ASHC supporting Malawi policy communications
The Soil Health Consortium of Malawi has 3 objectives that can be summarised as:
- Improve access to ISFM information for key stakeholders
- Enhance dissemination of ISFM innovations
- Enhance capacity to harmonise and consolidate ISFM innovations through training, workshops,research and by producing radio and television documentaries based on successful ISFM researc
ASHC was approached to provide capacity building in film production to emphasise the role policy can play in the mainstreaming of ISFM amongst smallholder farmers.
James Watiti of ASHC explains: “In the original plans it was anticipated that ASHC would play a significant role in facilitating and producing policy briefs. However, we quickly realised the enormity of the task of producing materials in five cropping systems across sub-Saharan Africa, so we reluctantly put policy work on the back burner. Now this collaboration with IPNI and our colleagues in Malawi means we have found a new and creative way to support the production of ISFM policy messages. We plan to share the training materials we have developed, closing a significant gap in the ASHC ‘How to…series’”.
James continues: “SoHCoM did a review and found that they had a missing link in terms of material that could emphasise the role and potential impact on smallholder farmers of ISFM to agricultural policy makers. ASHC was delighted to help the consortium build capacity in this area. We also widened the brief to cover a broader selection of audio-visual approaches. ASHC, in partnership with IPNI, developed a training programme which ran from 22-25 June 2014”.
SoHCoM identified the key institutions with a mandate in ISFM dissemination in Malawi. Participants in the training came from a variety of backgrounds and organisations including Chitedze Research Station, media companies, extension staff from the Ministry of Agriculture and civil society.
Now this collaboration with IPNI and our colleagues in Malawi means we have found a new and creative way to support the production of ISFM policy messages.
SoHCoM identified the key institutions with a mandate in ISFM dissemination in Malawi. Participants in the training came from a variety of backgrounds and organisations including Chitedze Research Station, media companies, extension staff from the Ministry of Agriculture and civil society.
Rebbie Harawa of AGRA said:“AGRA looks to the Africa Soil Health Consortium to facilitate learning and capacity building in the area of communications of ISFM. The 13 country-level consortiums are well placed to help ASHC take lessons from one part of sub-Saharan Africa and adapt and adopt them to solve similar problems in other countries.
I am delighted to see ASHC and SoHCom working together to create a media training resources that can be used by all of the other soil health consortiums. Helping scientists to understand mass media and to find new ways to connect to farmers is a vital priority for AGRA’s Soil Health Program and is exactly the challenge that the Soil Health Consortium of Malawi is funded to address.”
On the first and second day the focus was on planning the content of messages and developing story ideas. Grace Omondi commented, ‘I have just written a thesis on the use of stories in messages, so it was great to use some of this theory.
The delegates worked on writing story boards on declining soil fertility. Whilst it was important to appeal to the head with facts and data and research the stories also needed heart in the form of human interest. Policy audiences, like everyone else, find it easier to remember stories than hard facts.’
Day three was a practical hands on session giving the participants the chance to practice planning for filming, location selection and interviewing skills related to the key messages that had been identified earlier in write-shop. Participants got hands-on experience in villages near Mponela.
Grace explains: ‘A number of locations were selected to enable the participants to think through the range of issues we had discussed in the training. We visited a maize mill and a maize shop as well as farms. The practices observed on the farm included slash and burn land preparation and conservation agriculture. We also visited sites where deforestation and land degradation where having a negative impact on agricultural productivity. Farmer interviews were conducted to bring out the key message from smallholders who did and did not practice conservation agriculture.
The 4 hours in the field provided a chance for scientists and media to interact with agricultural issues together with smallholder farmers, which will help them to understand how they can work together better in future. In particular it brought home how long it takes to do things properly. It was important to balance the desire to follow the script with taking advantages of opportunities in the field for a different approach to deliver the message.’
Legacy
When ASHC produces training and development program it produces How to… communication guides that are based on the training notes given to delegates and the learning that comes from holding the events.
Six new ‘How to …’ guides will shortly be available on the back of this write-shop:
- How to… write a policy brief
- How to… produce a policy film using participatory approaches
- How to… produce briefing sheet for radio
- How to …produce an effective PowerPoint presentation
- How to… produce an op-ed
- How to… produce a case study
These will be downloaded from the ASHC website.
George Odour concluded: ‘The production of How to… guides and the ISFM materials library form two really useful tools for anyone wishing to make development communications or policy materials. We are currently in the process of fund raising to add further resources such as templates that will take the stress out of poster and leaflet design. ASHC cannot work as intensively in every country but we can at least make a set of open access resources for use by trainers or for individuals to use to improve their development communications skills.’
What the delegates said:
Excello Zidane from the communications branch of the Veterans Agricultural Program, said: “I was particularly impressed by lessons on how to transform scientific jargon into a language a smallholder can easily understand. That’s particularly important because if the farmers, who is the implementer of the ISFM technology, does not get the message, the whole technology becomes useless.” Ayam Maeresa of the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation Television said the training would improve his reporting of ISFM, as a result of what he had learned at the work-shop.
I am delighted to see ASHC and SoHCom working together to create a media training resources that can be used by all of the other soil health consortiums. Helping scientists to understand mass media and to find new ways to connect to farmers is a vital priority for AGRA’s Soil Health Program and is exactly the challenge that the Soil Health Consortium of Malawi is funded to address.”