Participatory Video
with Farmers in
Sub-Saharan Africa
Programme Report
Author
Sara Asadullah
Editors
Gareth Benest
Nick Lunch
Contributors
Jean-Luc Blakey
Dominic Elliot
Emilie Flower
Neville Meyer
Rebecca Savage
Shannon Parring
Report Design
Gareth Benest
Report Date
December 2012
InsightShare
The Old Music Hall
106 - 108 Cowley Road
Oxford OX4 1JE
United Kingdom
www.insightshare.org
www
info@insightshare.org
+44 (0) 1865 403127
Contents
Introduction
4
Programme Partners
5
Programme Overview
8
Programme Methodology
13
The Projects
22
Interpreting the Videos
32
Programme Achievements
39
Challenges and Limitations
47
Recommendations
51
Final Reflections
53
Facilitators and Key Staff
55
Multimedia
57
Annexes
Case study: Angola
Case study: Côte d’Ivoire
Case study: Kenya
Case study: Malawi
Case study: South Africa
Case study: Uganda
Introduction
In 2011 five UK-based development agencies were given a unique opportunity to pilot the use of
participatory video with farmers in six sub-Saharan countries, through small supplementary grants
awarded by Comic Relief. The UK-based funder Comic Relief recognises that the impacts of
climate change threaten to undermine their grants portfolio. As part of their response, they initiated
the participatory video programme to enable those grantees working on climate change related
issues, and in receipt of grants to support these activities, to apply for a participatory video project
to be delivered by InsightShare.
This final programme report aims to present an overview of these six participatory video projects
undertaken between January and August 2012. It represents a synthesis of the detailed narrative
reports produced by InsightShare’s facilitators, with additional content drawn from conversations
with key staff from local partners, UK agencies and the facilitators themselves. In addition it
presents conclusions and recommendations drawn from an overview of the collated information.
A short compilation video has been produced to accompany this report, which brings together
short sequences from the thirteen videos created by the participating communities, to provide an
overview of the programme; its methodology, themes and outcomes.
CLICK HERE to watch ‘Participatory Video with Farmers’
Programme Partners
Funder & Programme Initiator
Comic Relief
www.comicrelief.com
Comic Relief is a major charity based in the UK that strives to create
cr
a just world free from poverty – and
we work 365 days a year to help that vision become a reality.
r
Our mission is to drive positive change
through
ough the power of entertainment. Since we first set up shop in 1985, we’ve been doing thr
three main
things: We raise millions of pounds through
ough two big fundraising campaigns – Red Nose Day and Sport
Relief. We
e spend that money in the best possible way to tackle the rroot causes of poverty and social
injustice. We
e use the power of our brand to raise awareness
awar
of the issues that we care most about.
Implementation & Management
InsightShare
www.insightshare.org
InsightShare are
e leaders in the use of participatory video as a tool for individuals and groups
gr
to grow in
self-confidence and trust, and to build skills to act for change. InsightShare’s
InsightShar
methods value local
knowledge, build bridges between communities and decision-makers, and enable people to develop
greater control over the decisions affecting
fecting their lives.
UK Agencies / Grantees
Christian Aid
www.christianaid.org.uk
Christian Aid is a Christian organisation that insists the world can and must be swiftly changed to one
where everyone can live a full life, free from poverty.. We
W work globally for profound change that
eradicates the causes of poverty,, striving to achieve equality
equality, dignity and freedom for all, regardless of faith
or nationality. We are
e part of a wider movement for social justice. We
W provide urgent, practical and
effective assistance where need is great,
eat, tackling the effects
ef
of poverty as well as its root causes.
The Fairtrade Foundation
www.fairtrade.org.uk
The Fairtrade Foundation is the independent non-profit organisation that licenses use of the Fairtrade
Mark on products in the UK in accordance
dance with internationally agreed
agr
Fairtrade standards. Our vision is of
a world in which justice and sustainable development are
ar at the heart of trade structures and practices so
that everyone, through
ough their work, can maintain a decent and dignified livelihood and develop their full
potential.
The Gaia Foundation
www.gaiafoundation.org
The Gaia Foundation is passionate about regenerating
egenerating cultural and biological diversity
diversity, and restoring a
respectful relationship with the Earth. Together
ogether with long-term partners in Africa, South America, Asia and
Europe, we work with local communities to secure
e land, seed, food and water sover
sovereignty. By reviving
indigenous knowledge and protecting sacred
ed natural sites, local self-gover
self-governance is strengthened. This
enables communities to become more resilient
esilient to climate change and the industrial processes
pr
which have
caused the many crises we now face.
The Lorna Young Foundation
www.lyf.org.uk
The Lorna Young Foundation (LYF) is a UK registered
ed charity that helps smallholder producer
pr
organisations in developing countries to make the transition from
fr
being simply growers of raw crops to
being in control
ol of their own businesses. Our work helps them to add value to what they grow
gr
and lift
themselves out of poverty without the need for aid. We
W also work with communities in the UK to raise
awareness
eness and activism about trade injustice in the developing world. This involves the creation
cr
of
community-owned ethical trading social enterprises that move value along the supply chain and support
communities at both ends of the process. We are
e all about self-determination for communities – both in
developing countries and in the UK – offering
fering the knowledge and capacity they need in order
or
to take more
control of their livelihoods.
Twin
www.twin.org.uk
Twin
win is a pioneer and leader of the fair trade movement. We
W work on the ground with over 50 democratic
farmer organisations in 18 countries representing
esenting some 400,000 smallholder farmers. W
We work with them
to build capacity, develop infrastructure, overcome
come market barriers, adapt to the challenges of climate
change and improve product quality – creating resilience
esilience and adding value to their businesses. We
W believe
that there is a different
ent way of doing business, where buyer and seller work in partnership and shar
share the
risks and rewards of trade more equitably. Twin
win has played a key rrole in starting innovative new
businesses, in which producer
oducer partners in the global south ar
are shareholders. Our aim is to increase
producer
oducer power and influence in their supply and value chains. Such market-facing brands include Divine
Chocolate, Liberation Foods, Afri-Nut Ltd and Cafédirect. Twin
T
is a registered charity in the UK and is the
sole owner of Twin Trading,
rading, a limited guarantee company which trades dir
directly with producer groups in
the global south. All profits from
om the trading company are
ar reinvested in Twin projects on the ground in
Latin America, Africa and Asia.
Local Partners
Acção Cristã da Mocidade
Acção Cristã da Mocidade (ACM) was established in 1976 and is the Angolan branch of the international
inter
YMCA movement. ACM Kwanza-Sul is the provincial
ovincial branch of the national movement and a leading
development organisation in Kwanza Sul since 1991. The vision of ACM KS is that by 2020, the rural and
urban population of Kwanza Sul, especially youth, has the capacity to participate effectively
ef
within the
public and political processes that affect
fect their lives. To achieve this, the mission of the ACM KS for the
period 2012–16 is to contribute to the effective
fective participation of rural and urban populations, especially
youth, in public life, through
ough capacity building, lobbying and advocacy.
advocacy
Bukonzo Joint Co-operative Micro Finance Society Ltd
www.bukonzocoop.com
Bukonzo Joint is owned by its shareholders – 85 percent
cent women – who currently
curr
operate 3,400 small
farms in the Rwenzori Mountains region of western
n Uganda, where they raise high-quality
high-quality, organically
grown, hand-picked coffee. Bukonzo Joint is headquartered
ed in Kyarumba town, Kasese district. Its
operations include marketing its farmers' organic coffee
fee and other agricultural products;
pr
finance, such as
providing agriculture
e and small business loans to members; and member training and skills development.
In addition to its more
e than 5,000 clients, Bukonzo Joint has a full-time staff
staf of 13, 40 part-time
volunteers, and 6 training officers.
Environmental Monitoring Group
www.emg.org.za
We believe that society's relationship
elationship with the natural envir
environment is inextricably bound to our
relationships with each other,, and that true ‘sustainable development’ is not possible without economic
and social justice. Our focus therefore
e is on helping to build democratic and fair decision-making
processes that relate
elate to the use and management of natural rresources. We hope to encourage
environmental practices that lead to a more
e human relationship with each other and the natural
environment. EMG is an independent, not-for profit
ofit organisation established in 1991. We
W have a full-time
staff of 9 professionals and offices in Cape Town
own and Nieuwoudville, South Africa.
Fairtrade Africa
www.fairtradeafrica.net
Fairtrade Africa is the independent non-profit umbrella
ella organisation rrepresenting all Fairtrade certified
producers
oducers in Africa. Established in 2005, Fairtrade Africa is a member of Fairtrade Inter
International (FLO)
which unites three producer
oducer networks (Fairtrade Africa; CLAC – Latin America and the Caribbean; and
NAP – Asia) and 21 labelling initiatives across Europe,
ope, Japan, North America, Mexico, Australia and New
Zealand. Fairtrade Africa is owned by its members, who are
ar African producer organisations certified
against international Fairtrade standards producing
oducing traditional export commodities such as coffee,
cof
cocoa,
tea, cotton, cut flowers, bananas, pineapples, mango and non-traditional commodities including shea
butter, rooibos tea, vegetables and fresh
esh and dry fruits. As a membership-based organisation, we work
through primary structures such as product groups,
oups, country partnerships and regional
r
networks which
enable our members to have a strong
ong voice in the governance
gover
and management of the organisation. Our
pride is our members and their strong
ong voice in the gover
governance and management of the organisation.
Indigo development & change
www.indigo-dc.org
Indigo development & change has been involved with a range of activities across
acr
a spectrum of projects
both locally and internationally.. The organisation's strength lies in its ability to facilitate local action
amongst members of rural communities with the ultimate focus being the empowerment of marginalised
groups and simultaneous promotion
omotion of social and envir
environmental justice. All senior staff members of Indigo
development & change hold post-graduate university degrees
degr
in the social and natural sciences, and are
thus suitably skilled to make meaningful input on local basic training and skills development. Locally,
Locally
members of Indigo have offered
ed various training and facilitation inputs to local community-based
organisations and conservation oriented businesses. These include basic training in bookkeeping, costing
and pricing, inputs on small-business development and training in basic computer literacy.
literacy
Coopérative Agricole Kavokiva de Daloa (Kavokiva)
Coopérative Agricole Kavokiva de Daloa, known as Kavokiva, was founded by 600 farmers in 1999. It is
located in the Daloa department of the Haut Sassandra region
egion in southeast Côte d’Ivoire,
d’Ivoir where more
than 40% of the country’s cocoa is produced. Kavokiva’ss mission is to impr
improve the social and economic
position of its members by supporting the production
oduction and marketing of their cocoa and cof
coffee. This
includes paying a higher price for members’ beans than local traders and providing
pr
credit for farm inputs
such as fertilisers and pesticides, school fees, and medical expenses.
Mzuzu Coffee Planters Co-operative Union
www.mzuzucoffee.org
The Mzuzu Coffee
fee Planters Co-operative Union Ltd is based in Mzuzu in norther
northern Malawi. It was founded
in 2007and has around 2,900 members today.. Its coffee
cof
is produced across northern Malawi, with a
concentration at high altitude in the Misuku Hills, located close to the border
bor
with Tanzania.
Nyeri Technical Training Institute
www.nyeritechnical.ac.ke
Nyeri Technical Training
raining Institute is a middle level national T
Technical Learning Institute in Kenya. It is
established under the Ministry of Science and Technology
echnology. It offers a variety of courses to K.C.S.E
graduates at both craft, certificate and Diploma levels.
