Author: Susan Thomas

Tech Solutions for Smallholder Farmers in Bangladesh’s Jessore district

Posted on by Susan Thomas

While Bangladesh has witnessed some recent success in improving food security in Bangladesh, such as tripling its rice production, some challenges remain. A key challenge is that of connecting smallholder farmers to markets so that they can realise the best prices possible for their produce.

There are of course many factors that contribute to an uncoordinated market system which makes it unprofitable for smallholder farmers. Poor road networks, high transportation costs, a proliferation of actors, lack of capital and collective bargaining power to negotiate prices make it difficult for smallholder farmers to venture into markets outside of their community in hope of better prices for their produce. These challenges also discourage youth to enter farming as it’s not viewed as a profitable occupation.

So we wondered if we can break this status quo and tweak the market system in such a way that it is fair for smallholder farmers?

For the last two years, Feed the Future Developing Local Extension Capacity (DLEC) project implemented by Digital Green, the International Food Policy Research Institute, the Global Forum for Rural Advisory Services and Care International has been trying to find a solution to this challenge by piloting Digital Green’s access-to-market model in Bangladesh. In this model, a market entrepreneur is selected in each village in consultation with the community. Usually, a young farmer, this entrepreneur (aggregator) provides ‘door-to-door’ service of transporting the fresh produce from farm to market for a nominal fee.

When farmers in the community want to take their produce to the market they call the aggregator, who comes and picks-up the produce, sells it at the market on their behalf and gives the money back to the farmers the same day.

Farmers save time and cost of transportation – especially if they are vegetable growers and need to go to the market approximately every four days. By optimising transport based on the volume of produce, the aggregator too is able to control cost and gets better market prices with stronger negotiation power for bulk selling.

The model leverages digital technology to ensure transparency, efficiency and trust between the aggregator and farmer. When the aggregator collects the produce from farms, they use digital weighing machines to measure the quantity collected by each farmer. They also use separate sacks for each farmer to ensure those farmers with higher quality produce get better prices. After selling the produce, they log each transaction in the mobile app which generates an SMS receipt for each farmer. The farmer can also call the buyer and verify the price in the receipt. A mobile helpline for farmers that is channelled to a Digital Green field staff also assists with troubleshooting.

The traditional market system in Bangladesh is not gender inclusive. However, with trusted relationships with the aggregators, women heads of household were also able to get reliable access to markets and better prices for their produce and this encouraged more women farmers to cultivate home-stead gardening.

From April 2017, through this service, we have transported approx. 2.6 million kg of vegetables and ensured $1 million in payments. We have about 2,300 active farmers using the service and each farmer saves 3-5 hours of their time each week and we have seen an indication of 12-15% income increase through this service. These numbers are driven by the highly motivated, young entrepreneurs who take pride in the hard work of vegetable aggregation and transportation from dawn till dusk.

Due to the trust and respect aggregators built within their communities, DLEC was able to link them with Care Krishi Utsho, an enterprise of Care Bangladesh, to provide quality organic inputs to farmers. This partnership resulted in the aggregators gaining access to an added income source as mobile sales-agents of Krishi Utsho selling quality inputs to smallholder farmers. The aggregators also become a focal point for public sector extension agents, linking them up with smallholder farmers to provide demand-driven, timely and relevant advisory.

The success of DLEC’s market access engagement catalyzed additional interest and funding from The Government of the Netherlands to expand the program to additional geography within Bangladesh as part of the Profitable Opportunities for Food Security project implemented by ICCO Cooperation. SNV Netherlands Development Organization leveraged the DLEC aggregators to share weather advisory, plant & growth tips and pest outbreak alerts via their Fosholi app. And the School of Oriental & African Studies at the University of London is investing resources to study how to integrate nutrition, gender and climate resilience into the aggregator-led market access model.

Combating Malnutrition Through Agri-Nutrition Gardens

Posted on by Susan Thomas

In spite of the steady decline observed in maternal, infant and child mortality, much work remains to be done to tackle undernutrition among women of child-bearing age, adolescents and children under 5 years.

National Family Health Survey 2015-16 (NFHS-4) cites that in Jharkhand, 70% of children between the ages of 6 months and 5 years, and 65% of women ages 15-49 years are anaemic. These high rates of anaemia are attributable to the low iron content in women’s diets from early childhood into adulthood, which has consequences for children’s physical growth, mental development and performance in school. The NFHS-4 further notes that nearly half (45%) of children under age 5 in Jharkhand are stunted and 29% are wasted.

Undernutrition in rural communities can be traced to a dearth of information about nutrition, as well as the unaffordability of nutritious food. The introduction of mono-cropping and the shift in agriculture to a market-driven economy brought in with the Green Revolution in the 1960s in India, drastically reduced crop diversity. With cash crops taking precedence, households shifted from producing a range of cereals, pulses and vegetables themselves, to purchasing them from the market. Although vegetables help combat malnutrition by providing essential vitamins and minerals essential for children’s development and overall good health, India’s present vegetable production level permits a per capita consumption of only 120g per day, against the recommended daily intake 300g.

