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Knowledge for success in organic farming

Filming on the field

The FiBL YouTube channel of film-maker agronomist Thomas Alföldi has more than 12,000 subscribers. (Photo: FiBL)

Women farmers from East Africa read a text message

Women farmers in Gladys Muthoni (left) and Lydia Mieere follow an organic farming course delivered by means of text messages. (Photo: FiBL, Benjamin Gräub)

When farmers refrain from using chemical inputs, they need to be given alternatives. These are usually quite complex, which makes organic farming particularly knowledge-intensive. That is why FiBL uses a variety of ways and means to promote the exchange of knowledge for successful organic agriculture around the world.

In action: Knowledge by video

A field robot autonomously hoed sugar beet for the first time in the canton of Thurgau. And FiBL filmmaker Thomas Alföldi was right there with his video camera. First he filmed the robot from all angles, sent up his drone and then interviewed the farmer about his the material into a five-minute technical video. "Video is a fantastic medium for documenting the experiences of farmers and advisors," says Thomas Alföldi. Over the past ten years he has produced almost 400 short films for FiBL's YouTube channel. The videos have had 6.5 million combined views to date. The agronomist filmmaker is also involved in various EU projects outside of Switzerland. During the times of the coronavirus epidemic he has been running numerous webinars where he gives advice on how to make informative technical videos using simple means.

East Africa: Courses via text and App

Digital dissemination of knowledge – a vast area such as East Africa is predestined for this strategy. Many people have a mobile phone, and the short message service SMS is the most popular means of communication. However, it is too expensive to go online with a mobile phone, which is why in rural areas few people have internet access. So how can organic farming knowledge be disseminated? "Text messages are cheap and reach many farmers," says Benjamin Gräub, FiBL project manager in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya. "We are developing a course based on text messages that convey basic knowledge on organic farming. Our intention is for the course to reach 5000 people." The course is based on FiBL’s already published African Organic Agriculture Training Manual, which is available online for free. "We will convert at least one of the manual’s modules into a course consisting of 150 text messages". Moreover, Gräub intends to soon develop an app-based course on organic agriculture, as it is foreseeable that internet data will become cheaper in Africa in the future.

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