Programme Overview
Programme Aims
The overall aim of the programme was to pilot the use of participatory video as a tool to support a
range of organisations in their efforts to mitigate climate change impacts on various farming groups
and communities across sub-Saharan Africa. For a detailed description of participatory video and
its use within the context of this programme, see the following section ‘Programme Methodology’.
The UK-based specialists in participatory video InsightShare were invited to manage and
implement all six of the projects, each with specific project aims and objectives set by the
respective UK agency and their local partner(s).
In the initial call for proposals Comic Relief provided the following premise for piloting the use of
participatory video:
... [participatory video] has the potential to be a powerful means of documenting local people’s
experiences, needs and hopes from their own perspectives. There is some evidence to suggest
participatory video can contribute to a process of analysis and change that celebrates local
knowledge and practice, whilst stimulating creativity both within and beyond the community. In
addition, the methodology can give a voice and a face to those who are normally not heard or
seen. Alongside other community development approaches, we believe participatory video can
be used to promote community-led action, innovation, communication with those in authority,
participatory research, and social impact assessment.
The climate change work provides an ideal opportunity to pilot participatory video as there is
the potential to use the methodology to engage communities, and raise the awareness of both
the public and decision makers and opinion leaders on the issue.
Participatory Video with Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa
Main Achievements
Wide engagement in issues relating to climate change
Across all six projects some 72 farmers were engaged as direct participants and approximately
1,500 members of their immediate communities participated by either appearing in the videos
and/or attending community screenings; discussing and debating the impact of climate change
and the importance of planning for an uncertain future.
Sharing knowledge of sustainable agriculture
The videos document sustainable agricultural techniques by farmers for farmers. These were
shared at local screenings, often to large audiences, and helped catalyse and promote face-toface communication and farmer-to-farmer sharing.
Farmers’ voices heard
The processes and resulting videos enabled participating farmers and their communities to
communicate their perspectives directly with multiple audiences; connecting
organisations, funders, and the wider world with local realities. In the few months since
the programme completion, several of the UK agencies and their partners have had
internal screenings at their offices, connecting those who might not have a chance to
visit their project locations with the farmers.
Information and learning for the UK agencies
Together the videos provide key insights into the concerns and situations of
various farming communities across sub-Saharan Africa, including how issues
such as climate change and sustainable agriculture sit within a range of other
daily concerns.
Knowledge, motivation and communication
In most cases the participants now represent teams of local experts who have
spent time considering the local issues as a group, have visited and spoken to
many in their communities, and have seen many examples of agricultural
practice, problems and potential solutions. The projects had an important
impact on participants’ confidence and motivation to change their behaviour
and to face issues relating to their local environment, and to continue working
and sharing knowledge on these issues.
Relationships shifted
The project opened new conduits for communication between the co-operatives,
local supporting organisations, and surrounding communities; in some places
changing attitudes about the communities’ capacity for change.
Participatory Video with Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa
A rich picture
The videos give information that is often rich with context, showing how participatory video can
access the complexities of climate change mitigation, and how these issues are perceived locally.
Potential
The projects have achieved a valuable engagement and awareness within the communities around
issues of climate change, that if followed up by partners, could have far-reaching impact. Followup could include: further screenings to extend the farmer-to-farmer sharing and inspire adaptations
strategies, locally and between project locations; further climate change sensitisation and
education work, using the videos as an entry point and building on the foundations laid in terms of
engagement and awareness; providing capacity-building for keen local teams to continue using
participatory video as a tool for local work around climate change mitigation.
Key Challenges
Multiple agencies & agendas
The many partners involved brought differing agendas to bear on each project, making for a
complex set of aims and logistics, which in turn made it a rich learning process for the parties
involved, and offered the opportunity for the farmers’ voices to be heard by many.
Budget constraints
A generic budget (covering implementation, management and local costs) was applied to all the
projects, leading to some logistical challenges and limited resources for the various implementing
partners.
Participant expectations
The aim of the project was to enable a space for local farmers to articulate their perspectives on
environmental issues, but was not to develop long-term capacity within communities (in video
production) or at the partner level (to facilitate participatory video). In most cases, participants have
expressed a keen interest in continuing to use video in this way, but this cannot be met within the
scope of this particular programme.
Project scheduling
Community and partner calendars (including harvest times, festivals, weather patterns and other
programming activities) resulted in all six projects being delivered in a relatively short window.
Internal reporting and evaluation processes helped to transfer learning between project managers
and facilitators, but time for deep reflection and learning was limited until all the projects were
completed.
Participatory Video with Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa
Key Recommendations for Programme Partners
Continue to share the videos and use them as an entry point for further work on climate
change mitigation and sustainability.
Where appropriate, provide support for local dissemination strategies – the debate could
reach many more through screenings, which could promote community cohesion by creating
a forum for discussion, to inspire innovation and the sharing of agricultural knowledge.
Provide support through capacity-building in participatory video facilitation and supplying
video equipment for those participants and local partners keen to continue using the tool
locally to inspire, document and share agricultural and climate mitigation strategies.
Provide support for the horizontal exchange of videos between project locations to inspire
farmer innovation and share community-based adaptation techniques.
“In my twenty years I haven’t seen anything like this
practical way of learning”
ACM representative (Angola)
Participatory Video with Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa
6
projects
implemented
videos produced
by farmers
13
communities
engaged
11
19
programme
partners
80
1,500
direct
participants
participants in
associated activities
Participatory Video with Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa
Programme Methodology
Participatory Video
Participatory video is a set of facilitated techniques to involve a group or community in shaping and
creating their own video. The idea behind participatory video is that making a video is easy and
accessible, and is a great way of bringing people together to explore issues and voice concerns,
and build skills to act for change. InsightShare’s method values local knowledge, builds bridges
between communities and decision-makers, and enables people to develop greater control over
the decisions affecting their lives.
In this context of working with coffee, cocoa and tea farmers in rural sub-Saharan Africa, the
specific potential seen for participatory video was derived from previous years of experience using
the tool with farmers in similar contexts. Participatory video has been used as a means of
engaging producers directly in order to appraise and articulate their perspectives on climate
change impacts, agricultural practice, and other related aspects of their lives and communities.
The methods have been used by farmers in order to share ideas and best practice with other
farmers; as a way for local groups to find common ground and identify the important issues in their
communities; and as a means of communicating these local perspectives to an external audience.
Participatory Ethos
The ethos of participatory video originated in the shift away from traditional research methods in
the 1980’s towards an approach that sought to engage local people in generating knowledge from
their own understanding and experience, in a way that would be beneficial locally at the same time
as feeding into development research processes, based in institutions or organisations.
Participatory Video with Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa
Championed by practitioners such as Robert Chambers, the
approach employs an evolving body of techniques typically
labelled as Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) and Participatory Learning
and Action (PLA), and is premised on particular attitudes and behaviours
that value collective and consensual decision-making and equalised
power relations. Many of these PRA/PLA tools are used during the
participatory video process by facilitators, and provide a basis for how
the process can function; as a tool for local information-gathering and
analysis, as a process that builds skills and capacity for improved
communication channels and group work, as a way to promote
consensual understanding as a basis for informed, collective decisionmaking. This is premised on the belief that local solutions can be found to local
problems, through coming together, reflecting, communicating, and taking positive
action.
InsightShare’s practice of using participatory video fully espouses this ethos and strives
to be participant-centred and participant-led at every opportunity; to engage local people
in ways that suit them, and to enable them to determine local needs and opportunities and
adjust the participatory video process to be an effective tool for them. InsightShare’s
approach incorporates video as its primary tool, to be applied to each case according to the
local circumstances, and facilitated in a way that expects key aspects of the process to be
emergent rather than prescribed.
It is an approach which aims for a process of empowerment for those involved in the projects.
Empowerment, whereby individuals and groups discover their capacity to act and take more
control of their lives, might range from taking collective action, to an individual discovering new
aspirations. Local engagement in and ownership of the video-making process leads to videos
that can give a voice to local perspectives.
Participatory Video in this Context
Demystifying technology
For farmers who have had little or no previous exposure to using video technology, the
participatory video games and exercises make video production simple and accessible, which
quickly offers a surprise for participants at their own capacity, and builds confidence in their ability
to try and succeed at new things. Video production is an exciting and fun process, so it has a
magnetic effect, bringing people into dialogue around it. It is easy for new people to get involved
with whatever time they have to give, and flexible to allow for spontaneous and meaningful
contributions; for example an interview done quickly in the street with women walking to fetch
water can be included in the video, bringing perspectives from around the community together and
in a way that can be heard by many.
Learning through doing
The method works on the principle of learning through doing, and is designed to be accessible for
people with all levels of literacy. The basic camera skills are learnt through games and exercises
that explore possible ways of using the equipment, then the camera can be used in a relatively
Participatory Video with Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa
intuitive way in terms of speaking to, and listening through, in ways comparable with oral
communication. This means the video production can be creatively biased towards whatever the
natural or preferred style of communication, making it more likely people will feel comfortable to
express themselves.
Local knowledge and new perspectives
Community mapping, timelines, and the videoing of the local area by local people, all provide an
opportunity for the participants and the wider community to reflect on and appreciate their local
environment, history and knowledge. To differing extents the resulting videos can reflect a picture
of the local area, the community members, the cultural heritage, the problems faced and solutions
found. In this context, participatory video (and its associated activities) can become a catalyst for
local action - motivating people to look after their environment and take action for the community
as a whole, and in some cases the video can express a shared vision to encourage all to work
towards. Throughout the process the facilitators emphasise the capacity of the group to solve
problems through sharing their existent skills and knowledge. This can help to discourage feelings
of helplessness and the focus of attention on help coming from outside. A deep understanding of
the local environment can be crucial in terms of being able to help predict weather changes and
guide farming decisions, and provides a strong basis from which to integrate new information and
techniques suggested from outside.
Working together – ‘each one teach one’
The method is designed continually to promote ways of working collectively whilst providing space
and opportunity for each individual to step up, try new things, and explore their capacity: through
using the equipment, through sharing knowledge and ideas, in finding consensus, in collaborating
all the way to make a video together. The intention behind all the activities and interactions of the
process is to create a supportive, creative and innovative way of working, and to build a strong and
bonded team, confident in themselves and each other.
Equalising relationships, including gender
The methodology has built-in mechanisms for sharing responsibility and honouring everyone’s
contributions, whilst being playful and having fun. The role and power of being a director is shared.
Because video production is a new tool and skill-set for most, the women can show themselves as
capable as the men, impacting on assumptions about the capacity of the different genders, and
providing a non-threatening mechanism for women to speak out. It can be surprising for the local
organisations and other partners to see the farmers able to make a video, shifting attitudes about
their capacity. Video also helps to reveal the great wealth of knowledge and understanding that
invariably resides within the participating communities. Collaborating together to make the video,
or create screenings, can also renew relationships between the organisations and community.
Seeing is believing
Where farmers are being encouraged to take up new sustainable agricultural practices, or are
forced to make innovations and changes to their behaviour to survive changes in the environment,
participatory video can be used to share those techniques and encourage their uptake. There are
many barriers to changing behaviour, including poverty and lack of time, and every situation is
Participatory Video with Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa
different, so it will never be as simple as following the instructions in a video. Rather, the videos are
evidence of what other people in the community are experiencing, what they are feeling and
thinking. In this way, the videos can contribute to a wider sense of what is acceptable and current
in the community, helping to shift attitudes, to share motivating stories of success, to raise
problems as a reminder of the need for change, and to catalyse processes of face-to-face
communication and advice giving.