Background

In Jharkhand, Digital Green is working with Mahila Kisan Sashktikaran Pariyojana (MKSP) and the state Livelihood Promotion Society (JSLPS) on an integrated approach to address the immediate determinants of undernutrition, particularly consumption of adequate food and nutrition. The work is part of the Samvad  project funded by the US Agency for International Development, which is working with state Rural Livelihood Missions, state-level agencies of the National Health Mission, and multiple non-governmental organizations to employ video- and other ICT-enabled approaches to increase adoption of optimal maternal, infant and child health and nutrition and family planning practices in Jharkhand, Bihar, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand.

Through community videos they watch and discuss together, facilitated by the frontline workers (FLWs) trained through Samvad, the women farmers learn about health and nutrition practices, initially focusing on the first 1000 days (which start at the identification of pregnancy and last until the child is 2 years old) for both mother and child. The videos focus on dietary diversity during pregnancy, exclusive breastfeeding, complementary feeding, and so on. Once the groups understand health and nutritional requirements for healthy development, the FLWs guide them in discussions on options for bridging dietary diversity gaps, including backyard agriculture or kitchen gardens. MKSP and JSLPS are successfully promoting agri-nutrition gardens as a year-round source of fruits and vegetables.

I never thought of maintaining this kind of garden. Now I am harvesting fresh vegetables daily, by just collecting and using the household wastewater.

The Agri-nutrition Garden

After discussions with stakeholders on field conditions and land and water availability, Digital Green developed a model for an agri-nutrition garden, which details the size (about 50 square meters), layout, and options for maintaining a  diverse selection of vegetables and fruits by season. The garden boundary and rooftop can be used for climbing plants. The model advocates organic, non-pesticide management practices and compost production. Households use a Jalkund, a pit lined with a polyethene sheet to store household wastewater for irrigation. Establishment of community nurseries ensures timely availability of saplings.

During the last kharif and rabi seasons (2018-19), more than 12,000 community members planted agri-nutrition gardens in Jharkhand. Almost every garden developed during Kharif season was continued through the next (Rabi) cropping season, showing their importance to the women who plant them.

Many women farmers from the Tilaiya village mentioned that maintaining the small gardens, which they call a ‘poshan bagicha’ or nutri-garden, allows them to diversify their families’ daily diets to an extent not possible when they had to purchase vegetables from the market. In addition to this, they are also saving the money they used to spend purchasing vegetables (an average of Rs. 200-300 weekly).

I developed my nutrition garden during Kharif with 8 different kinds of vegetables and continued it in the rabi season by incorporating season specific vegetables. I have used organic manures only and maintained the garden using wastewater from the household. I consume the vegetables and also share the surplus with neighbours who don’t have enough.

Community Level Convergence

While interacting with community members in the Tilaiya village of Ramgarh, I realized that the extent of adoption of the practice of growing and tending agri-nutrition gardens, and the communities’ ownership of them, is attributable to the informal convergence in the villages of frontline workers from different domains and departments. MKSP FLWs, known as Community Resource Person or Aajeevika Krishak Mitra, screen the health and nutrition videos and talk about dietary diversity and other issues using platforms such as Anganwadi Centres (AWCs) and Village Health and Nutrition Days, where Anganwadi workers and/or Sahiya are present to discuss the issue with further clarity and details.

Anganwadi Centres have planted model agri-nutrition gardens (either at the centre or nearby) so that women can visualise how a small garden in their backyards could meet their families’ year-round dietary requirements for fresh fruits and vegetables. FLWs from the National Health Mission, the Department of Women and Child Development and NRLM share this common Anganwadi Centre platform for meeting and discussing household health and nutrition issues, and how to meet nutrition needs by developing a small agri-nutrition garden.

Empowerment of Women

This intervention has empowered women socially as well as economically. Each month, they save up to Rs. 1,000-1,200 by growing their own vegetables,  which they use for household needs that were previously difficult to meet. They also share or exchange the surplus vegetables from their gardens with needy community members and neighbouring farmers.

 

This concept even received an award in the state – see our Facebook update here!

Triggering Synergies Between Demand & Supply in Government Health Systems in Uttarakhand

Posted on by Susan Thomas

The burden of iron deficiency linked anaemia among women in India is well recognized, as is the importance of combating this, particularly among pregnant women. Prevalence of anaemia in pregnant women in India while on the decline, is still at an alarming 50.3% according to National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4). NFHS-4 data observes that nationally about 26% pregnant women consumed 100+ IFA tablets during their pregnancy, while in Uttarakhand 24% pregnant women consumed 100+ IFA tablets. Despite initiatives such as the National Iron Plus Initiative (NIPI) by the Government of India, uptake of IFA supplementation has not increased significantly.

Digital Green’s community-based video approach has been trying to ensure social behaviour change in the health and nutrition domain. A short video in the local language that dramatizes the best practices related to specific behaviours are more accessible to communities and These videos are created bearing in mind local taboos, myths and traditional practices that are contrary to scientifically proven best practices. The community videos are a blend of correct messaging coupled with examples of positive deviance from the community resulting in social behaviour change.

