National FSA TrainingModule 17: Produce user-friendly outputs

Module 17Produce user-friendly outputs

Objectives

At the end of this module you will:

  1. Understand the need for production of user-friendly materials
  2. Be able to determine the best partners and best media for dissemination of research findings
  3. Have prepared a fact sheet
  4. Understand what makes a good leaflet or poster and you will be able to apply those guidelines to the dissemination of your own research findings
  5. Have reviewed basic extension material

Content

17.1 Determine information needs and research messages

17.2 Choice of dissemination partners

17.3 Choice of dissemination media

17.4 Producing fact sheets

17.5 Development of messages

17.6 Illustrations

17.7 Posters

17.8 Review and testing of extension material

17.1Determine information needs and research messages

Information that is available from Tanzania suggests that the use of improved agricultural technology is not a common practice. For example, in the agricultural census of 1994/1995 it appeared that out of every ten farmers only three use improved seed; two use chemical fertiliser; six receive advice from extension agents; eight own an axe and one owned a plough (Limbu, 1999). One of the reasons for poor adoption has of course been the lack of relevance of technologies, e.g. where evaluations focus on yield improvements rather than economic benefits or early maturity or where results assume external inputs that are too expensive (Kajimbwa, 2002). Extension and farmers cannot use the technologies developed. Another major reason has been that in many countries technologies remain on the shelves, simply because extension and farmers are unaware of their existence (Eponou, 1995). For example, the main channels for dissemination of research results in Tanzania are normally progress reports presented during an IPR (which do not have sufficient information on the technologies), annual reports (often not produced at all) and journal articles or workshop papers (which are not accessible to extension agents). Too often researchers consider links with extension and farmers supplementary to their normal research workload. Quite a number of researchers still think that it is up to the extension agent and farmer to come to research, get the technology, transfer it to farmers, and provide feedback if they have.

Demand-driven research has to show a strong output orientation in order to increase client appreciation and the impact of research. Research findings need not only to be published (see Module 16) but also have to be available in a form that clients can easily access. In for example a survey from Kenya, farmers indicated that their most pressing information requirement which was not being adequately addressed was information on technical details of farming (e.g. chemical application rates, how to manage late blight in potatoes, where to get certified seed, the most appropriate varieties for a given location, housing and management of livestock, etc.) (Rees et al., 2000)

In the private commercial sector market research pays considerable attention to consumers’ needs for, and perceptions of new products. This information is used to develop products which are likely to be a commercial success, and to develop effective communication strategies for marketing these products. This type of research is much less common in agriculture and extension than in business, partly because government officers will not lose their jobs if they do not ‘market’ their ideas effectively. Furthermore, there are often insufficient resources for good market research.

Effective information flows from extension agents to extension managers and researchers, and from researchers to extension and farmers, can largely make up for this deficiency. Quarterly workshops as organised in Tanzania could be used for this specific purpose but often remain focused on a one way transfer of information. Joint workshops of researchers and stakeholders as organised in the Lake Zone, can also be used to assess client information needs and make an inventory of technologies available from research. The latter is called a gap analysis between research and development options, and farmer practices (see Box 17.1).

Box 17.1Gap analysis in the Lake Zone

Extension administrators and researchers are often worried about delays in farmers’ use of the research findings. They want to know how the adoption of relevant innovations can be accelerated (Van den Ban, 1996). Studies have clearly demonstrated the extensive delays that occur between the time farmers first hear about favourable innovations and the time they adopt them. It often takes years (and sometimes decades) for the majority of farmers to adopt recommended practices. Researchers have naturally been keen to find out what happens during this time (Van den Ban, 1996). The latter will not be discussed here but will be dealt with in Module 18.

17.2Choice of dissemination partners

It may be necessary to develop different messages to meet the needs and the situation of each category of adopters. This approach is frequently used in marketing where it is called “market segmentation’. Table 17.1 gives an example from a workshop in Kenya where target groups were segmented.

Table 17.1Example from Kenya: Dissemination partners for crop protection technologies

Partner / Interest/objective / Strength / Weakness
Farmers / Healthy, productive crops / Direct beneficiaries / Inadequate information and resources
Extension / Teaching farmers better crop protection / Practical training / Lack knowledge, lack motivation
Growers associations/ CBO's / Help members / Grass root presence, group approach / Not easily accessed
NGO's / Community development / Community contacts / Other agenda
Traders / Sell chemicals / Grass root presence / Lack technical know-how
Chemical companies / Sell chemicals / Expert knowledge, global influence / Want to sell even when chemicals are not needed
Pesticide board / Effective chemicals, minimal toxicity / Knowledge, authority, existing communication channels / Rigid, discourage innovation

Source: Scarr et. al. (1999)

17.3Choice of dissemination media

Researchers and research institutes play an important role in seeking options for subsequent increased dissemination of information. Dissemination should (1) target primary partners and primary stakeholders, or (2) aim to scale up research results to the full mandate area.