Inquiry and triangulation
The video production process mirrors that of a research inquiry: involving the setting of a premise
as the storyboard, exploration through collecting interviews and images, watching back to review
and discuss, followed by the critical selection process required for the editing, where the group will
assess the information, establish criteria for selecting content for the video, hone in on the
message and then represent their conclusions; all processes a researcher will undertake.
Participatory video also renders the information immediately accessible and useable by many
through regular screenings. These screenings function as a crucial triangulation process whereby
other stakeholders can watch and give comment to contest, validate or expand on what they have
seen, and they can do so by adding to the video in a quick and easy way. This encourages a
process of inquiry and critical thinking, allowing people to experience how to investigate and learn
about their situation, and draw key conclusions.
Tools for advocacy and awareness
The process can help communities work out what is within their
capacity to change, and to identify and articulate where and in what
form they require assistance.
Stop and think
The concentrated time participating in the PV workshop constitutes a
retreat away from ordinary roles and responsibilities, sometimes even
staying away from home for some days. This becomes a reflective space
held by the process, with a tendency towards focussing on improvement for
the future, and gives a rare opportunity for participants to stop and think, to look at
themselves and their community, to re-imagine their future, their aspirations, their
connection to a community, and to take part in positive actions within and for that
community.
Use of drama and song
The creative processes allow people to come together to express themselves around
issues by enacting typical situations in all their complexity, with the relative anonymity of
fiction, as well as the opportunity to act out and demonstrate potential solutions.
Participatory Video with Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa
Project Structure
Each project consisted of a 12-day participatory video process for a group of up to 12 farmers to
produce one or more short videos about local issues, with the involvement of the wider community.
Each was led and managed by two experienced facilitators from InsightShare, according to the
aims set by the UK agency, and in conversation with their local partners, who recruited the
participants and organised the logistics of the workshop. The basic stages of the project were as
follows: 4 days of workshop exercises to learn basic video skills as a team, to analyse and prioritise
the key issues, and to plan a video; 4 days spent moving around the local area to shoot the video
with input from the local community; 2 days spent revising and editing the video with the facilitator;
2 days for screening the video to a local community audience, evaluating the experience, and
making some plans for using the video (left on DVD’s and in one case as a file to be passed
between mobile phones). The scope of the project did not reach to capacity-building training in
editing or facilitation, or equipment purchase. The specific project structure and schedule was
adapted by each team of facilitators to meet the local context, and in response to the pace and
needs of the group, and the iterative process of learning and video production.
Stage 1: !
!
skills development
The process began with 4 days of participatory video games for building basic skills and
confidence in video production, at the same time exploring the issues important to the group,
planning a video, and all the while encouraging trust and effective teamwork.
Stage 2:!
!
analysing / prioritising / planning
A significant part of the process includes the use of various Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA)
techniques to support participants to investigate and analyse issues faced in their community. The
tools define the space for the group to think through their situation, deepen their own
understanding, and find the focus and aim for the video production, recorded on a collectively
produced storyboard or map.
Stage 3:!
!
video production
According to their storyboards or community maps the teams went out to video in the surrounding
area, collecting footage that included interviews, dramas and statements to camera, as well as
demonstrations of local practices and images of the environment. This took place as part of an
iterative process, watching footage and reviewing plans for the next day, checking plans with
others in the community, and incorporating suggestions.
Stage 4:!
!
post-production
After shooting, the footage was watched, logged onto paper cards using drawings and/or written
notes, and organised by the participants into a plan for the computer edit. Due to time constraints
the facilitators edited the videos – using computers connected to projectors which enabled the
group to follow and review the editing choices, taking the role of directors. The video was also
translated and subtitled into English.
Stage 5:!
!
local screenings & dissemination
Once the video was finished, a screening was organised to invite community members to watch
and debate the videos. The following day was spent in adding material and conducting an
evaluation of the project by the participants, and finally discussing next steps.
Participatory Video with Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Workshop-based
orkshop-based skills development in
video production,
oduction, plus team bonding
Analysis of issues &
video planning
Video
production
Video
production
Day 7
Day 8
Day 9
Day 10
Day 11
Day 12
Rest day
Video
production
Post-production
oduction
Community Evaluation
screenings
PRA/PLA Tools
A defining point in the process is the analysis and prioritisation phase, where important issues are
opened up and decisions are made about what to focus the video on, and how. The facilitators
introduce key Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) and Participatory Learning and Action (PLA) tools
for the group to reflect on their situation and build their shared understanding of key issues, which
feeds directly into plans for the video(s), recorded collectively on paper. The ideas shift and change
during the video production and editing, in response to what happens and what is learnt through
daily reviews of the footage. Examples of such tools used by InsightShare facilitators during these
projects include:
Problem Tree
An exercise for problem analysis. The branches of the trees represent the problems, the roots
being the causes of those problems. First each problem is drawn out then, together as a group
and through discussion, the problem’s causes (‘roots’) are discovered. This enables participants to
unpack an issue into parts, find connections, and move towards a shared understanding of which
issues need to be prioritised in their community. The problem tree was used in Kenya to look at the
social impacts on farmers of the loss of productive land, environmental factors, land use and
farming practice.
“I thought the visitors would be at the front teaching from a
high table but they just come around and sit with us. We share
everything.”
Participant (Malawi)
Community Mapping
An exercise for participants to create a shared representation of their community on paper. The
mapping process is an activity that builds shared understanding of an overview perspective of the
community, and is a useful reference tool during subsequent discussions and reflections, and
during plans for the video-making.
Participatory Video with Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa
Using visual methods to depict the community provides a simple way to transition into thinking of
which locations, images and scenes should appear in the video. Certain significant places often
come to light as locations for videoing, such as the forests and the deforested areas. The map can
become a plan for shooting, being marked with an order of where to go, and who to visit, and who
will operate the camera etc.
Community Timelines
An exercise for participants to record the remembered history of their community, from the earliest
living memories of the oldest participants to the present day. The process of remembering and
recording positive and negative events of significance in the community brings a shared
perspective on what can be celebrated, and helps identify areas of vulnerability, and remember
strategies employed in the past during periods of difficulty.
Ranking Tool
As a way to assess the issues in a community, this flexible exercise can be used to list, organise
and prioritise topics such as ‘Threats to Farmers’. All the issues are brainstormed onto cards
by the group and can then be organised into categories and ranked in order of
importance. The discussion and debate needed to complete this exercise
can be a highly valuable way forward for the group.
Visualisation
Facilitators often ask the participants to create shared drawings of their ideas,
which is a useful way to process and present information, creating a document
that carries shared meaning and can be understood easily by a group of
people looking at it, regardless of literacy.
“I have never seen a map of my village
before. It is good to see it and I feel proud to
recognise all of the things that exist in my
community”
Participant (Malawi)
Participatory Video with Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa
Audience Identification
The facilitators of each project chose to include a simple group-based activity known as the
‘Audience Exercise’, through which the participants identify and prioritise one or more key
audiences for their video. Once identified, the participants are further challenged to specify what
they wish to communicate to those audiences and the response they hope to elicit. This often
provides a useful opportunity for the facilitators to challenge participants’ attitudes towards and
assumptions about change and external assistance from donors and agencies etc. At this point,
facilitators might encourage the group to think instead about what is in their power to change,
whilst carefully managing expectations about what a video might realistically achieve.
“The group chose deforestation as their theme and decided to
aim their video at outsiders who cut down trees - feared gangs
- not personally known to the participants. We challenged the
group on how they would show their video to chainsaw operators,
they don’t know personally, and how they expected this would
genuinely shift behaviour.”
Facilitator (Côte d’Ivoire)
In addition to the activities structured by the facilitators to focus on key issues, the themes and
issues emerged and were picked up through the camera games and exercises. For example in
South Africa, to learn interviewing skills the team were challenged by the facilitators to go out to
collect some practise interviews. It was decided they would go into the community neighbouring
their farm. This led to the decision to ask how the farm was viewed locally, and collect opinions
about a spate of recent violent unrest. The interviews were watched back, and reflection and
learning drawn out by the facilitators around different aspects of interview techniques. At the same
time, discussion emerged around the issue of having good relationships with neighbours as part of
a sustainable situation for their farm, something that came to form one of the key aspirations for
the future for the participants at the end of the project.
In another example, from the Malawi project, during a game called ‘Searching for Beauty’,
participants practised how to collect images of the environment. Whilst watching back the
footage, images of the landscape confronted the participants with a powerful perspective on the
change in the environment: seeing fewer trees, much exposed soil, and many farms in areas
previously forbidden to farm by traditional law. These changes were commented on by elders in
the group, and seemed to have a powerful effect by bringing home the serious need to take
control of the issue before the situation worsened.
Participatory Video with Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa
“I really enjoyed when we took pictures of the land and
contrasted it to pictures we had taken of eroded land - a
contrast between the past and present - you can really see the
difference in the land”
Participant (Malawi)
Participatory Video with Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa
The Projects
Project set-up and design
InsightShare and the UK agencies jointly established the aims of each project, and together liaised
with local partners to manage the project set-up. Project managers from InsightShare maintained
regular communication with each local partner to build relationships, request information to help
with the workshop planning, and guide logistical arrangements for the visit. The UK agencies coordinated the passing of funds to the local partner, and supported any need for clarification on
aims or budget. InsightShare deployed various facilitator teams for each project depending on their
particular skill set and geographic location, deploying regionally based facilitators wherever
possible to avoid unnecessary travel. In South Africa for example, InsightShare’s Durban-based
facilitator undertook the project facilitation with support and co-facilitation from a member of staff
from one of the local partners who had been trained by InsightShare in 2009 as part of a
unconnected capacity-building programme. Each of the six projects was designed by the
facilitation team in response to information from the local partners, and according to InsightShare’s
long experience of conducting participatory video projects.
The dates for the projects were decided in conversation with UK agencies and local partners,
taking into consideration local community calendar events (e.g. harvest times, religious festivals
etc.) to ensure the availability of each community.
Participatory Video with Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa
Project Delivery Period
February
March
April
May
June
July
Kenya
South
Africa
Uganda
Côte
d’Ivoire
Malawi
Angola
Project Summaries
The following are short summaries of each project and descriptions of the videos produced. Much
more information about each project is included in the case studies that are included as annexes to
this report.
KENYA
Location:
Implementation Date:
UK Agency: Local Partner:
Participants: Facilitators: Nyeri
February 2012
Lorna Young Foundation
Nyeri Technical Training Institute (NTTI)
Rumukia and Gikanda Coffee
Co-operatives
Neville Meyer / Jean-Luc Blakey
This project aimed to enable a team of coffee farmers to identify and document sustainable land
management practices through video, which could then be used to share knowledge locally, and
potentially further afield. Participants were selected by the local partner and organisers from two
neighbouring coffee co-operatives. InsightShare facilitators helped the group to identify the main
threats to farmers, and look at changes in the local environment and weather. They produced a
video, which was subsequently made into 3 short videos: ‘Climate Change’, ‘Land Management’
and ‘Land Subdivision’. The videos include many tips and techniques for agricultural practice,
shown by collecting together the experiences and voices of numerous farmers in the two
communities. Although the 12-day workshop was a period of sometimes intense and tiring work
for the participants, they greatly appreciated and enjoyed the opportunity to share and compare
experiences between the two co-operatives, learn new farming skills from each other, and tour the
local area to visit many farmers. The video has been embedded into a website being designed for
farmers. At the end of the project, there was a feeling of disappointment that there was no
possibility to continue using video, and no resources to support local screenings and the
Participatory Video with Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa
dissemination of the video. Overall the aims of the project were met, but to fulfil the potential for
farmer-to-farmer sharing beyond the local communities would require support from the partners.