However, to ensure adoption we need to address gaps in both the demand as well as supply. There are several factors that need to come together in perfect synchronization for this. On the demand side, it is well documented that social taboos related to consumption of IFA tablets, augmented by the side-effects of consuming it (including nausea and vomiting) are most prominent. On the supply side, various studies have revealed bottlenecks including procurement, storage, and lack of personnel are a few.

Digital Green’s Project Samvad, funded by USAID, aims to improve family planning, maternal child health and nutritional outcomes in 6 states of India, namely, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Assam and Uttarakhand.

In June 2018, Digital Green initiated a partnership with the National Health Mission Uttarakhand (NHMUK) to implement this project in the aspirational districts, Haridwar and Uddham Singh Nagar.

Project Samvad targets beneficiaries by exploring platforms that have a high proportion of women in the reproductive age group and 1000-days period. We found one such platform that is effective in reaching the target audience in Uttarakhand to be the Village Health Sanitation and Nutrition Day (VHSND) that is conducted at the local Anganwadi centre. It is an initiative by the Government of India – focusing on improving maternal and child health and nutrition outcomes. VHSNDs are observed once a month and attended by an Auxiliary Nurse Midwife (ANM) who administers a health check-up and appropriate vaccination to the children and pregnant women. The beneficiaries are also provided information and counselling about family planning and the commodities are also distributed here.

At one such VHSND on September 8th 2018, Devi, 26, pregnant for the first time was advised by the ANM to consume IFA supplements. However, the stocks with the ANM had expired and she had not received the new batch yet.

At the next video dissemination when the ASHA worker showed the beneficiaries a video on the importance of IFA tablets, Devi described her situation. We took note of this gap in supply and the importance of addressing it urgently to achieve impact through this project. To understand the bottlenecks on the supply side, we conducted a mapping exercise with the National Health Mission (NHM) officials. This exercise gave us a clearer picture of the supply of commodities such as IFA and calcium supplements, ORS and family planning methods in the area. Through this mapping, we discovered that the supply of IFA tablets in the area was truly dismal. This supply-side mapping also became a criterion for identifying the villages where we would implement the program.

We interacted with Government officials at the state, district and block level at every possible platform to discover a quick and sustainable solution. Based on our findings from the mapping exercise, we had a discussion with Mission Director, NHM who shared that they were already aware of the issue and were working on improving the supply. He shared that they had also already allocated funds for the block administration to buy some of the required stock from the market until the government supply was restored. We then discussed this with the Chief Medical Officers (CMOs) of Haridwar and Uddham Singh Nagar.

Our first breakthrough in this situation was when after multiple discussions with our team the Medical Officer of the Bahadarabad block in Haridwar, used their available budgets to get the supply of IFA tablets from the market, ensuring that appropriate stocks were maintained at the areas where our videos were shown. This ensured that we were able to build demand through our videos and our partners were supporting it by ensuring regular supply, thus ensuring sustainable behaviour change.

In addition to the dialogue with the Government partners, we continued working with the ASHAs to continue the dissemination of videos that emphasise the importance of consuming the IFA tablets and convincing the beneficiaries to buy the required stock of IFA tablet from local pharmacies as well. ASHAs also discussed alternative sources of iron supplementation through dietary intervention that are highlighted in the Samvad videos.

Manjeet Kour, an ASHA in Sitarganj block, of Udham Singh Nagar district shared, “A beneficiary shared with me how she bought the IFA tablets from the market following a video dissemination. She said that she had understood the importance and urgency of consuming IFA tablets.” Manjeet Kour disseminated the video and initiated discussions to make sure the women are convinced about consuming it.

“Many women had misconceptions and reservations about having the IFA tablets and even when they wanted to consume it they would not unless they were given the tablets by the ANMs or ASHAs. So I convinced them (beneficiaries) to buy it, when possible, from the market for the sake of their own and their babies’ health,” added Manjeet.

When we see such dedication to the overall objective of improving health outcomes we’re convinced that the impact is achievable. We see communities come together and discuss these issues in a group and they want to adopt these improved practices. This in itself is impact. The government partners too, are making an effort to bridge the obvious gaps in supply by collaborating with development partners to identify specific needs.

These may be only initial steps towards bridging the demand and supply gaps. But we feel that such efforts will go a long way to bring together the beneficiaries, the government and social organizations to make a lasting social behaviour change.

Natural Farming Yields a Debt-free Future

Posted on by Susan Thomas

“It’s the end of the world,” said the caterpillar! 


“It’s just the beginning of the world,” said the butterfly!

– Author Unknown



I have seen that butterfly’s optimism in a farmer from a small village, Nandivelugu of Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh, India and it reaffirms my belief in the promise of natural farming and our farmers’ spirit and resilience!

There are many worlds within our world; for 30-year-old Arisetti Naga Malleshwari her world is 60 cents (0.6 acre) of her family-owned land and an additional 20 cents (0.2 acre) that is rented. Natural farming has made a world of difference to her small world.

Naga Malleshwari’sfather, Chandu Sambashiva Rao.

