Tactics for change

       There are no easy ways to increase food production in many developing countries.

        Governments must agree on a strategy for change, make resources available, and upgrade extension, education, and research services. But the best extension services are ineffective unless they are wanted by the end-user.

        Taiwan (ROC) was turned from food-importing into a food exporter by first working in the schools then by leasing a percentage of selected farms. The seed and fertilizer were supplied.

        These farms were used to hold field days to demonstrate ways to increase earnings by showing the new and the old ways of farming.

A Handful of tips to help stimulate food production in developing countries

* Train ‘Master Trainers’

        While training in Vietnam I asked how training was carried out during the ‘American war’.  An ex-army doctor said, “We used cells. We trained small groups of people to carry out specific tasks. These people all went out and trained another small group.”  How simple and what an effective way to teach new skills. To teach is to learn twice!

        By taking some of your best extension workers – ones with ‘missionary zeal’ and set up training workshops where they were asked basic questions and their best answers are recorded. You can build up a valuable resource and train a bunch of master trainers.

* Increase the number of women extension workers

        Women extension workers can help women farmers increase food production and improve the quality of family life. They play a major role in most Asian and Pacific countries and are often referred to as ‘invisible farmers’.

        The best case I saw was in Sri Lanka where women extension workers were training young ladies in a country hall.

        They were trained in farming small animals, domestic skills, and ways to generate an income by sewing, canning seasonal fruits, and making things for the local market.

* Develop Information and Support Services

        A centralized support service can make your teams more effective. It can become a place to collect, record information that can be simplified for field and rural workers.

        Brief fact sheets can be produced by journalists, preferably with a rural background, and made available for both the written word and online for all to share.             

* Examine Research Priorities and Technology Transfer

       Here are some quotes made to me during an audit in Sri Lanka. 

        “There is a tendency to carry out research for personal goals.”

        “Research takes time. Often when results,  have been proven the initial problem has vanished, or became less important.”

        ” Very often the scientist has neither the means nor the position to pass the information gained on to rural workers.”

* Train Leaders in Management Skills

        In many countries, scientists can be working on their projects one day and find they have been appointed a manager the next.

        Management training is not a luxury – it’s essential, and is rarely carried out well.

        Management training workshops with other managers can speed up the training of both extension workers and scientists.

-Geoffrey Moss (mossassociates.co.nz)

“A good manager thinks and speaks clearly, keeps things simple, and makes decisions confidently.”

SOURCE: “Training Secrets. Helping adults learn” 190p., Moss Associates. Ltd, New Zealand, and Cengage Learning Asia, Singapore. Also available as an e-book from Amazon.com.

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