How Radio and Distance Learning Built Skills and Knowledge for Cocoa Farmers

"BBC Media Action's 'Pathways to Learning' project in the Eastern region of Sierra Leone aimed to improve farmers’ skills and knowledge about cocoa farming. Evaluation work in 2015 shows how farmers and local experts feel the project has helped to develop these."

This BBC Media Action project included the production and broadcast of a package of radio programmes about the cocoa sector for farmers and potential farmers; a distance learning programme which "took accredited learning directly to farmers through Farmer Field Schools; and intensive in-station training for local radio station partners." It was run in partnership with Eastern Radio and Njala University between 2011 and 2015 and was funded by the European Union (EU), the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ), and Interchurch Organisation for Development Cooperation (ICCO) in Kenema, Kono, and Kailahun - the three districts of the Eastern region of Sierra Leone.

Formative research at the start of the project noted that "there were a number of key points in the cocoa production cycle of which farmers had gaps in their knowledge. In particular, the research highlighted information needs around disease management, tending to the farm, drying, bean selection, storage and harvesting." The radio shows included in the "Pathways to Learning" project were distributed on local radio stations in some of the most common local languages and included "locally appropriate advice which listeners were likely to have the resources to put into action." The Farm Field School had a hiatus due to the outbreak of Ebola in 2014. Health measures were taken upon reopening the school, and Ebola prevention was made part of the curriculum.

Key findings

• Developing farmers' skills and knowledge

• "Programme listeners and attendees of Farmer Field Schools reported that they had acquired new skills and knowledge across all stages of the cocoa production cycle, from planting to harvesting. 
• Listeners and Farmer Field School attendees reported greater awareness of cocoa marketing and of strategies for negotiating good sale prices. This included having access to weekly cocoa prices, which helped them to agree fair prices with buyers, and awareness of tips which could help them conduct negotiations more effectively.
• Some farmers and experts noted that the application of skills and knowledge learned through both programmes could have a beneficial effect on both quantity and quality of farmers’ yields."

• Raising awareness of other local issues

• "Listeners highlighted a number of broader issues which the programme had also given them information about, including education, health and women’s rights.
• Listeners noted a range of skills that the programme had passed on in relation to financial awareness, including avoiding loan-taking and the benefits of collective working to avoid large outgoings for labour costs." 

Implications and impact

"The addition of a distance learning element to complement the project, which was conducted through Farmer Field Schools across cocoa farming communities in the eastern region meant that more than 5,000 farmers could receive targeted learning, and receive an accredited qualification from Njala University.

Furthermore, by working to strengthen capacity at local radio stations - including through co-producing radio programmes - the project was able to develop the capacity of journalists in the three districts to produce programming of higher technical quality, and also to build journalists’ understanding of the kind of information that local farmers need."