Mired in chronic debt over ten years of conventional farming, Naga Malleshswari and her husband Panduranga Rao decided to change the way they practised agriculture and adopted zero-budget natural farming(ZBNF) in the Kharif season of 2017. Inspired by her father, Chandu Sambasiva Rao who is growing five varieties of paddy landrace (native varieties) in Aathota village on a meagre 20 cents of rented land. He did this with support from the Andhra Pradesh Department of Agriculture and Cooperation (DoAC) & Rythu Saadhikaara Samstha (RySS)’s cluster activist, Ms Parishudda Kumari. After learning science and practices of natural farming by watching Digital Green community videos, Naga Malleshwari practised all important natural farming practices in Paddy, Jowar, and Colocasia.

Initially, Naga Malleshwari was filled with doubt due to the ridicule from her fellow farmers. But when she had harvested 18 bags of paddy from the 60 cents of land in November 2018, all her fellow farmers were convinced. The cost of cultivation in conventional farming (approx.. Rs. 10,000) was reduced (to Rs.4,000) in natural farming. Application of natural fertilizers and pesticides not only yielded a bumper crop, but it also ensured quality and healthy growth of crops. “I am yet to sell the paddy but the buyers are offering Rs.2,000 per bag; a profit of Rs. 200-400 per bag of the conventionally grown crop,” she shared with pride.

Naga Malleshwari follows all ZBNF practices meticulously.

After harvesting paddy, she sprayed cow dung-cow urine-asafoetida extract on the empty land as a precautionary practice to eliminate any residual fungi before planting Jowar (sorghum) in the Rabi season. She followed all ZBNF practices for the Rabi crop as well. Seed treatment with Beejamrutam, Ghanajeevamrutham application, spraying of Dravajeevamrutham and neem seed kernel extract and installed pheromone traps to monitor pests.

She shared that conventional methods of farming Jowar involve heavy usage of urea which results in higher levels of plant and weed growth during the grain formation stage, in turn resulting in lower yields. She is expecting higher yields and higher prices from the Jowar crop this time – (nearly 15 quintals that may fetch Rs.15,000) while the cost of cultivation was approx. Rs.1,000. On the 20-cents of rented land, Naga Malleshwari cultivated Colocasia using the ZBNF practices. Now, with reduced cultivation costs and higher yields, her net income was Rs.14,000, which is more than double the Rs.5,000 – 7,000 she used to receive.

“We have been debt-free since last two years,” shared Naga Malleshwari. “I am also growing several types of vegetables in my kitchen garden using the ZBNF method, which is sufficient for household consumption.” “I grew broad beans on paddy bunds during the last season,” she added. She was conscious of the health and nutrition benefits of consuming natural farming produce for her family of five members.

When almost all curry-leaf plants in her neighbourhood were affected with powdery mildew disease last summer she convinced all her neighbours to spray sour buttermilk on the plants –  the practice was effective, and this marked Naga Malleshwari’s first step in spreading ZBNF practices among her fellow farmers. As a Community Resource Person (CRP), she supported many paddy farmers in her village in the adoption and practice of natural farming in the Kharif season of 2018.

“I have attended several video disseminations on ZBNF and I interact regularly with resource persons to further build my understanding of natural farming,” she shared.

Change is slowly coming full circle in Naga Malleshwari’s natural farming journey. She began as a farmer merely practising natural farming, and is now playing a leadership role in supporting and encouraging her fellow farmers to adopt and practice natural farming. I am sure that Naga Malleshwari will continue to create many more circles of inspiration in her farming community!

How Samvad Project’s Video-based Intervention in Jharkhand is Addressing Supply Side Gaps

Posted on by Susan Thomas

30th October 2018 remains a memorable day for the men and women of a small village barely 100 kms from the capital of Jharkhand, Ranchi. On that day, armed with new knowledge they sat across the table with the Block Medical Officer to demand healthcare services particularly for 4 pregnant women, 10 lactating mothers and 10 children below 3 years of age.

“We gained knowledge about the health services provided by the government health system from videos shown by Parvati Devi (Community Mobilizer) in the anganwadi centre,” shared Dulari Devi, who has just delivered a child. She was able to get 2 Antenatal Check-ups (ANC) since the Anganwadi Nurse Midwife (ANM) resumed the services in Shijhua village, Tatijharia block of Hazaribagh district in Jharkhand.

The village now has regular Village Health & Nutrition Days (VHNDs) with an ANM in attendance, 2 beneficiaries have registered, services like scheduled check-ups during pregnancy, TT vaccine and distribution of IFA is now regular. The village has had 2 cases of Institutional delivery and 10 children have received immunization during the last quarter.

Digital Green’s Project Samvad, funded by USAID seeks to improve knowledge and awareness about health and nutrition among pregnant and lactating women and children under 2 years of age as well as the full range of family planning methods among the rural agrarian communities of 6 states in India, including Jharkhand.

Digital Green is working with MKSP PIA-Srijan , a local NGO in the Hazaribagh district of Jharkhand, that has been supporting the implementation of the Samvad project on the ground since July 2018.

