Creating awareness and demand through awareness programs
Awareness Programme in Khawrinhim Village
Bethany Society
Series of awareness programs were organized where participants from the village, representatives of the village council, and officials from the Block Office of Reiek Block participated. These programs focused on highlighting the value of home gardening for food security and nutritional enhancement which can be achieved by incorporating simple natural farming techniques. The techniques can be easily implemented and practiced by all villagers. It was during such programs that queries were explained through a close interaction between the community and members of Bethany Society, the implementing partner for the project.
Acknowledging the importance and the desire of farmers to engage actively in the problem and gain expertise, and apply it in their own home gardens.
Recognizing the opportunities, the villagers were encouraged to take part in piloting home gardens in their own plots.
The opportunity to actively engage in the program generated discussions and drew community interest.
Knowledge is the basis of protection. Prepare visual material to send to smartphones. Use radio, social and mass media. Check national curricula for primary and secondary schools, if they include lessons on pollinators and pollination. If not, discuss with the curricula unit of Ministry for Education. Start a dialogue with Ministry for Agriculture to recommend FAP as farming practice, to develop a more ambitious national regulation for agricultural chemicals or a ban of imported managed bumblebees (which can transfer diseases and pests to indigenous species). Clarify with Ministry of Interior, if they can better protect hedgerows and old wood in agricultural areas. Discuss with national universities and Ministry for the Environment, if they can monitor pollinator diversity and include the results in their national reports to CBD, or what kind of capacity building they might need in advance. Clarify with Ministries for Tourism and Urban Planning, if they can conduct a yearly competition for the best performing rural and urban area concerning pollinator protection and promote the winners for ecotourism. Conduct a national pollinator round table with various ministries. Join Promote Pollinators (https://promotepollinators.org/). Read more in: Christmann 2019b
Some ex-ante surveys e.g. on knowledge concerning pollinators and pollination among different stakeholder groups are quite helpful. Also, the value of pollination for crop pollination is not only assessed globally, but also for various countries. These figures are quite convincing that the service of pollinators should be sustained. If you convince the national government to join Promote Pollinators (https://promotepollinators.org/) they join a group of likeminded countries and get part of exchange of respective experience.
Creating awareness and demand through awareness programs
Confidence raising through exposure and cross learning
Enhancing skills through pilots of household farms
Hand Holding and support for sustaining the pilots
Demonstrating measures for Jhum optimization
Demonstration of Jhum optimization measure
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Demonstration of Jhum optimization measure 1
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The demonstration of the Jhum optimization measures in the farmers field on pilot basis involving the community would show results which will convince the farmers how small modification on the present system of jhum management would make a difference in terms of conserving soil, increasing fertility level and improve soil moisture while increasing crop yield and improving eco system services.The outcome of the positive results would built their confidence and encourage the land users to adopt in larger area and finally incorporate them in their system in managing their jhum field.
Building trust of the land users and the commnunity and also the lessons learned during the exposure visit to Nagaland was an added advantage as they could see by themseves the difference of practicing improved jhum.
The communities were already practicing the jhum system of farming and adopting few modification in management was not at all a problem to them.
Regular interaction and focused discussions with the community and land users are a key component for any community based programme. Building trust with the village council and community leaders becomes important given the fact that the land and forest are governed by them and their decision becomes important in smooth function of the activities in the village.
The time for implementation of this building block is very important as this should start from the selection of jhum plot. In this case there was already crop in the jhum field and they could not be disturbed. Hence for demonstration a 100 sq meter plot was selected near the jhum field where the measures were undertaken.
Inorder to create awareness on the measures of jhum optimization already being practiced by the farmers of Nagaland, a 2- days workshop was organised at project village for the community leaders , farmers and field functionaries of forest department. Although jhum was being practiced for generations by the villagers, they were not aware of the measures for jhum intensification and its optimization. Benefits of these measures in increasing their farm income and improving biodiversity and ecosystem services were explained through a participatory process and a power point presentation. Involving community leaders and community elders along with women and youth leaders in the training programme was an added advantage as this leveraged the urgency of the programme and its implementation .
Orientation of the jhum optimization measures to the state nodal agency i.e. the state biodiversity board and the village council members was key to win the confidence and trust of the stakeholders.
Realization of the farmers and stake holders on the urgency of problem faced and willingness to actively participate and acquire knowledge and implement them in their own jhum.
Selection of the beneficiary who is having plot in the current jhum field was an added advantage
Incentivising any programme in the village in form of inputs / exposure visit could generate interest among the community to actively participate.
