*Access Agriculture: Videos for Farmers*

Small-scale farmers in developing countries often lack access to appropriate training and knowledge to optimise and adjust their farming practices. They are in need for better access to information, inputs and markets. Scattered, of limited quality and with a relatively weak outreach, rural advisory services to farmers could be improved if service providers can more easily access quality training material on agricultural practices. Cheap digital technology and increasing appreciation that visual support tools are the means of choice to reach farmers even in remote rural areas have triggered a considerable interest in videos for rural development.

The overall objective of this programme is to build capacities at the small-scale farmer level in support of their food security and to improve their livelihoods through producing, translating and disseminating at a large scale quality farmer training videos.

Several million small-scale farmers, men and women, worldwide but with a particular emphasis on six African countries (Benin, Mali, Uganda, Malawi, Kenya, Egypt) and two Asian countries (India, Bangladesh); rural advisory service providers, networks and agro-food industry; agronomy research centres such as CIMMYT, ICRISAT, AfricaRice or IICA.

Access Agriculture will achieve four main outcomes during the second and last phase:

• Farmer learning training videos (at least 158 additional videos on crops, livestock, aquaculture and agro-forestry, also processing and marketing) are produced by  Access Agriculture, disseminated and used across 6 African countries, Bangladesh and India
• Implementing video partners in six countries of phase 1. Two new countries have their capacities strengthened in producing farmer training videos
• Accessagriculture.org and agtube.org web platforms have become a reference for agricultural training videos worldwide (with a focus on developing countries, which is part of the exit strategy)
• Access Agriculture establishes working partnerships with agro-food industry, agricultural universities, farmer organisations, media and rural advisory services for the promotion of farmer training videos reaching millions of small-scale farmers

Principaux résultats attendus:  

• At least 158 additional quality training videos and support material are produced and disseminated
  
• About 50 direct partners in the six African and two Asian countries have developed capacities in the production of quality training videos
  
• Videos and DVDs are disseminated by partnering with over 60 institutions mostly universities, ministries of agriculture, rural advisory services federations and farmer organisations (MoU signed for each partner organisation)
  
• The web interfaces for of the two web sites is are further fine-tuned
  
• At least 1500 local rural service providers and farmers organiszations use training videos
  

Principaux résultats antérieurs:  

• Two separate web platforms established: www.agtube.org (free video upload exclusively for agriculture related content) and www.accessagriculture.org (free web provision of quality agricultural training videos)
• Access Agriculture currently hosts over 100 quality training videos translated into more than 60 local languages, either produced or enabled (reedited for quality reasons)
  
• Downloaded videos and distributed DVDs to over 930 partner organisations have been proved to reach 800’000 small-scale farmers
  
• The estimated overall outreach exceeds several million viewers as TV stations in Bangladesh, Benin, Vietnam, Ghana, Georgia, Gambia, India, Mali, Kenya and Malawi have broadcasted series of videos hosted by www.accessagriculture.org
  
• Based on an online survey, over a 1000 rural advisory services providers have made use of videos hosted by Access Agriculture
  
• Access Agricultureenabled internships and research of 20 MSc and 5 PhD students from 8 universities in 5 African countries
  

• Global Forum for Rural Advisory Services
  
• Sustainable Agriculture Initiative
  
• IFAD

GFRAS and its 12 regional subnetworks, RUFORUM national stakeholders in at least 8 countries, SDC’s cooperation offices in Benin, Mali and Egypt.

Phase 2 01.12.2015 - 30.06.2021   (Completed)