The project blends health and nutrition messages with agriculture messages through community videos. For example, the nutri-garden intervention which is promoted to ensure the community is growing their own fruits and vegetables in their backyard using the wastewater and other materials to irrigate and create compost. This ensures they get the necessary nutrition through a diverse diet.

The community is also shown videos about services that the government health systems provide and the importance of availing those services, thus motivating them to further demand those services.

This project is being implemented in 35 villages of Ichak and Tatijharia Block of Hazaribagh district in Jharkhand.

In the neighbouring Shayalkala village of Ichak block, a hamlet, named Mammarak had never been visited by an ANM or received any government health services. The community lacked awareness on health issues. When videos of Project Samvad were disseminated in the hamlet community members started paying closer attention to the information shared.

“Very recently a family in our village had lost a mother and child immediately after delivery. After watching the videos, we understood that this had happened due to lack of proper care during pregnancy,” shared Baby Devi, who has watched all videos shown in the hamlet since the project intervention began.

The Community Mobilizer (CM), Chanda Devi, who mediates the video dissemination encourages a diverse and healthy discussion at the end of the video to gauge the grasp of the video among the community members and motivates them to identify any gaps in the supply of service and demand for it.

“After watching the videos under project Samvad, the community members understood the importance of the best practices promoted including Diet Diversity During Pregnancy, Importance of ANC checkups, Danger Signs During Pregnancy, IFA tablet etc. and met with the Mukhiya (village head) to discuss the gaps they had identified,” shared Chanda Devi. The Mukhiya further wrote to the Block Medical Officer requesting that the Village Health and Nutrition Days (VHNDs) be started and held regularly in their hamlet too. “The Mukhiya too started attending every video dissemination along with the Ward Member (local elected representative) and motivates the community to avail the facility being rendered during the VHNDs,” adds Chanda Devi.

Breaking barriers around IFA supplementation for pregnant women through videos

Posted on by Susan Thomas

 

Sohini Banjare, a Mitanin Trainer in Ambargarh Chowki block, Rajnandgaon, Chhattisgarh has been advocating regular consumption of Iron Folic Acid (IFA) tablets by pregnant women for years. “The side-effects of the iron supplement and the stigma related to having any medicine during pregnancy has been a big barrier to my work,” shared Sohini.

 

She recalls one particular case from 2017 to demonstrate this. “Sangeeta Mandavi belonged to a loving and supportive family in Thetwar Lanjhiya and was expecting her first child. When I came to know about Sangeeta’s pregnancy, I visited Sangeeta’s house,” recalled Sohini.

 

A Mitanin’s visit to a pregnant woman typically involves counselling the woman about her health, update her on the government schemes and entitlements and remind her of the check-ups she must get. These visits are also meant to keep a check if everything is alright in this delicate stage; ensure she is getting adequate rest and optimum diet but most importantly, to ensure she is consuming the IFA tablet regularly, which goes a long way in ensuring the health of the mother and her child.

Sangeeta’s husband and in-laws were very supportive and assured that they would take good care of her and Sangeeta herself assured Sohini that she’s taking the IFA tablets regularly.

 

“One tends to think that it’s easy to pop a pill which ensures good health for the mother and child. However, women often discontinue it due to the side effects such as vomiting which accompany it in the initial days until the body gets used to it,” shared Sohini.

 

 

“Closer to her baby’s delivery, a neighbour’s child playing in Sangeeta’s room was seen with some tablets. Soon her family discovered a heap of IFA tablets discarded under her bed,” shared Sohini. “It turned out that Sangeeta had been throwing away the tablets under her bed as she could not bear the side effects when she initially started taking the tablets,” she added. Sangeeta had hidden this from her family fearing that they may insist on her having the medicine. A week later, Sangeeta delivered a low birth weight baby (2 Kgs) and faced a lot of weakness herself.

 

In January 2018, Digital Green entered into a partnership with the State Health Mission in Chhattisgarh under its USAID funded Samvad project. The project seeks to address Family Planning, Maternal Child Health and Nutritional goals through a participatory approach, using locally relevant content created by, of and for the communities. The program is being implemented on a pilot basis across 2 districts of Chhattisgarh, namely Rajnandgaon and Kawardha, through the State Health Resource Centre. Digital Green trained Mitanin Trainers (MTs) to produce and disseminate the videos using pico projectors. These MTs have reached nearly 41,000 women (up till Dec 2018) with community videos on themes such as IFA supplementation, Complementary feeding, Diarrhea management and Family planning messages.

 

 

In March 2018 Sohini received training on video-based approach from Digital Green. The Mitanin Trainers were also given a pico projector to disseminate videos on various health topics to improve awareness of the community. The Mitanin Trainers would use these new tools to bring all pregnant women and new mothers together to disseminate these videos.

 

In April 2018, Sangeeta was pregnant the second time and Sohini made it point to invite her to the dissemination of video titled – Importance of IFA tablet. The video illustrated in great detail a woman’s hesitation in eating the supplementary iron tablets due to the side effects in a dramatic and emotional manner. After the video was shown, Sohini invited Sangeeta to talk about her experience of taking the tablet and then discontinuing it. Sangeeta shared her struggle with the side effects and hesitation in taking the medicine and the consequent problems of having a low birth weight baby. Sangeeta resolved, “I will not make the same mistake again with my second pregnancy. I will follow all the suggestions as shown in the video to combat the side effects.” Sangeeta’s second child was born a healthy baby of 3 kgs.