Videos Produced:
Ugaruruku Wa Riera (Climate Change)
In the first of three videos, the participants record and
discuss the effects of changes in the climate, and
capture mitigation measures underway. The video ends
with a call to farmers to find more solutions and take
on the problem of tackling climate change, in order to
assure their future. The message being: “We've seen
the problems that are there, it's now up to us as
farmers to think about solutions to climate change”.
CLICK HERE to watch ‘Ugaruruku Wa Riera’
Utabariri Wa Migunda (Land Management)
In their second video the participants visit farmers who
explain their successes in applying techniques to
increase their coffee yields. Topics covered include:
manure, mulching, shady trees, terracing, trenches,
how to apply chemicals, and tying trees.
CLICK HERE to watch ‘Utabariri Wa Migunda’
Ugai Wa Migunda (Land Subdivision)
The final video made by participants in Kenya is a
drama based on their collective experiences of the
issues surrounding land subdivision. In it a coffee
farmer subdivides his land and gives his daughter a
share, at his wife’s insistence. The film includes
interviews with a farmer who has given land to his
daughter, and discussions between the participants
who share their views on the processes and pressures
of land subdivision.
CLICK HERE to watch ‘Ugai Wa Migunda’
Participatory Video with Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa
SOUTH AFRICA
Location:
Implementation Date:
UK Agency: Local Partner:
Participants: Facilitators: Ericaville, Plettenburg Bay
March 2012
The Gaia Foundation
Environmental Monitoring Group (EMG)
and Indigo Development and Change
Ericaville Farming Trust (EFT)
Neville Meyer / Sharon Parring (Indigo)
A participatory video process aimed to explore the impacts of climate change upon the farming
community and create videos to enable farmer-to-farmer exchange around good agricultural
practice. The participants had their own agenda: ‘to capture on film our history and struggle for
land ownership, to make EFT known to the world through the internet, to promote our product, to
send out a message about climate change, to share our knowledge, to tell our story to our
offspring to understand for the future, to stimulate interest that will lead to new income.’ A
complicated process led to the participants going out into their community to enable a group of
youth, elders and women to come together to tell their stories through a participatory video
process, and community screening. This was an event that provoked deep and important sharing,
unlocking communication channels, and strengthening community cohesion. The pre-set aims of
the project were only partially met in that the focus shifted from farmer-to-farmer sharing of best
sustainable agricultural practice to a general look at the community’s relationships and issues
around intergenerational communication and alcohol and drug use amongst the youth. These
emerged as the most important issues at the time, and so the improved relationships and open
communication channels are an important achievement in a long-term view of moving towards
climate resilience.
Videos Produced:
Deur Dik en Din (Through Thick and Thin)
A video by participants from the Ericaville Farming Trust
tells the story of their journey together as a community.
It describes their displacement from the West Coast
and resettlement on the Southern Cape, their longing
to own land, and how their dreams of farming became
a reality after a wait of 30 years. The film tells of their
initial success and the ensuing struggles they have
fought against the forces of nature and unpredictable
weather. In their struggle to make the land work for
them they have had to continually adapt and try new ways to overcome their challenges, the film
tells of some of these technological interventions they are applying to strengthen their resistance to
the changing climate.
CLICK HERE to watch ‘Deur Dik en Din’
Participatory Video with Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa
UGANDA
Location:
Implementation Date:
UK Agency: Local Partner:
Participants: Facilitators: Kasese District, Rwenzori Mountains
April 2012
Twin
Bukonzo Joint Co-operative
Coffee farmers and members of
co-operative
Jean-Luc Blakey / Paul Higgitt
A group of 11 farmers, members of the Bukonzo Joint Co-operative, came together for a
participatory video project to plan and shoot a video about their local environment, before creating
a screening in the community to raise debate around sustainable agricultural practice. The video,
‘Bukonzo Joint: Our Environment’, demonstrates the different sustainable practices and exposes
destructive behaviours such as deforestation and farming in the wetlands, and uses the story of a
women who has achieved financial success through her family working together and using
sustainable methods, as an incentive for change in behaviour. The aims of the project were
successfully met, in that a group of farmers were engaged to make their video that articulates a
local vision for their environment, which raised useful debate and sharing of knowledge and
information at a screening of 200 community members. Participants gained a great deal of
information and insight, to change their own behaviour, and be able to share their knowledge and
confidently encourage others. Bukonzo Joint is now keen to share the video and develop their use
of video.
Videos Produced:
Bukonzo Joint, Our Environment
The video from Uganda focuses on environmental
degradation and poor crop yields due to certain
farming techniques, coupled with increasingly
unpredictable weather patterns. The participants
encourage strategies for building resilience through
inspiring community awareness and demonstrating
alternative and sustainable farming techniques. Their
central message being that if farmers change their
methods it will protect the environment and lead to
better harvests, thus increasing standards of living.
CLICK HERE to watch ‘Bukonzo Joint, Our Environment’
Participatory Video with Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa
CÔTE D’IVOIRE
Location:
Implementation Date:
UK Agency: Local Partner:
Participants: Facilitators: Haut Sassandra
May 2012
Fairtrade Foundation
Fairtrade Africa / Co-Operative Association
de Kavokiva de Haut Sassandra (CAKHS)
Members of CAKHS
Dominic Elliot and Jean-Luc Blakey
The project engaged 12 cocoa farmers to make a participatory video, which focused on the
negative impacts of deforestation. They succeeded in generating a video that carries the seldomheard voices of Ivorian cocoa farmers, and clearly demonstrates the problems that they are
experiencing as a result of climate change. The completed video has the potential to raise
awareness of how climate change is impacting on people in this region and may serve to generate
interest in supporting efforts to mitigate these problems. The Managing Director of KAVOKIVA
plans to broadcast the video among their entire membership between now and December, at the
onset of the dry season, to better place the content (climate change) in context. Fairtrade will use a
shortened version of the video to raise the voices at their Fairtrade regional meeting and COP18
(18th Conference of the Parties).
In terms of the participants themselves, the direct impacts to them from participation are less easy
to measure. They claimed that the process of engaging in these issues was revelatory to them and
they are keen to take an active role in disseminating the video, which could help to build up an
increasing awareness of their common problems amongst cocoa farmers in the region. The
participants also claimed that they would begin to engage in some of the innovative income
generating activities shown in the video. The achievement of this project can be seen in the
participants comments about a shift in attitude, from a starting point of feeling no capacity to
respond to their situation without outside help, to having ideas for mitigation, and confidence in the
importance of their own actions.
Videos Produced:
Deforestation, Its Causes and Consequences
The video created by participants in Côte d’Ivoire
focuses on the impacts of climate change on cocoa
harvest and the role that local deforestation may be
having on rainfall patterns. The participants urge their
local communities to protect the forests and explore
new agricultural methods to improve the resilience of
their crops. They also explore strategies for mitigating
against the economic impacts of failing cocoa harvests
by diversifying livelihood strategies, in particular
through rice cultivation and fish farming.
CLICK HERE to watch ‘Deforestation, Its Causes and Consequences’
Participatory Video with Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa
MALAWI
Location:
Implementation Date:
UK Agency: Local Partner:
Participants: Facilitators: Chanya
May 2012
Twin
Mzuzu Coffee Planters Co-operative Union
& Misuku Coffee Co-operative
Coffee farmers of Chanya / members of
Misuku Coffee Co-operative
Neville Meyer / Rebecca Savage
The project aimed to undertake a participatory video process, within a community identified by
Twin and Mzuzu Coffee Growers Co-operative, which enabled the participants to explore key
issues affecting them as individuals and the wider community, in relation to climate change locally
and/or globally. Video was used as a tool by which the subject could be explored and perspectives
shared amongst the participants themselves and with the wider community and beyond. The aims
were successfully met, and an engaged group of farmers made a video entitled ‘Watch Out…
Things Change!’ that warned their community about the need to take control of their local
environment, interviewing the elders to ask advice, and exploring the proposed solution that could
be found in reaffirming traditional bylaws of use of the forest and land.
The video tied into Twin’s work by picking up on the sustainable techniques piloted, and is being
used as part of the dissemination of this initiative. Beyond the clear sense of owning this video
there is also a sense in the group of owning a skill set that they would love to share with others
should the opportunity arise. The participant group were highly engaged and motivated advocates
for sustainable agriculture, given their successful coffee yields since Twin’s pilot for sustainable
agricultural practice. The workshop resulted in the formation of a very strong and united group who
are very keen to continue to work together. The group initiated several discussions around the
potential for Chanya to become a hub for farming and sustainability innovations, including
participatory video, with the trainees from this participatory video workshop spearheading a
process of sharing skills and knowledge with other co-ops in the Union and farmers further afield.
Union representatives report that they will use the video for lobbying the Ministry of Agriculture in
order to promote sustainable methods of growing coffee.
Videos Produced:
Watch Out...Things Change!
The first of three videos from the participants in Malawi
aims to open an inter-generational dialogue around
climate change and sustainability. It combines
interviews with village elders - who have knowledge of
how live in harmony with surrounding ecosystems but
who are often ignored - with a detailed look at
sustainable farming practices. The participants urge
their community to urgent rethink how it interacts with
the environment.
CLICK HERE to watch ‘Watch Out...Things Change!’
Participatory Video with Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa
HIV/Aids in Chanya
This second video from Malawi combines interviews
and drama to explore the impact of HIV/Aids on the
people and community in Chanya, and their responses.
HIV/Aids is a very serious problem in Chanya, in
particular the large numbers of children orphaned by
the disease. The participants share their perceptions
on abstinence from extra-marital sex as the best
strategy for limiting transmission of HIV, but also the
importance of condom use, despite the stigma
surrounding their use, and the need for greater
availability.
CLICK HERE to watch ‘HIV/Aids in Chanya’
Roads and Communications in Chanya
The third and final video from Malawi looks at
communally organised systems for meeting local
development needs in Chanya. The community
expressed its urgent need for a road connecting the
village and a better mobile phone network and
concludes how they have to work together to make
these communications systems available.
CLICK HERE to watch ‘Roads and
Communications in Chanya’
Participatory Video with Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa
ANGOLA
Location:
Implementation Date:
UK Agency: Local Partner:
Participants: Facilitators: Cariango, Kwanza Sul
June–July 2012
Christian Aid
ACM Kwanza Sul
Representatives of 5 villages in Cariango
Emilie Flower / Idaci Ferreira
A participatory video project to explore the impacts of climate change on farmers in the Cariango
area of Kwanza Sul, Angola, and create a video communicating farmers’ perspectives and ideas
for solutions. The participants were representatives from different villages, and were age and
gender mixed. After much debate to separate the weather-made impacts from the man-made
impacts, the group decided to focus on the issue of drought as something common to all, and to
use the video to explore different ways in which it is impacting the four different communities, by
gathering local ideas and stories. ACM were an engaged and responsive host organisation that
gave full support and involvement in the process, and subsequently expressed that they learnt a
great deal from the participatory nature of the workshop, and the degree to which the methods
could enable the communities to analyse their own situation and share their own ideas in their own
words. The resulting videos constitute a rich picture of the range of experiences and coping
mechanisms during a drought situation, reinforcing aspects of the vulnerability assessment, and
demonstrating the power of the visual medium for carrying information.
