participants to a central location. However in Ghana we are going to run a series of workshops in different regional locations – this means that we are expecting our partners to travel less and we can also access local farming communities to test our thinking for new information materials. The first write-shops will be held in the Northern, Ashanti or Volta regions.”
The ASHC team has produced a Ghana flyer setting out how the workshops are expected to work. A fact-finding tour will happen between 20-28 June 2012 involving Kelly Stenhoff (monitoring and evaluation specialist) and Jane Frances Asaba (communication specialist). They will be consulting with participating organization to fine tune the arrangements for the workshops.
This will involve meeting with ISFM research organisations, experts in communications – such as graphic designers and radio and tv production people and the farmers, extension workers and agro-dealers who will be the audience for the materials to be generated. The write-shops will happen at different locations in Ghana between the 16-27 July 2012.
For more information contact Duncan Sones from the ASHC delivery team.