Videos Boost the Efforts of Chhattisgarh’s Frontline Health Workers

Posted on by Susan Thomas

“I am motivated by the thought that my work can bring a positive change in the lives of my community,” shares Anju Sahu, 38, a Mitanin trainer in Barccha tola, Rajnandgaon, Chhattisgarh. ‘Mitanin’ in Chhattisgarhi means a female friend, traditionally a female friend who helps out in times of need or illness. This organic concept was adopted in a state-wide attempt to create a cadre of health extension workers or ‘Swasthya Mitanin’ (friend of the village for health care needs).

Digital Green entered into a partnership with the State Health Mission in Chhattisgarh in January 2018 under its USAID funded Samvad project. This project is an effort to address Family Planning, Maternal Child Health and Nutritional goals through a participatory approach, using locally relevant content created by, of and for the communities. The program is being implemented on a pilot basis across 2 districts of Chhattisgarh, namely Rajnandgaon and Kawardha, through the State Health Resource Centre. Digital Green trained Mitanin Trainers (MTs) to produce and disseminate the videos using pico projectors. These MTs have reached nearly 35,000 women (up till 30th Nov 2018) with community videos on themes such as IFA supplementation, complementary feeding, Diarrhea management and family planning messages.

Happy about the introduction of Digital Green’s video-based approach Anju shares, “It’s difficult to gather people or keep their attention when we try to disseminate information, but videos help us garner their interest.” “I asked the two Mitanins in my area to gather everyone at the village ground in the late evening for video dissemination and it was heartening to see so many people turned up. There were women, men and children of all ages,” shares a happy and excited Anju.

Anju chose to show a video about diarrhoea. “The children were spell-bound and watched the video in complete silence,” she adds. “A few days later the principal of the primary school invited me to the school. He asked me what video I had shown in the village,” shares Anju. The students had shared with him how good and useful the information about diarrhoea had been. Anju asked the students on the key points of the video and was glad to see that they were able to recall that to avoid diarrhoea one should always drink clean water and wash hands with soap after using the toilet, before cooking and eating.

“The video is a great medium for reaching out to all age groups – even small children can easily understand the information shared through it,” shares Anju.

Anju is happy to report that when the Mitanins go for home visits now parents share with pride that there is a great change, especially among the children as they never fail to wash their hands with soap after defecation and before eating.

“Even the Mitanins are happy as they are able to convey these health messages in a more convincing manner and disseminate them among larger groups at once,” adds Anju.

How Videos Played a Part in Scaling a Farming Revolution

Posted on by Susan Thomas

Kondabaridi is a small and beautiful tribal village in Kurupam mandal of Viziayanagram district in Andhra Pradesh. It sits nestled between 6 heavily forested hills, namely, Thotakonda, Pedda Konda, Tivvakonda, Pindigadda, Jangammettu, Koorikonda.

Of its 63 farmers, there is none that does not have an immediate response to questions about the benefits of natural farming. They respond with gusto: “Our yields have improved significantly compared to the previous methods”; “Input expenses have reduced drastically”; “The rice from the paddy cultivated in this method is aromatic and sweet.”

All of them adopted the Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF) method in their rain-fed agricultural land, spread across 98 acres at the beginning of the Kharif season in 2017.

Over this interaction one afternoon, the community unfolds the story of a revolution that has become part of the lives of every farmer, every women’s group member, and every school-going child of this village. This collective appreciation of natural farming has made Kondabaridi the first village in Andhra Pradesh to have adopted 100% natural farming. The testimony of the farmers in Kondabaridi makes believers of natural farming proud and is enough to make a non-believer, believe in the power of this practice.

This initiative has received worldwide acclaim and was chosen as the top 10 projects at the Paris Peace Forum.

“I have been farming for the last 60 years. But it’s the first time in my life that my 2-acre paddy field yielded grains sufficient for my whole family to last three years. This is after I sold half of the yield,” shared 75-year old farmer Pattika Parsaiah whose farm depends on the rains. The conventional method of cultivation would yield 18-20 bags per acre (a bag is 50 kgs) that is 9-10 quintals. Last year after adopting SRI in the natural farming method, it yielded 40 bags (20 quintals).

“Traditionally, yields in tribal areas are found to be significantly less compared to the plain areas. But Kondabaridi farmers’ yields have completely debunked this perception,” shared D. Parinayudu, executive trustee of Jattu Trust, which used Digital Green’s video-based extension approach to scale their project among 8000 farmers in 8 clusters in Parvatipuram division in Viziayanagram district including Kondabaridi village. His organisation was entrusted with field implementation of natural farming method by the Government of Andhra Pradesh. “Several farmers have witnessed significant yield improvement after adopting SRI in natural farming, ranging from 40% to 110% increase,” he adds.