Videos Produced:
Kalemba
In the first of four videos created in Angola, the
participants recorded in the village of Kalemba where
they demonstrated alternative ways of generating
income in the dry season to substitute food production.
This includes charcoal-making, ironwork and hunting.
The challenges to agricultural diversification are also
emphasised.
CLICK HERE to watch ‘Kalemba’
Kipapane
In the village of Kipapane, the participants emphasise
the impact of not having a proper well, showing the
different water sources and the pressures on women.
The village decision- makers explain how they organise
themselves to encourage new farming techniques but
point out that they cannot solve the water issue alone.
CLICK HERE to watch ‘Kipapane’
Participatory Video with Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa
Lussongo
In the third video, recorded in Banza Lusongo village,
the community discuss the realities of resettling land
after the war, and talk about the new knowledge they
have brought which enables them to diversify their
agricultural production. They emphasise that while the
drought was a huge issue they felt equipped to deal
with this. Their more fundamental difficulty was
attracting people back to the land with no amenities
such as schools and health clinics.
CLICK HERE to watch ‘Lussongo’
Lungo
In the fourth and final video from Angola, recorded in
Lungo, the participants emphasise the impact the well
has had, and share their techniques for maintaining the
generator. This village is on a main road and next door
to a large farm. They seek employment here during the
dry season to supplement incomes and buy food. The
road and resulting large-scale farms have led to the
demarcation of the village boundaries to establish
ownership of the land.
CLICK HERE to watch ‘Lungo’
Participatory Video with Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa
Interpreting the Videos
Viewing of videos resulting from participatory video projects is best done with an understanding of
how and why they were made. In these projects, the facilitators guided the participants through a
detailed and fully participatory process (in all aspects of decision-making and production/postproduction) to arrive at the resulting videos. The process behind the group arriving at their finished
videos and the impacts on the individuals and wider community brought about by these reflections
and investigations is as important as the videos that remain, if not more so.
Each facilitator has their own nuanced approach to guiding participants through the process of
identifying and prioritising subjects for exploration through the participatory video process.
Likewise the starting point for participants and the wider community is always different, influenced
by such factors as: connections or previous contact with partner organisations, experience of
training or sensitisation programmes, prior opportunities for reflection and investigation etc. These
factors combine to create significant anomalies across the projects and resulting videos,
particularly in terms of their direction and focus.
In some projects (Kenya, Malawi, Angola) the facilitators began with a very open process to
address all key issues affecting the group and their communities, using community mapping,
brainstorms and other tools. Rather than focusing on environmental issues only, this allowed for a
more open agenda for the video production, and more topics are covered in these videos as a
consequence. They paint a broad picture of how climate change impacts exist as part of a
tapestry of issues farmers deal with on a day-to-day basis. In comparison, the processes
undertaken in Uganda and Côte d’Ivoire were more focussed on assisting participants directly to
explore changing agricultural practices and significant environmental changes, and the videos
produced are more focused as a result.
Participatory Video with Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa
The choices made by participants in terms of style, structure and editing decisions are evidently
influenced by their exposure to television and film, as well as by the facilitators themselves.
Another key factor affecting on what we can read into the videos is the participants’ assumptions
of what they believe the project organisers expect, and what they could stand to gain or lose from
giving certain perspectives. The facilitator’s role is to address these assumptions, and to build a
trusting relationship whereby the participants can feel confident to stop second guessing what
might be the ‘right’ answers. At the same time, they strive to be transparent and bring clarity
around the partners’ interests. The facilitators continually and consistently give decision-making
back to the participants, to convince them that their videos will be made by them according to their
own ideas and decisions. That the final videos may not then meet the requirements of partners or
funders, in terms of external communications, should not therefore come as a surprise nor should
such assessments influence the final reading of either the video or the efficacy of the process.
At the community screening held in Malawi, a member of the audience said he thought the video
and its ideas must have come from the facilitators. In response, the participants explained that the
video was entirely their own and represented their views and ideas. This insistence was later
reiterated and recorded in the reflection sessions that formed part of the workshop process.
“At first we were afraid, no-one wanted to ask a question, or
give an answer. We were all waiting for someone else to speak.
But now that we have worked together we want to talk and we
have learnt to understand the white people for ourselves so the
translator can’t trick us.”
Participant (Malawi)
In South Africa, facilitators came across an exceptional situation whereby the leadership of the
participating Trust had already planned and scripted a video prior to the workshop, in a nonparticipatory way. The objective for the planned video was to market their produce to past and
potential clients, and to document the story of the Trust as a keepsake for their children. This had
been influenced by a previous workshop with another organisation where members of the Trust
had seen marketing videos from other honey-bush tea farmers. That this film had been planned
and was to be directed by the leader of the Trust was kept from the facilitators until part way
through the workshop. Though the video had been scripted in a non-participatory way, there was
a high degree of involvement and ownership felt by the group during the shooting, and the story of
the Trust is one where their efforts to establish a farm are challenged by extreme climate events,
and they are forced to find new strategies to survive.
The facilitators chose to allow time within the process for the participants to record this video,
before redirecting the process to a fully participatory community engagement process that
encompassed three additional groups from a nearby community, enabling them to explore diverse
issues such as alcoholism, drug use, intergenerational relationships and womens’ issues. These
videos have not been released for presentation to audiences outside the immediate community.
Participatory Video with Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa
Common Themes
Unpredictable Climates
Looking across all six projects and their resulting videos,
it is clear that in each location the communities are
experiencing significant changes to their normal weather
patterns: increased duration and intensity of sunshine, reduced
rainfall, unpredictability in seasonal and other environmental patterns.
Several groups also testify to be experiencing reduced agricultural
production yields and a diminishing supply of water. These observed shifts and the general
unpredictability felt by many has meant some communities are simply unable to farm successfully,
and remain unsure as to how best to proceed (“We are asking you, what should we do?” –
participant, Côte d’Ivoire), whilst other communities showed how they are continuing to experiment
and adapt.
Innovations and Adaptations
Many groups demonstrated how they and others in their communities are innovating and adapting
their farming practises in response to the changes they face, with the assistance of the local
partners and UK agencies supporting their communities and local industries. These shifts are
particularly pronounced and prevalent in the videos from the groups in Malawi and Uganda, where
the participating co-operatives have received several training programmes organised and delivered
by Twin. Whilst many of the newly adopted practises might not be themselves endogenous or
homegrown, they certainly have been embraced to such an extent that participants enthusiastically
presented many of their methods for sustainable agriculture to others, whom they hoped to
influence through the videos.
Climate Change: Local or Global?
The facilitators deliberately refrained from introducing or discussing global climate change with the
participants, as this was primarily a process which sought to create spaces through which
participating communities could share their own perspectives, experiences, understanding and
responses to the environmental patterns and pressures that affect their lives. In just two projects
was the subject directly addressed (Kenya and South Africa) as a global issue alongside
explorations of local farming and environmental issues. This approach and emphasis on local
knowledge exposed a striking lack of awareness of the global nature of climate change and
resulted in many groups interpreting changes to their climate and environment in an entirely local
context.
In four of the six projects the changes in weather and subsequent low agricultural yields are
attributed to local deforestation alongside other localised practices. There is a clear pattern of
direct association being drawn between changes in rainfall patterns (specifically increases in
drought events) and deforestation in the immediate area. Whilst local deforestation may indeed be
a contributing factor in changing rainfall patterns, it is concerning to witness communities
repeatedly blame themselves and their own actions for shifts that are as likely to be a result of
global changes in climate.
Participatory Video with Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa
“Our people please, we complain everyday about deforestation. All
these activities will be a major problem for us. We are being
advised everyday when you cut down one tree, plant two, we are
still being told the advice of the late Professor Wangari Mathai,
but we don’t listen”
Participant (Kenya)
Climate change as a concept was absent in most groups, however some participants have clearly
encountered the phrase, and perhaps its meaning, but in apparently abstract forms: “What do you
think of what the whites call ‘climate change’?” is a question posed in one of the videos produced
by the group in Malawi, to which the response is an articulation of the need for sustainable
agricultural practices to help secure a future locally.
In contrast, the project that took place with honey-bush and rooibos farmers in South Africa
presents a markedly different situation, with frequent reference to climate change and the
perceived impacts it has had on their farms. The participants particularly identify extreme climatic
events such as floods and droughts. However, there was serious concern amongst the facilitators
and others engaged in the project that the participants and wider community were unable to
separate the impacts of climate change-related events from those resulting from poor or misguided
land-management practices. Indeed a pattern appeared to have developed by which all negative
events and experiences could be blamed on the spectre of climate change.
In Angola, the participants focussed on the drought situation, and part of their analysis separated
out the man-made and weather-made causes of drought, in order to discern what responsibility
can be taken by the community, and what help is required from outside (e.g. provision for water
pipes).
Other Priorities
Each group undertook a range of exercises to identify and prioritise key issues for exploration
through the project, albeit with the changing environment being at the heart of the project focus. In
Kenya, it was clear early on that global climate change was not a familiar concept, so discussion
was around change in the local weather and environment. The group ranked this as a ‘medium
level threat’ to themselves and other farmers, falling below other issues such as coffee theft and
land subdivision. In Malawi the participants elected to focus on sustainable agriculture, HIV/Aids,
and their urgent need for road and communications infrastructure. Alcoholism and gender
relationships were identified as significant concerns to the group in Uganda, alongside issues
affecting coffee production.
The availability of land was a problem identified by participating communities in Kenya, Uganda,
South Africa and Malawi. Practices of land subdivision, farming on the wetlands, increasing
populations, and the availability of land were all identified as major concerns for several groups. In
Angola, whilst drought was certainly a critical issue, the paramount problem identified within one of
Participatory Video with Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa
the four participating communities was their failure to attract people to resettle in the village after
years of civil war.
Content of Videos
Topics arising in the videos
Kenya
Discussion of agricultural
practices
X
Demonstration of specific
agricultural methods
South
Africa
Malawi
Angola
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Suggestion of new solutions/
ideas
X
X
X
X
Statement of belief in causality
between deforestation and
climate change
X
X
X
X
Motivational messages for the
community
X
X
Telling of local history
X
Uganda Côte
d’Ivoire
X
X
Videos about other critical issues
in the community unrelated to
climate change e.g. land
subdivision, HIV/Aids
X
X
Intergenerational dialogue
X
X
X
X
X
X
Marketing aim
X
Advocacy aim e.g. to reach an
outside audience
X
X
X
Messages for outside audience
including NGO’s and donors, and
governments
X
X
X
Songs
X
X
Drama
X
X
X
X
X
Participatory Video with Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa
X
X
X
X
How have the videos been used so far?
During each project, one or more community screenings were held for local audiences, at which
the participants facilitated the audiences’ responses and debate around the issues raised in the
film. To date, there have been nine local screenings, with more planned by local organisations.
Several UK agencies have held screenings in their offices for their staff, attended by the facilitators,
and in the case of Christian Aid with the representatives from their local partner (ACM). We
estimate that approximately 1,500 people have participated in video screenings; including farmers,
community members and organisational staff with a further 1,500+ having viewed the videos
online. All participants were left copies of their video on DVD (and in the case of Côte d’Ivoire, on
their mobile phones as well) and although only some have a DVD player and TV, it can be assumed
that more small local screenings will happen as people gather to watch in their own time.