Participatory programme planning in the village along with the participants generated more interest and discussions
FFS have been proven to have successful outcomes all over the world. They bring together aspects of agroecology, adult learning methods and community development and are widely adapted by NGOs, governments and international agencies. Overall there are some aspects that need to be considered to have successful outcomes:
Gradual learning process: Changing processes and mindsets needs time and enough space within the workshops. Problems occur in real time and good solutions need to be practiced. This gives everyone the experience of positive outcomes and advantages in changing their perspective. Seeing something new work with success usually starts an open thought process.
Farmers need to take the lead and define the programme.
The learning process should be done in a structured and practical oriented process with regular meetings.
Trainers need to facilitate rather than teach: Adult education needs to be considered by heart and supported by facilitators.
Group processes need to be established. Therefore, training should focus on:
Practical group work with exercises in the field
Critical and analytical skills
Planning skills
Evaluation and feedback skills
Situational and locally adapted approach during workshops.
Fitting training fields need to be available.
Strong facilitators who need to support adult education in a participate manner by heart. Giving additional training can support a positive outcome.
Committed and open-minded participants.
Facilitator must not only be technically well-trained, but also be convinced of the methods presented.
It is important to keep the attendance of the same farmers high during the whole duration of the workshops. This supports the gradual learning process and acceptance.
Facilitators/technicians need to be involved in the learning process and discuss this with the group.
Training in adult education for facilitators supports the learning process.
Selecting group leaders from within the participants helps to facilitate workshops. It is helpful to involve them at a high level.
Training must take place on the field. Flexible scheduling ensures that training can be offered even when weather conditions change.
Giving small incentives or "goodies" that support the work (e.g. canning jar) support overall acceptance of FFS and new approaches.
Exchange visit of farmers living in the same region, but different villages
Deutsche Welthungerhilfe e.V.
Exchange visit of farmers from Ayni to Rasht district, Tajikistan
Deutsche Welthungerhilfe e.V.
Cross side visit between two regions in Tajikistan
Deutsche Welthungerhilfe e.V.
Often more than one FFS is held during an implementation process. It is likely that groups develop slightly different approaches to tackle similar challenges or that groups choose different methods that are practiced at the training fields. Exchange visits offer the possibility to widen the experiences and solutions that are shared.
During exchange visits farmers from one field school visit another group of farmers that is held in a different region. Everyone is able to learn from a different experience and the outcomes of another group. This way good practices and success stories can be shared, and each group gets new input in a bottom up approach.
FFS need to be implemented in more than one region.
Group travel needs to be feasible.
The transfer of knowledge can be expanded at a participatory level.
Interregional knowledge exchange can be fostered.
New solutions and best practices can be introduced to FFS.
Experience between facilitators and partners is improved.
Farmers are more open towards new approaches if they see who else is implementing new methods and that the same approaches are implemented in different regions. If well planned, inspiring role models can be met.
Exchange of seeds/seedlings is easily done during exchange visits.
Since 2009, the government has been offering support (e.g. training, refresher courses and micro-credit) to help fishers generate income from alternative livelihoods such as livestock rearing and small businesses. Since 2015, WorldFish has been working with the government to improve this approach in selected communities through a project called 'Enhanced Coastal Fisheries in Bangladesh' (ECOFISH-BD). For example, the project has established Community Savings Groups (CSGs) for women in these communities to enhance saving behaviours of fishing households. Members receive training in financial literacy and the importance of sustainable hilsa fishery management for their livelihoods and wellbeing. They are encouraged to save BDT 100 (just over US$1) every month, and when a CSG hits a saving target of BDT 25,000, ECOFISH matches the saving. This is expected to incentivise further saving and improve the socioeconomic position of fishing households so that they are more able to comply with fishing restrictions and diversify their livelihoods.
The success of incentives in the form of livelihood diversification support depends on identifying appropriate and socially acceptable types of support. In turn this requires rigorous and participatory assessments of community needs and preferences.
The government's alternative income generation support had limited uptake and impact due to an initial lack of stakeholder engagement and needs assessment. ECOFISH-BD has been addressing this by identifying more appropriate types of support and establishing the local institutions and adaptive co-management systems required to support livelihood diversification, but it remains to be seen whether these policies and institutions will survive beyond the project's lifespan.
There is also evidence that disproportionate benefits have been accrued by landowners, rather than the most vulnerable, landless fishing households with the lowest income levels. This issue highlights the necessity for inclusive incentive schemes to use systematic and positive bias in favour of those most in need.