“Regular trainings, video dissemination through Pico (video-based agriculture extension) is a big reason in improving farmers’ knowledge on natural farming practices,” shared Community Resource Person (CRP), Pattika Naresh. “We would show videos before every input preparation (of organic pesticides and fertilizers) led by eight women’s self-help groups (SHGs) of Kondabaridi,” he added.

Not just paddy, but the cashew and red gram farmers too adopted natural farming practices. Even the Kondabaridi primary school now has two vegetable gardens developed recently with pro-active participation from students, women and farmers. The students’ mid-day meal will soon have vegetables grown in these gardens cultivated in this manner. Many farmers from the surrounding villages routinely stop by to ask about 100% natural farming practices. “Many of them inquire about buying paddy from our farmers for seed and rice,” shared CRP Naresh.

“All our efforts over the last three years has brought us tremendous joy. All the learning, sharing, video screenings, trainings, farmer-field schools, have borne fruits – the increased yields and farmers’ incomes… our village becoming the first 100% natural farming village in our state. All these fill us with great excitement… Our village feels like one family… Our people have proved it…” shares the village head, Thuyuka Manjuvani.

Standing at Kondabaridi approach road with a shiny new board declaring the village as the ‘First 100% natural farming village’ in the State, I feel blessed having been a part of this change. On taking a 360-degree view, we can see many small-holder farmers in the SRI paddy fields at harvest stage. There are no fields nearby that have not adopted natural farming to compare the yields. But the farmers can compare it with their previous yields. Kondabaridi farmers are confident that they can beat their own benchmarks.

One might be persuaded to believe that it’s easy for those living amidst nature to become champions and beneficiaries of natural farming. But it is not so. It’s a genuine effort from several people and organisations towards collective well-being. Kondabaridi farmers know it very well, as do the organisations and individuals who supported them all along the way. For this reason, CRP Naresh shares on behalf of the Kondabaridi farmers that they are indebted to Government of Andhra Pradesh’s respected advisor on agriculture, Mr.T.Vijay Kumar, A.P. Government’s Rythu Saadhikara Samstha, & Department of Agriculture, Jattu Trust, Azim Premji Philanthropic Initiatives (APPI) and Digital Green.

And for their effort in creating and sharing this lesson with the rest of the world, Kondabaridi Zindabad!!!

Post Script – A Silent Natural Farming Revolution

      

Many good things have taken place in the lives of Kondabaridi farmers. Kondabaridi has become well known all over the country as Andhra Pradesh’s first 100% natural farming village. Mainstream news media including BBC have featured Kondabaridi village natural farming success. Kondabardi farmers along with farmers who are cultivating paddy crop in natural farming methods in neighbouring villages collectivised themselves as Maa Bhumi Farmer Producer Organisation (FPO).

Maa Bhumi FPO is procuring paddy grown in natural farming methods from its shareholder farmers by giving them premium price. Maa Bhumi FPO is converting paddy grain into seed, packing it in 25 kgs and 30kgs bags and selling the seed bags to the paddy growers. In 2020-21 financial year, Maa Bhumi FPO sold 80,00,000 Rupees worth of paddy seed. The FPO is also buying Fox tail millets, Finger millets, Kodo millets and Banyard millets from the shareholder farmers, processing, packing and selling them in wholesale and retail markets. The FPO has also set up hand-pounding rice unit in the Kondabardi village. Paddy procured from farmers hand-pounded into rice, packaged, branded and selling in retail and wholesale outlets at a competitive market price. More than twenty-woman tribal farmers are getting employment in hand-pounding rice unit. From growing paddy in natural farming method, procuring it from farmers for a premium price and adding value to the produce by converting it into paddy seed and nutritious hand-pounded rice, creating a brand name for their product, Kondabaridi continuous to be an inspiration for small-holder farmers around the world.

Kondabaridi farmers have recently told me, “We are not able to meet the demand for our pounded rice from market” – simply sums up how far Kondabaridi farmers have come in their lives and what they have achieved.

Kondabaridi, I think, is a starting point in upwards and onwards of a new farming revolution in India.

 

 

 

 

 

Combatting Fall Armyworm in Ethiopia

Posted on by Susan Thomas

The fall armyworm (FAW), Spodoptera frugiperda, was first reported on the African continent in early 2016 and, in Ethiopia alone, has infested approximately a quarter of the 2.6 million hectares of land planted with maize since 2017. To tackle the devastation, the Government of Ethiopia set up a National Technical Advisory Committee on FAW (FAW TAC) in early 2018 which includes government stakeholders such as the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Resources (MoALR) and the National Agricultural Research Council (NARC); agriculture universities, donors such as FAO and USAID; and implementing partners such as Digital Green and Fintrac. The FAW TAC is faced with a challenging mission. Given the extent of devastation that FAW has already wrought on smallholder maize farmers in Ethiopia, one tool or strategy to survey, monitor, report and combat the pest will not be enough. To tackle the national spread, an effective solution will require a menu of options and a multi-pronged approach.

The Feed the Future Developing Local Extension Capacity project (DLEC) is piloting a multi-channel, multi-stakeholder approach leveraging video-enabled extension, a national IVR question and answer (Q&A) forum, a mobile-based farmer and extension agent survey, and the Fall Armyworm Monitoring and Early Warning System (FAMEWS) – a mobile application deployed by the MoALR and FAO. We hypothesize that the systematic integration of these channels can create a demand-driven, timely and responsive pest management system.