Country
Local use of videos
Partner use of videos
Kenya
The video was screened to a local
audience of farmers and community
members during the project. At the
time of writing, no budget has been
allocated for additional local screenings
or dissemination.
LYF have embedded the three videos
produced in a website designed to be
used by farmers as a resource for upto-date weather and farming
information.
South Africa
The video was screened to a local
audience of farmers and community
members. The group planned to use
the video via the internet for marketing
and communicating with old and new
partners, as well as keeping for future
generations as a document of their
history. The further three videos made
in the community on alcoholism, drug
use, and lack of intergenerational
communication were not intended for
an audience beyond the local
community.
The Gaia Foundation was not
expecting to use the video, as their
primary objective was to support a local
process, and gain hands-on
participatory video experience for a
staff member. The additional three
videos made in the wider community
(see South Africa Case Study) were
highly sensitive, and permission to
share beyond the immediate
community has not been obtained.
Uganda
Bukonzo Joint has held several local
screenings, and plan to incorporate a
screening of the video into future
events. At the time of writing, no
budget has been allocated for
additional local screenings or
dissemination.
Twin has featured the video prominently
on their website.
Participatory Video with Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa
Country
Local use of videos
Partner use of videos
Côte d’Ivoire
A screening was arranged but rained
off, so the final screening was to a
small group of 18. The participants had
a version of the video for their phones
and planned to share it with fellowfarmers, friends and family. KAVOKIVA
plan “to broadcast the video to the
entire membership between now [Nov
2012] and December, at the onset of
the dry season, to better place the
content [climate change] in context” –
Kavovika Executive Director.
Fairtrade Africa will use a short version
of the video to kickstart their Fairtrade
convention, and as part of Fairtrade
activities at COP18.
Malawi
A small budget was made available by
Twin to support local screenings further
to the initial screening held as part of
the 12-day visit. Representatives of
Mzuzu Union are keen to use the video
as an entry point with the Ministry of
Agriculture, to lobby for the use of
sustainable agricultural techniques
during the new drive for expanding
coffee production.
Twin have used the video as part of
their profiling of the successful
sustainable coffee production pilot
undertaken in Chanya zone, and will in
future use it to show and explain their
work. They arranged for the video to be
presented (by the InsightShare
facilitator) for internal learning at Twin’s
offices in London.
Angola
The films were screened in the four
communities in which they were made,
as part of the project. At the time of
writing, no budget has been allocated
for additional local screenings or
dissemination. However, Christian Aid
will support the videos being subtitled
into Portuguese so they can be used
as advocacy tools. ACM say the films
are extremely valuable evidence of the
need in the communities. The
communities were keen for the films to
reach a wide audience.
A lunchtime screening was held at
Christian Aid in London (with the
participation of the InsightShare
facilitators and ACM staff), to an
audience of internal and external
(through live webcast) colleagues, and
the videos have been shared with other
of Christian Aid’s key contacts. The
internet links to the videos were shared
with the Action by Churches Together
alliance in Angola, who are designing a
response strategy to the drought. It
remains open as to whether the videos
will be used in advocacy efforts in this
regard. The videos have also been
shared on the blog of Christian Aid’s
partner Omunga. There are plans to
share and screen the videos with other
communities and actors in Angola.
Participatory Video with Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa
Programme Achievements
Community Engagement
5 of the 6 projects brought together large numbers of people from their host communities (and
beyond) in forums where they could share, reflect and discuss their ideas and experiences through
video at the various screenings. Such extensive community involvement with the projects, as in
Malawi where large numbers of community members participated in the spontaneous dramas,
gave rise to a series of processes and products that focussed on a range of key issues facing each
specific location and people. In Malawi, this resulted in three videos being produced on key issues
including HIV/Aids and roads and communications. In Kenya the participants explored issues as
wide-ranging as land subdivision, female inheritance and alcoholism. In the Côte D’Ivoire, the
farmers had been selected and brought together in the town at the co-operative office, and
belonged to diverse and dispersed communities. A screening was arranged, but a heavy torrential
downpour deterred a large audience from attending. The participants pledged to share their copies
of the film widely amongst friends and family. The community engagement will come later,
according to the Secretary General of the co-operative, who planned to take the video on a tour of
the 14 districts where CAKHS has members. In this way, the video should increase the local
debate about climate change and agriculture.
“The old man was angry when he saw us, but when I explained
what we were doing, he was happy and ended up joining in”
Participant (Côte d’Ivoire)
Participatory Video with Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa
A flexible and open approach to the facilitation, particularly in terms of issue identification and
prioritisation, allowed important themes to emerge and be explored; thus fostering community
engagement and addressing local concerns. In South Africa, for example, community engagement
is considered the project’s principle achievement by all the partners. As Rowan Phillimore from The
Gaia Foundation commented during a discussion following the project conclusion: “In terms of a
product of the process being community cohesion and enabling dialogue, that side of it… I found
that really effective. People came up to me at the end of the screening and said, ‘This has been so
good, thank you so much for coming to my community and working like this,’ and I think certainly,
from the point of view of the way Gaia works, the starting point for any kind of climate change
resilience comes from community cohesion and confidence, and I feel that that was really achieved
by the process. That has been one of my reflections on how the project can still be viewed as very
successful, even though Comic (Relief) weren’t expecting films on drugs and alcohol.”
“They were able to tell their story from out of the heart;
sometimes I could see in [their] eyes how they felt, all the
stuff that they keep locked up just came pouring out on its own,
the real stuff we need to talk about”
Participant (South Africa)
Horizontal Sharing
Sustainable agricultural practices were demonstrated and encouraged through the videos, whilst
damaging behaviour was reflected upon and in some videos discouraged. Success stories and
local incentives for change were found and profiled. The screenings organised in the communities
were, on the whole, exciting and successful events for engaging large groups, for sparking debate
and creating a forum for sharing information and encouragement for the use of sustainable
agricultural techniques. In some locations the participants formed local expert panels and were
asked for information and advice, and were themselves greatly motivated to share their knowledge
and encourage others. In Uganda, the facilitators described how the screening event became an
informal ‘Gardeners’ Question Time’ (in reference to the long-running BBC Radio panel discussion
programme focussed on amateur gardening issues).
“When we went to the chicken farm, we learnt a lot. I thought
that it took a lot of money to start something like that, but the
owner explained that we could begin with only a few chickens”
Participant (Côte d’Ivoire)
Participatory Video with Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa
‘Eye-opening’ is a phrase used by participants in relation to several projects: Angola, South Africa,
Kenya, Côte d’Ivoire, Malawi. During the video production stages, participants visited each other’s
farms, observing and learning new farming techniques, and shared a considerable amount of
knowledge amongst the group. The videos enabled sharing on a much wider scale through
documenting various experiences, techniques and recommendations for the different audiences.
For example, at the screenings in Kenya several farmers arranged informal visits to the farms
shown in the videos, in order to see the successful plants first hand.
“I am happy to be part of this group, also happy about our tour
where we saw what was happening on the farms we visited, this
was an eye opener for me, I am learning how the farmers are
working with the land, we were able to share and learn from
each other; all of this new knowledge will help me on my farm”
Participant (Kenya)
Raising Awareness
Wide numbers of community members were engaged through the projects, raising awareness of
various issues related to the shifting climate and changing environment, and sparking discussion
and debate. The act of asking these questions in public spaces and forums will often have the
effect of highlighting the issue(s) as warranting more attention from the wider community. In
Malawi, for example, the participants sought to sensitise fellow community members to their
potential vulnerability through their video, ‘Watch Out, Things Change!’. The video contains key
messages such as the need for diversification of crops, and also profiles suggested solutions from
community elders. When screened locally, the video brought about widespread acknowledgement
of the extent of soil erosion and discussions about possible actions to be taken.
Creative Stimulation
All the projects challenged the participants to work together creatively in
groups. The introduction of participatory video promoted investigation
and collective problem-solving through imaginative and experimental
processes. Traditional storytelling techniques as well as local
dramatic, musical, visual and oral customs were included wherever
possible. For example, in Uganda and Malawi the participants wrote
and performed new songs for their video. They also improvised
dramas to illustrate the community elders’ recommendations to
reassert traditional laws. In Kenya, the participants dramatised a
personal experience of the difficulties associated with land
subdivision, playing out the complexities of the problem and the
differing needs and perspectives of those affected. In Uganda, the
participants identified the primary interests and incentives for their
specified audience, crafting and telling their story accordingly and
Participatory Video with Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa
expressing their vision for the future through the video. Women in Angola enjoyed demonstrating
the pressures they are under by acting out the conflict that can arise between women fighting over
scarce water, the tiring long walk to and from the water sources, and the worries over having
enough water to cook food for their children and relatives.
Forums for Investigation & Discussion
Participatory video provided numerous opportunities and spaces for people to come together,
engage with issues, and take part in intensive investigations into local issues. In community
screenings, the video became an engaging starting point for dialogue and debate. The various
opportunities for watching back (within the group and at screening events) enabled participants
regularly to review and reflect on the information collected, and receive input and advise from
others. The video production process mirrored a typical research method: the groups came
together to pool their existing knowledge, set their premise, then set out to investigate further
through interviewing and videoing others around their community and reflecting on this process by
watching it back.
“The film lives. We all know that the desert is coming, but if
it wasn’t for the film, I wouldn’t have the chance to discuss it.”
Participant (Côte d’Ivoire)
Personal Development
Each stage of the process, as implemented across all six projects, aimed to be empowering and
personally transformative for the participants. The opportunity to engage with difficult issues in a
positive manner, gain exposure to new farming techniques, and learn new skills in a supportive
environment (such as video production, interviewing, public speaking, team problem-solving,
drawing and visualising, organising of ideas and critical reflection) gave participants renewed
confidence and energy. Such impacts and outcomes cannot be easily measured, however their
presence was consistently observed by facilitators and local partner staff as well as being
anecdotally recorded during regular reflection and monitoring processes conducted by the project
teams.
“When I was looking at the others in the workshop, the way they
were speaking it was as if they were experts of this
technology. They are still only training but they talk with
confidence as if they know what they are doing”
Participant (Malawi)
Participatory Video with Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa
Programme Integration
On the whole, the introduction of participatory video projects fitted well into the wider programming
aims of the UK agencies and their local partners, enabling the process both to benefit from but
also contribute to the ongoing work of partner organisations and communities alike.
In Uganda, the methodology was felt to integrate seamlessly with the other participatory tools
being deployed by the local partner, Bukonzo Joint, at the time. In all six projects the InsightShare
facilitators took great time and care to adapt and integrate the existing models and patterns of
participation so as to continue to build upon key work that had gone before. For the UK agency
Twin, responsible for the project in Malawi, the participatory video process become part of their
efforts to assess and profile a pilot for sustainable coffee growing.