For the first, the following options have been tried in various zones in Tanzania:

  • Debriefing meetings for farmers and extension staff who participated in on-farm experiments at the end of each season
  • Field days on-station and on-farm
  • Permanent exhibitions within research institutes
  • Annual meetings with all stakeholders such as the annual stakeholder meetings in the Lake Zone

In the second approach change agents are being targeted for scaling up the results. The following options are used:

  • Technology markets: A technology market is a meeting where researchers present technological options through short presentations, and demonstration of implements, posters and pictures. Farmers who are interested in testing a particular option can register themselves. Researchers make appointments for follow-up visits to discuss experiments and options. This is an improvement on the situation where researchers select farmers.
  • Farmer Extension Groups (FEG): FEG's are groups of farmers that are working with extension in the verification of recommended messages developed in the same or a similar FSZ by an FRG. The number of FRG's is normally limited, while the number of FEG's is larger than the number of FRG's but smaller than extension contact groups. FEG's remain in close contact with FRG's through extension staff and farmer visits in order to get technology feedback. During field days in the FRG's FEG members are invited to assess technological options for possible testing in the FEG.
  • Use of printed and mass media

We will further discuss this last option. The manner in which research messages are packaged should encourage adoption of improved practices. Researchers and clients have to agree on message formats and analyse options for effectiveness and efficiency. Media options are many (see table 5.2) but need to be used carefully, linking them to target group characteristics, characteristics of the message that needs to be conveyed, and resources that are available. People in countries like Tanzania become aware of innovations by talking to friends, neighbours and extension agents. This may be attributed in part to social structures and customs in these societies, and in part to high levels of illiteracy and few outlets for printed media in rural areas. In both industrial and less industrialised societies potential users make their decision to try or adopt innovations following personal discussions with people they know and trust (Van den Ban, 1996).

Table 17.2Media analysis

Media / Strength / Weakness
Leaflet/ brochure / Stores information, can be used repeatedly / Not accessible for illiterates
Poster / Reaches illiterates, good for raising awareness / Short-term access to information
Field day / Reaches illiterates / Only few people reached at any time, information cannot be stored
Radio / Reaches many people, raises awareness, changes attitudes / Expensive, one-time broadcasts, not suitable for skill development
Filmstrip/
slide series / Reaches illiterates, develops skills, can be shown in rural areas / Relatively cheap if processing lab is available
Video / Raises awareness, changes attitudes, develops skills / Expensive, limited access in rural areas
Drama/
songs/
storytelling / Raises awareness, changes attitudes / One-time performances, not suitable for skill development, cannot last longer than half an hour

Source: adapted from Scarr et. al. (1999)

17.4Producing fact sheets

Every research activity needs to be summarised in a fact sheet be it from on-station of on-farm research. A fact sheet summarises research results and technical information on a selected topic. The fact sheet provides an overview of relevant facts and data from the experiment or survey, and may be supplemented with data from literature. The fact sheet enables reviewers to assess the reliability of results and recommendations. A fact sheet can serve as a basis for developing any kind of extension material, be it a leaflet, brochure, poster, radio message, slide series or song.

In the justification you quantify and qualify the problem or opportunity, for example: quantify losses and infestation rates due to an insect pest, list disadvantages of a conventional technique, list causes of a decline in yield or causes of incidence of livestock diseases.

The background gives the reader all the necessary experimental data or survey results needed to assess if the recommendations have enough scientific justification. The background summarises all data that the target group may need to compare the new technique with the conventional technique, e.g. quantification of yield increase, percentage insects killed, extra labour involved, extra costs, economic gains, possible constraints or conditions for adoption. Who is likely to benefit from the technique and who could use it. What questions may the target group raise and ensure that those are answered. Overall the background should encourage the target group to adopt the technique and preferably offer them multiple choices.

The recommendations should follow from the data given in the background. These recommendations should be simple, flexible (offering a basket-of-options) and targeted (e.g. for household classes, AEZs, LUTs, gender or growing seasons) and in a chronological order.

The information given in a fact sheet should enable a reviewer to assess or evaluate the correctness of the information provided. Hence references have to be given for all information. and have to be specific, including authors names and the year (see table 5.1).

In your fact sheet you need to make sure that:

(1)The message is complete. Problems that readers are likely to encounter in the field concerning the message need to be covered.

(2)The message is specific and should cover who can do it, where it can be done, and when it can be done. The recommendation should be given in such a way that it increases the readers’ understanding of the technology, and improves their skills.

(3)The advantages of a certain technology as compared to the conventional technique are mentioned, e.g. line planting may increase labour at planting but reduces amount of seed used and makes weeding easier.

Table 17.3Example of a fact sheet: cereals dry season stalk management

Step / Description / Evaluation
Justification /
  • Cereal stemborers are the main pest in maize and sorghum in the Shinyanga Region; average losses of 30% (maize), abundance of up to 87% infestation rate (maize and sorghum)
  • Main species: Chilo partellus, Busseola fusca
  • Stemborers diapause as larvae in the left over cereal stalks over the dry season
  • Main carry over of stemborers from season to season is in dry stalks
  • Stemborer adults are mobile over short distances (up to 15 km radius)
/ losses on zonal level not known
survey data
survey data
survey data
literature
Background data /
  • Number of diapausing stemborers in wild (Hyparrhenia rufa, Typha spp.,etc) and other cultivated hosts (sugarcane, elephant grass) is negligible
  • Maize stalks are used as fodder and the fields are usually cleared
  • Sorghum stalks are left standing and host many diapausing larvae
  • Diapausing stemborers are situated usually in the upper parts of the stalk, the lower part is often hollow and/or eaten by termites
  • Chopped stalks are to at least 95% free of diapausing stemborers (after 6 weeks)
  • Chopping sorghum stalks takes about 12 person hours per ha with a handhoe, 18 personhours with a panga
  • Farmers and Bwana Shambas are usually not aware of diapausing stemborers in stalks
/ survey data
survey data
survey data
survey data
experimental data
Recommen-dation /
  • Make farmers aware of stemborer larvae in dry stalks
  • Cut dry cereal stalks (mainly sorghum) on the base with a handhoe
  • Leave cut/chopped stalks on the field as mulch (protection against erosion, organic material)
  • Do cutting until approximately 15 September
  • Or feed stalks to livestock (maize)
  • Invite the whole village to do stalk management

Source: Braun and Kolowa (1996)

17.5Development of messages

Most researchers have limited capacity to develop extension material. In that case messages should be developed jointly with extension staff, and research capacity needs to be strengthened. In Tanzania and Kenya this has been done through e.g. workshops where researchers work together with technical editors, graphic designers, illustrators, translators, and extension staff. Some guidelines for message formulation are given in Box 17.2.

Box 17.2General guidelines for leaflets, brochures or posters

Source: Scarr et. al. (1999)

Fact sheets are the basis for developing any kind of written text, e.g a leaflet or poster. You can design a variety of extension materials, each of them serving a specific purpose but following different story lines. The following are some examples:

  • The “how-to-do-it” story: here you show how to carry out a technique or method step by step. The steps have to be shown in chronological order.
  • The technical story: here you use one character or more characters (typically a farmer and extension agent) to show techniques and operations. The reader can identify with the character who successfully adopts or carries out the new techniques. The story shows how the characters benefit from the techniques followed.
  • The motivational story: this story gives credibility to new ideas. The readers follow characters like themselves who also seek opportunities. The characters usually take up new methods for working and improved production techniques. Example: Better chickens, more profits!
  • Cartoons: they present a subject in an entertaining way, and still teach important concepts and practices. Cartoons can make the information more accessible for farmers but need the help of an artist for making the illustrations.

Table 17.4Characteristics of cartoons and text

Cartoons / Text
attracts readers / XXX / X
requires reading skills / XX / XXX
can deal with complex issues / X / XXXX
more details can be included / X / XXX
interpretation of message unpredictable / XXXX / X
easy to read / XXX / XX
suitable for flexible recommendations / X / XXX

It follows from the table that your decision for cartoons or text should be guided by (1) your target group and (2) the content of your message.

Next, the text should be organised logically. This follows the following order:

  1. Problem or opportunity: How can the target group recognise the problem and why does the problem occur (explain why it happens). When describing an opportunity include what the conditions for adoption are, e.g. cash, labour availability in a specific time of the year, inputs, etc.
  2. Solutions: This describes a range of options and answers questions such as what should be done, how it should be done and when it should be done.
  3. Possible gains: What are the advantages of the new technique, does it reduce labour or drudgery, does it increase income?
  4. Necessary inputs: Where can the target group get seeds, chemicals or additional advice.

Example:

A large fertiliser company had been marketing its products for years on the basis of the chemical contents, with names indicating the ratio of nitrogen, phosphorus and potash. Then the sales section of the company requested the help of a rural communication specialist who interviewed farmers. The marketing strategy was changed to stress the end use of fertiliser rather than its composition. Each type of fertiliser was advertised on the basis of how, when and where it should be used and what results could be expected.

Box 17.3 gives a range of guidelines as to how to make sure that your text is simple and can be understood easily by the target group.

Box 17.3How to ensure that your text is simple