OVERVIEW

The non-governmental organization Digital Green conducted a one-year pilot project within the context of Afghanistan to refine the approach to agricultural extension that it had developed and successfully implemented in India and Ethiopia. Specifically, Digital Green engaged over 5,000 smallholder farmers across two provinces (Kabul , Nangrahar) in the development and dissemination of locally-produced videos on improved agronomic practices. The project, which augmented existing extension services, was designed to increase the participants’ knowledge of relevant value chains and the importance of adopting improved agronomic practices. The ultimate goal was to increase agricultural productivity.

Digital Green introduced and institutionalized its participatory video approach within the extension system of Afghanistan's Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock (MAIL), Provincial Departments of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock (DAILs), and other partners, including USAID partners in Afghan agricultural development.

As new videos were approved, Digital Green curated them on YouTube and Digital Green's website. By the project's end, all approved videos in Dari and Pashto were available at: www.digitalgreen.org/discover/CHAMP/Kabul/Dari/DIAAEA_Dari/ and www.digitalgreen.org/discover/CHAMP/Kabul/Pashto/DIAAEA_Pashto/

ACTIVITIES

• Trained extension workers from MAIL/DAIL and partner organizations to work with communities to create videos by farmers, of farmers, and for farmers
• The videos were filmed using pocket video cameras and then distributed on memory cards for playback on battery-operated mobile projectors in each village.
• Small groups of 25-30 farmers participated in regular screenings of the videos; screenings were facilitated by people from the community in an interactive, reflective forum.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• The project trained 200 individuals working in Afghanistan's public-private extension system as video producers, video disseminators, video editors, or data entry operators to support the delivery of Digital Green's ICT-enabled approach. Among these, 158 extension agents and lead farmers (60 female, 98 male) were trained as video disseminators who, following their training, facilitated1,588 screenings of 26 locally-produced videos using battery-operated mobile projectors, reaching 5,073 farmers across 354 farmer groups in 269 villages. Of these farmers, 2,258, or 44.5%, were women.
• 27 videos produced and approved by the Technical Committee in MAIL
• Eleven MAIL staff, five members of the National Horticulture and Livestock Project (NHLP), one staff member of the USAID-funded Commercial Horticulture Agriculture Marketing Program(CHAMP) , and one local Digital Green staff member attended a training-of-trainers in Digital Green's approach