“The project also fits well, both methodologically and timing-wise,
with the other aspects of the larger project, since it took place
soon after communities had completed participatory vulnerability
and capacity assessments, and had articulated the issues they
were facing and the possible solutions available. It appeared also
to be a good precursor to the training in permaculture/
conservation agriculture, as it allowed community members to
explore options available to them and highlighted the need for
new techniques, amongst other things”
Christian Aid Representative, UK
Participatory Video with Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa
Insights for UK Agencies
The videos and project reports have provided several valuable new insights for the partners and
funder into the perspectives and experiences of the groups and communities they engage with:
“Interesting that farmers didn’t really want to talk about climate change but wanted so much to
talk about the land subdivision. It’s surprising how strongly they felt about it...to make a whole
video. For them it’s a big sustainability issue that the plots are being subdivided”
Lorna Young Foundation, representative
“The main objective for The Gaia Foundation was to come away with new facilitation skills and
understanding, which was achieved by the InsightShare facilitator Neville Meyer, and Indigo
facilitator Shannon, involving The Gaia Foundation’s member of staff Rowan in the facilitation
team and the process, enabling her to learn through doing and reflecting, and carry this into
future projects”
The Gaia Foundation, representative
“I was surprised that participants didn't make mention of Fairtrade Africa at any point of the
video and that there is such a strong misconception on climate change generally. This points
to the need of further information dissemination and producer involvement when thinking of
how Fairtrade Africa can provide support on climate change issues.”
Fairtrade Africa, representative
“An unintended outcome is an appreciation of the need to record happenings around us. An
expected impact is an increased awareness of climate change among participants.”
Fairtrade Africa, representative
“At project level, the video highlighted the range of experiences and coping mechanisms of
different project communities in response to the drought. It re-emphasised the limits to time
(especially for women), information/knowledge (e.g. regarding alternative/more resilient farming
techniques), and government support as barriers in the adaptation process. Although the
project design does intend to address these, we will need to revisit and evaluate the adequacy
of this design.”
“At programme level, the process and output fit well with the Angola programme strategy’s
objective to strengthen self-representation and voice. It gave us experience of the use of
audio-visual tools in practice in project/programme development and reinforced/strengthened
our intention to make participatory video and other participatory communication/reporting
tools a central element of our programme going forward. It was generally felt that the visual
aspect was a particularly powerful and dynamic way of raising awareness, promoting reflection
and learning, as well as having the potential of generating broader appeal and impact due to its
format and possibilities for dissemination.”
“At organisational level, the participation/discussion during the screening of the video and
subsequent contact from colleagues indicated a lot of interest, highlighting the power of a
video made and directed by community members (it seemed to generate more interest
compared to a (non-participatory) video we showed two weeks prior, for example). Colleagues
have since fed back that it was an important reminder of the value of non-verbal
communication and of the need to up the profile of the Angola programme in CA’s media work
(which the team was particularly happy with!). As referred to above, impact takes some time to
become evident, but it has potentially reinforced the emphasis on greater control by the
Participatory Video with Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa
communities we work with over all aspects of our work (i.e. not only at project level, but also
during communications visits etc)”
Christian Aid, representative
Insights for Local Partners
In many cases the participatory video project provided an opportunity to revisit, re-energise or even
reorientate relationships between communities, co-operatives and the local partner. This was
facilitated by involving, at appropriate times, representatives from the local organisations during the
project.
A Rich Picture
In some cases the participatory videos carry new information for local or outside audiences.
Although this information was not always new for the partners, who may themselves already have
carried out other forms of research, its presentation confronts those same partners with real-life
situations, and provides a rich picture of how such information is embedded into the realities of
peoples’ lives. For example, in Kenya it was surprising how strongly people felt about land
subdivision and coffee theft, to the extent that their videos focused on these topics to the exclusion
of climate change. For such communities those are the issues which most significantly endanger
their sustainability.
The videos contain the voices of some 72 farmers, carrying the contributions and endorsement of
many more from the 11 communities engaged through the programme. They provide an
opportunity to hear farmers’ voices directly and give an insight and perspective essential for
anyone designing programmes or funding for initiatives.
“I plan to circulate the video among other producer organisations
in West Africa to help increase climate change awareness”
Fairtrade Africa, representative
Video Advocacy
The videos and the process have been recognised as important advocacy tools, but much of their
potential remains latent and will require significant follow-up in order to realise any further tangible
impacts. In Angola, the local partner ACM hoped the participatory video process would enable the
communities to reach outside audiences through video, helping to evidence their work: “The
attention-grabbing nature of the project helped with this and also has potential to advocate/
influence change at other levels, which remains to be fully capitalised on.”
The Fairtrade Foundation had from the outset envisioned the project making an important
contribution to their ongoing advocacy activities, particularly centering around their work on climate
change. They intend to use the video to enable the farmers of Côte d’Ivoire to reach out and
connect with their counterparts in Ghana and other areas of West Africa. Fairtrade also plan to
Participatory Video with Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa
screen the video created in Côte d’Ivoire at regional Fairtrade meetings, the forthcoming COP18,
and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Qatar.
“Our film will serve as a lesson. People will see why they shouldn’t
chop trees. They don’t understand why rain doesn’t come. Now
they can learn”
Participant (Côte d’Ivoire)
New Approaches
For some partners, the participatory video method and facilitation approach provided valuable
opportunities to experience new methodologies. For example, the management teams of both
ACM Kwanza Sul (Angola) and Bukonzo Joint (Uganda) claimed to have been inspired by the
participatory way of working they experienced:
“This was participatory; every one in the room was facilitator
and the same time participant”
Bukonzo Joint representative (Uganda)
Broad Impressions
A review of the videos provides all partners (including the funder) with an important opportunity to
access materials created by beneficiaries from a range of climate change-related programmes, and
identify trends that might inform future programming decisions and designs. Trends emerge such
as the riskiness of innovation, issues surrounding availability of land, and a widespread lack of
understanding about changes in the environment and the implications this has for being able
successfully to make decisions for the future.
The hope is that this sharing will inform those involved in funding design and training initiatives, and
provide them with a reference point for thinking through the reality on the ground, in order to make
programming and funding as effective as possible.
“Their participatory hands-on approach makes it easy and
interesting for adult farmers to engage, and discuss technical
topics”
Fairtrade Africa representative (Côte d’Ivoire)
Participatory Video with Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa
Challenges & Limitations
Multiple Agencies & Agendas
For each project there were a minimum of four partners involved plus the community / participants
themselves: the typical chain was Funder / UK Agency / Local Partner / Implementing Partner.
Each partner had their own specific but related hopes and expectations, bringing a range of
agendas to bear on each project. The facilitating partner (InsightShare) sought to manage these
various agendas, with the aim of maintaining an open space for project participants to steer the
process according to their own priorities whilst ensuring the various partners’ aims were
addressed.
Whilst the projects were defined primarily as processes to enable participants to express their own
perspectives and priorities in dialogue with their wider community, many of the partners involved
were also hoping to use the videos as tools for sharing local perspectives outside of that local
context. To this extent, four of the five UK agencies have used the videos on their websites and
many of the local partners are using the videos as part of their local and national work. The
Fairtrade Foundation / Fairtrade Africa required an additional post-production process (post project
completion) to create a shortened version of the video from Côte d’Ivoire to meet their needs for an
advocacy-orientated video.
While the multiplicity of partners and their agendas did present some challenges around the
conclusiveness and coherence of the project aims, more importantly this in itself created the
circumstances that were the special opportunity of this programme. Firstly, the many partners
formed the channel whereby the farmers’ voices and perspectives would be heard and amplified,
and their issues raised for discussion. Secondly, the extent to which the partners’ expectations
were met of what would be included in the videos, and how, is an important process revealing new
Participatory Video with Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa
perspectives. There is a feeling that the videos represent something of a compromise, a
negotiation between what the participants want to talk about, and what the partners’ want to hear
about. The gaps between what you expect to see as a viewer and what is actually shown and
spoken is an interesting place to look in order to learn about the differences in perspectives.
Budget Constraints
A generic budget for all six projects was agreed with the funder prior to the development of each
project. The budgets included a fixed allocation for local implementation, logistics and support
costs, rather than considering the costs according to the specific locations and the logistical
needs.
These arrangements presented some difficulties, including instances where UK agencies had little
time budgeted for project co-ordination, and none of the UK agencies had funds allocated to
support follow-up with or by the local partner. The lack of money and co-ordination time to
support follow-up is perhaps the most serious impact of the budget constraints – little or no
budget was made available for local dissemination requirements such as copying and distributing
DVDs, or to support local staff to host screenings. In response to these challenges, Twin has made
some funds available for the group in Malawi to hold follow-up screenings. However, other
agencies have been unable to channel additional funds to the local groups involved in order to
support dissemination, and have chosen instead to focus their efforts on wider distribution and
promotion. Fairtrade Foundation will be using the video from Côte d’Ivoire at regional screenings
to begin dialogue around climate change and coffee farming. Lorna Young Foundation is planning
to use a website for farmers in Kenya as a platform for the video to be shared horizontally.
Christian Aid is planning to translate the video into Portuguese so that it can be used more widely
for advocacy in Angola.
“The logistics could definitely be done better with a bigger budget that would allow for stronger
support on the side of the 'host', in this case FTA and Kavokiva”
Fairtrade Foundation, representative
“I think the project went quite smoothly given the challenges due to budget and time.
Obviously a more realistic budgeting and adequate time for preparations would have helped”
Fairtrade Africa, representative
“The budget was tied up before we had the opportunity to think through how it would work for
our own organisation; for instance there wasn’t time to find funding to cover the co-ordination
fees”
Twin, representative
Ideally, budget should be allocated to support local dissemination events and resources, as well as
the time for organising this. Given more time and money, further guidance could be given from
InsightShare during the project set-up to help plan for the future and
put aside funds for this, and see how the short
interventions could fit in with longer-term
actions by the partners.
Participatory Video with Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa
Project Scheduling
The scheduling of each project was designed to fit in around predictable weather patterns and key
community calendar events such as harvest times, religious festivals, other programming
processes and other busy periods. The resulting project schedule meant all six projects were
delivered between February and July, thus reducing the opportunity for reflection and revision of
the process in-between projects, with some facilitators travelling directly from one project to the
other.
Lack of Follow-Up
The principal limitation of these projects is a sense at the local level that a more extensive impact
would be possible but for an absence of time and strategy from the local partners and/or UK
agencies which might support a meaningful follow-up. This includes the need for dissemination
and use of the video locally. Allied to this is a sense of frustration that the potential unearthed by
these projects – local momentum, energy and new-found passion for participatory video – is being
untapped.
“Given the size of the co-ops, in future…it would be good from the offset to change the
balance slightly and have more emphasis on how the video is going to be shared”
Twin, representative
Participant Selection
The videos represent messages made primarily by a select number of participants, who took part
in a formative experience to build a team and a collective voice for the video. During the process
they were made accountable to and connected with their community at different points. Principal
amongst these was the screening events, but many project teams also incorporated suggestions
from the wider community throughout the process.
The process for selecting participants is a hugely important aspect of any participatory process,
defining the direction of the project and the investigations undertaken. In this programme, the
selection was handled by the local partner, with written guidelines and advice provided by
InsightShare. Participants selected were largely those who had already been involved in previous
trainings on sustainable agriculture, were well-known to the local partners or co-operatives as
active members, or were important members of the wider community. In some cases,
participation was only possible for those with sufficient financial stability to afford the opportunity of
putting two weeks aside to dedicate to the training (this despite the fact that per-diem payments
were made to each participant). In many cases therefore, the participants represent those with
relative influence and capacity, financial security, and a pre-held interest in sustainable agriculture.
Participant Expectations
In each of the projects, the participants expressed a clear desire to continue using video and, to
differing extents, there was significant disappointment amongst some participants that the project
would be coming to a close without follow-up, regardless of how much they had achieved.
