Infomediaries as Complementary Knowledge Channels of Climate-Smart Agriculture in the Philippines *JAManalo IV, JCBerto, FMSaludez, JD Villaflor, RTHallares, TCPaulino, KPBalmeo, AMPagdanganan, AMFBautista *Development Communication Division, Philippine Rice Research Institute, Maligaya, Science City of Muñoz, 3119 Nueva Ecija, Philippines (Email:
[email protected])
Introduction Agricultural communities are among the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. This cannot be ignored considering the need to produce more food and to address the complex poverty situation in rural areas. To enhance their adaptive capacities, farmers must be aware of the technologies and strategies they can employ. In the Philippines, the issue is more complex given the uneven ratio of 13,000 agricultural extension workers (AEWs) who are tasked to deliver agricultural information to more than 2 million rice farmers. Thus, the need to be more creative in ensuring that information poverty is covered in the rural areas is in the right direction.
Methodology The Project engaged 208 Technical Vocational (TecVoc) high schools in the Philippines. Its objectives were: (1) to fine-tune the infomediary model as an innovative knowledge sharing scheme to improve farmers’ access to CSA information and technologies; (2) to devise ways to properly document the information sharing process of infomediaries to further explain and understand the change of knowledge, attitudes, and practices of farmers along climate-smart agriculture; and (3) to come up with strategies on how to develop agricultural TecVoc high schools as complementary extension hubs of CSA for rice to complement conventional agricultural extension in marginal and information poor areas.
Key outputs Published two journal articles discussing how infomediaries can serve as effective channels of CSA information (Asian Journal of Agriculture and Development and SpringerPlus) 75 schools have thus far integrated CSA competencies in their respective curricula that led to the identification of strategies to optimize TecVoc schools as CSA information hubs Trained 225 teachers, with direct and indirect reach of 234,000 students; published 8 newsblogs; conceptualized infomediation process on CSA in rice-farming communities The Infomediation Process
Key strategies and activities READ We gave knowledge products on CSA to participating schools, and most of them put up an Infomediary Corner in their school library for these materials
TEXT
SURF We introduced them to PinoyRice, an information portal on rice in the Philippines
We introduced them to the PhilRice Text Center, an SMS facility for farmers
Emerging outcomes Capacity enhancement for teachers
Establishment of rice garden
Teaching of CSA4Rice in schools
Infomediary Quiz bee
Schoolinitiated community events
The Department of Education expressed support to the initiative, and they have issued a memorandum endorsing the CSA and Rice Production training programs to TecVoc teachers nationwide. The project has mobilized student-texters asking for salient information relating to climate change and rice production. We now have more than 4,000 student-texters.
www.infomediary4d.com
Infomediary Campaign
0920 911 1398