DLEC is implementing the pilot in collaboration with the Feed the Future Ethiopia Value Chain Activity (FTF-EVCA) implemented by Fintrac in ten woredas in Amhara and Oromia regions of Ethiopia and will include 25,000 farmers. The outcome we are seeking is to leverage existing national systems and partnerships with ongoing projects to create a holistic digital suite of tools and collect real-time data to enable rapid, targeted decisions about how to develop focused and contextual content, train extension agents and farmers and monitor performance to combat the spread of FAW.

The diagram above shows the multi-pronged approach that involves government extension agents showing local videos on FAW scouting and control mechanisms, farmers calling the IVR Q&A line to record FAW sightings, government and partners conducting a mobile survey for additional real-time data, and the FAW TAC and others using the multiple data sources for effective and efficient decision-making on FAW mitigation. One of the roles that DLEC plays is to ensure that the FAW control practices shown in the videos can actually be implemented by the farmers. The videos also promote good agricultural practices to get high nutrients and reduced pests in maize plants such as tillage after harvesting for soil polarization, timely planting, intercropping and push-pull cropping; local practices such as broadcasting of ash, sand, pepper and soap into infested whorls; and organized system-related activities such as parasitoid and pathogen verification and registration.

Our hope is that this multi-pronged integrated approach can help farmers combat FAW, and the lessons learned can be leveraged to fight other pests and diseases as well. We’ve just begun implementation so watch this space for updates, results and lessons learned. And do share what you’re learning in pest management and integration of digital tools and messages to enable real-time decision making.

Keeping it Simple: Technology for Smallholder Farmers

Posted on by Susan Thomas

Agricultural practices in developing countries such as India are often influenced by traditional practices and farmers’ collective wisdom, which do not necessarily translate to optimal productivity or profits. Also, recent studies reveal that most small-scale farmers or the youth in the farming families no longer view farming as a sustainable livelihood source.

However, as per India’s census of 2011, 263 million people are engaged in the agriculture sector. It provides employment to 56% of the Indian workforce. The sector’s performance has strong ripple effects on other sectors, directly or indirectly, as well as far-reaching implications on the social, political and economic spheres.

Most agricultural extension and advisory services in developing countries have been following traditional methods including on-farm demonstrations, organizing farmer groups, and farmers’ training, training of extension providers and developing training modules and materials. However, these have been costly, slow and limited in effectiveness due to various reasons such as generic, top-down content and language barriers.

It was almost ten years ago that a group of engineers and economists in Microsoft Research’s Technology for Emerging Markets office in Bengaluru, India hit upon an idea to support agricultural extension. The solution was quite simple– to involve the community itself in developing content by putting the technology into their own hands– and which proved to be at least ten times more efficient and seven times more likely to encourage farmers to adopt new practices compared to conventional agricultural extension systems.

The idea eventually spun off as a non-profit–Digital Green–which developed the approach further. To ensure usage of technology available to smallholder farmers in a manner that connects the farmer with the content, a community video production team creates videos using simple, low-cost tools, averaging eight to ten minutes in length. The content is locally relevant, evidence-based and produced in the local language. Members of the community are cast in these short videos enabling viewers to connect instantly with the message. Subject matter experts review the video content before it is finalized for screening using battery-operated Pico projectors where a trained village resource person mediates a discussion around it. Followups are done regularly to ensure the adoption of actual practices.

According to the FAO, global food production will need to rise by 70% to meet the projected demand by 2050. This points to a critical need to act quickly to support farmers–especially, smallholder farmers who account for 80% of global agricultural production from developing regions–get timely and correct information to increase production and gains.

Despite several well-meaning attempts to use ICTs for empowering communities, its true potential is yet to be harnessed in the agriculture sector while other more complex technologies continue to be developed. Learning from Digital Green’s experience, the solution to this problem lies in capitalizing the rise of, and ubiquitous nature of, information and communication technologies (ICTs). Other low-cost technology such as Interactive Voice Response (IVR) systems and text messages, that smallholder farmers have access to, can also be used to send out additional information or reinforce messages. Various development organizations, technology firms, and research teams have already begun exploring how the Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI) and precision farming can be used to empower farmers.

With newer technology being developed, it is possible to provide more nuanced solutions to farmers, if the potential of these technologies is used more effectively. We are currently, in partnership with the Government of Andhra Pradesh’s Department of Agriculture and Cooperation (APDoAC), piloting multiple technologies such as drones and helium balloons as well as soil moisture sensors, weather forecasting systems to test how newer technology can be further engaged to better service smallholder farmers in Andhra Pradesh, India.

This partnership among various organizations dedicated to piloting technology-based innovation in agriculture highlights the importance of tapping into available technology to enable greater productivity in agriculture while empowering the farmers to adapt to newer technology and challenges. As our world evolves, we certainly need more evolved and collaborative ways of adapting the simultaneously evolving technology, to accelerate progress for all.