Participatory Video with Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa
In part, because the projects were engaging but short, some disappointment at their conclusion
was perhaps inevitable. Where there has been significant interest in the video production process,
or genuine excitement around the potential of the tool (for advocacy, documentation or community
engagement), that no equipment has been left behind to follow-up the development of these skills
and ideas is disappointing.
The facilitators were careful from the outset to balance participant expectations according to the
project constraints, stressing that the programme’s aims were to enable farmers to communicate
on specific issues using video and not to develop long-term capacity for video production.
Nevertheless motivation to continue using video is high amongst some participants, partners, and
in the wider communities. Whilst this enthusiasm can be viewed as a strong affirmation of the
importance and relevance of participatory video as a means of engaging such groups, it also
highlights the challenges faced when implementing short-term participatory processes and the
importance of managing expectations accordingly.
“My expectation was to have members learning and start doing their own films/videos, which
has happened. As for doing practical work, it needs equipment for continuation. The team is
continuing to show what was filmed, no extra information is being filmed to follow the
commitment. We are challenged by a lack of equipment that would be showing some
change; we are only writing stories during follow up”
Bukonzo Joint, representative
Barriers to Innovation
Several facilitators came away with the strong impression that innovation in
terms of agricultural practice requires risk-taking, and the confidence to
innovate often coincides with having financial stability and time to invest in
learning and applying new techniques. On the whole, the participants were
those who could afford to take the time to attend trainings, and try new
methods. In Uganda in particular, it was clear to the facilitators that two key
barriers to enabling change in farming practice were financial and cultural:
firstly, a lack of time and resources to invest in applying new techniques, and
secondly a lack of conviction in their importance and efficacy in order to justify
taking that risk.
Participatory Video with Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa
Recommendations
Support Local Dissemination
The community-screening events that took place as part of each project were successful in
enabling participants to share the information gathered with the wider community, and created
forums for raising awareness and generating discussion. In many cases, the participants became
local experts and were motivated to share their knowledge with others.
A relatively small amount of financial support (to local partners or directly to participating
communities) would provide opportunities for local dissemination of the videos, including
duplication and distribution of DVDs and facilitated screening-events at different locations. This
would ideally include support for the participants themselves to present their videos and host / cofacilitate any subsequent discussions.
Build Long-Term Capacity
A number of the participants and local partners expressed their willingness and desire to begin
facilitating participatory video projects themselves. This programme did not involve equipping local
partners for this, in recognition of the fact that long-term capacity-building and facilitation training
are prerequisites to any provision of equipment. InsightShare’s experience is that in the absence of
sufficient training, long-term support and long-lasting agreements which enable communities to
have access to equipment, merely providing this equipment can become an empty gesture and
ultimately more frustrating for the individuals and communities for whom it is meant to serve. It is
therefore strongly recommended that provision of equipment should only take place where
appropriate training and support is available.
Participatory Video with Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa
If these six projects are viewed as pilots of the methodology for the partners (local and UK
agencies), there is a strong case for enabling these same partners to take part in complete
capacity-building training programmes which would enable deployment of the methodology across
a range of programmes, communities and contexts. Local capacity to deliver participatory video
projects as part of long-term interventions could meet a range of different needs:
Enhancing community engagement, reflection and adaptation
Production of farmer-to-farmer instructional videos
Tracking and evaluating innovations and adaptations over time (including monitoring uptake)
A means for dialogue and exchange between meteorologists, local experts and decisionmakers
Participatory research
Advocacy and lobbying of local government
Documenting and affirming traditional knowledge, languages, customs and practices
Enable Community-to-Community Sharing
Another means of deepening the impact and effectiveness of the projects and their resulting videos
would be to share the videos produced between the communities taking part in the six projects.
This is a simple and effective way of sharing techniques, sparking innovation and creating an entry
point through which to deepen discussion and local understanding around local issues relating to
global climate change. Translation and subtitling or audio-dubbing would be required in most
cases.
“We'd like to reach out to producers as well as policy makers and other development actors…
we'd like to disseminate it through our website and at events such as the Annual Fairtrade
convention which brings close to 50 producer organisations from all over the continent
together as well as other Fairtrade stakeholders, policy makers and retailers”
Fairtrade Foundation, representative
Participatory Video with Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa
Final Reflections
Each project and experience is different, but the methodology and broad approach was consistent
throughout. The result is a unique body of work which represents the unfiltered and, often,
previously unheard voices of farming communities from diverse contexts and cultures who are
nevertheless struggling against similar environmental changes and the many challenges they bring.
The participant experience, recorded through daily reflections and evaluations, charts a common
story: one of rapid growth in confidence during the video-making process, of working together and
sharing opinions openly and in front of an audience, of a deep experience and understanding of
local agricultural and environmental issues, and of a motivation to encourage others in their
communities to take care of their local environment, often focusing on a shift towards sustainable
agricultural practice.
There are numerous anecdotal reports of how participants and audience members were inspired to
change their behaviour as a result of watching the videos or being a part of the video-making
process. This unique experience for key members of the community, as well as the forums for
awareness-raising and discussion provided by the community screenings, is likely to have
numerous positive impacts over time.
Several of the local partner organisations reported how impressed they were by the participatory
nature of the approach, and the way it gave farmers an accessible means of expressing their views
and showing the situation in their communities. Appreciation for the project, by participants and
partners alike, has been accompanied by a concurrent feeling that more could be done to
maximise the potential of the videos produced. The videos themselves are seen in most cases as
highly valuable tools for advocacy and awareness-raising, however a serious question remains as
Participatory Video with Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa
to how widely they will be used, due to lack of resources which might enable the development and
implementation of local dissemination strategies.
With adequate training, support and equipment, there are several local organisations that could
use participatory video to great ongoing effect as a tool for community engagement, knowledge
sharing and advocacy. Likewise the community-level motivation, activation and awareness raised
through the process could be further developed and capitalised upon by local partners, UK
agencies and the funder itself, as an opportunity for strengthening local knowledge and mobilising
community action.
The projects have already had a significant impact on many participants in terms of their
understanding of various issues relating to climate change, and the programme has initiated a
process of disseminating this knowledge into the wider community (through advice to family,
friends and neighbours, and through incremental cultural change). Across the projects, however,
there is a sense that this seed of change would take only a relatively minimal local organisational
support in order to allow it a far wider impact.
Whilst the six projects each had their own trajectory, achievements and challenges, nevertheless
there are insights to be gained from an overview of the entire programme. In terms of learning
about farmers’ experience of climate change, there are some surprises to be confronted, in
particular in the local understanding of causality between changes in weather, local practice and
low agricultural yields. There are also insights to be gained into how changes in local climate are
appraised in relation to a range of pressing issues. There are signals too which might inform
development practice and funding regarding ‘climate change’ concepts. There is also learning
about how participatory video can best be applied as a tool in these circumstances, and projects
best arranged. Above all, there is the potential of further local change still untapped.
The projects and their video outputs show how, in various ways, the effects of climate change are
cross-cutting with other concerns, and are bound up in many aspects of daily life. Such issues
sometimes operate in the background whilst more immediate threats appear to stand out more
prominently. In some cases, despite a strong communal will, there are many barriers to change;
whether it be constraints of poverty or an apparent lack of alternatives, these barriers have become
clearer through this programme.
The facilitators reported a widespread hunger for knowledge and advice around the issues the
farmers are struggling with, and an apparent lack of opportunities to access these resources in
some places. Many of the rural farming communities participant in the projects have extremely
limited access to information: in several cases they have highly limited or no access whatsoever to
newspapers, televisions, mobile phone networks or the internet. Even roads can be periodically
impassable. Information that comes from outside sources therefore, such as from development or
extension workers, cannot be easily triangulated or contextualised locally. In such circumstances,
participatory video can be a highly effective and appropriate means of helping communities to
investigate issues, evaluate their situation and reconcile traditional with introduced knowledge. The
programme gave communities a visual and easily accessible communication tool to share their
understandings with parallel communities (horizontally) and those organisations and bodies
(vertically) in positions to assist in forging positive change.
Participatory Video with Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa
Facilitators & Key Staff
Sara Asadullah
Programme Coordinator
Sara Asadullah is a Senior Associate at InsightShare and undertook overall
coordination for the ‘Participatory Video with Farmers’ programme. She has
been a participatory video facilitator for 6 years, working on projects in
Nigeria, Bangladesh, Mexico, India. the Balkans and the UK.
Gareth Benest
Director of Programmes
Gareth Benest is Director of Programmes at InsightShare with overall
responsibility for all programming activities across a wide range of countries,
and contexts. Gareth led the development, management and implementation
of the ‘Participatory Video with Farmers’ programme.
Jean-Luc Blakey
Facilitator Côte d’Ivoire / Kenya / Uganda
Jean-Luc Blakey is an Associate at InsightShare. He was lead facilitator on
the Uganda project, and co-facilitator for the projects in Kenya and Cote
D'Ivoire. He has been a participatory video facilitator for 3 years, working
extensively throughout Africa, specialising in participatory editing techniques.
Dominic Elliot
Facilitator Côte d’Ivoire
Dominic Elliot is a Senior Associate of InsightShare and undertook the project
management and lead facilitation of the Participatory Video project in the
Côte d'Ivoire. He joined InsightShare in 2004, and has assisted, facilitated
and managed over a dozen international projects on their behalf.
Idaci Ferreira
Facilitator Angola
Idaci Ferreira is a consultant for development issues, based in Brazil, and
undertook the co-facilitation of the participatory video project in the Angola.
She has used participatory video in context of community development work
and research.
Participatory Video with Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa
Emily Flower
Facilitator Angola
Emilie Flower is a Senior Associate at InsightShare and undertook the project
management and lead facilitation of the participatory video project in Angola.
She has been a participatory video facilitator for 10 years, and has specialised
in gender, environment and human rights based issues.
Paul Higgitt
Facilitator Uganda
Paul Higgitt is a freelance filmmaker and trainer and undertook the cofacilitation of the participatory video project with Bukonzo Joint, in Uganda.
He has over 5 years experience working on various participatory video
projects.
Neville Meyer
Facilitator Kenya / Malawi / South Africa
Neville Meyer is a Senior Associate at InsightShare. He was lead facilitator in
the Kenya, South Africa and Malawi. Neville has over 20 years experience
working in community development across Africa, and has worked as a
participatory video facilitator for the last 5 years.
Shannon Parring
Facilitator South Africa
Shannon Parring is a Project Officer for Indigo development and change, and
undertook the co-facilitation of the South Africa project. Shannon has over 3
years experience in participatory video and has done community work for the
past 5 years.
Rebecca Savage
Facilitator Malawi
Rebecca Savage is an InsightShare Associate and was co-facilitator in
Malawi. She has facilitated participatory video in Mexico, Guatemala, South
Sudan and UK. Rebecca has a PhD and MA in Visual Anthropology and
worked as producer, cinematographer and editor for the BBC and others.
Participatory Video with Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa
Multimedia
VIDEO CHANNEL
http://www.youtube.com/user/PVforCC
PHOTOSTORY ARCHIVE
http://tinyurl.com/cuy38at
INTERACTIVE MAP
http://tinyurl.com/cn9lqzg
IMAGE ARCHIVE
http://tinyurl.com/cco68vx
DOCUMENT ARCHIVE
http://tinyurl.com/c9kda5o
Participatory Video with Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa