Farmers' organisations and systems of social communication
by Bernard Njonga , General Secretary of SAILD

Using a full raft of questions and real-life anecdotes, Bernard Njonga described a range of various types of federations of farmers' organisations and examined the extent to which the type of structure influenced the organisation's communications. He then analysed the basis of social communication and covered the topic of how FFOs can successfully organise their internal ICM.

Communication being ubiquitous in such organisations, it was difficult to isolate the element on which social communication was really based. He opined that the following elements determined the type of communication: the group's culture; the nature of relationships between members; the individual and collective interests of members; the clarity of the group's objectives and of the options taken by the membership; and the profile of each individual member or member group (age, sex, experience, beliefs, values, education and attitudes and other key references).

In conclusion, Bernard Njonga put forward a number of conditions which FFOs could follow for successfully organising their ICM: take into account the characteristics of member individuals and groups; help members as far as possible to have the same attitudes towards the role of information and communication; fully understand the complex environments in which member organisations and their influence on members and member groups; and seek to ensure the widest possible participation of the greatest possible number of members.

The role of support bodies and donors in the ICM strategies of FFOs and networks of farmers' organisations
by Mukute Mutizwa of PELUM Zimbabwe

Current relations between FFOs and various support bodies are being held against a background of difficult circumstances, characterised by the shrinking role of the State in rural development, by the under-development of African agriculture and by globalisation. Mukute Mutizwa gave a review of the range of support agencies operating in the sphere of agricultural and rural development: donor agencies, NGOs, education and research institutions, the media and Government. He analysed at length the role of each type of organisation, as well as the motivation and values which underlie their policies.

It is in order to get heard and obtain proper recognition that farmers' organisations need the support of donors, NGOs, other farmers' organisations and the research community. However, cautioned Mukute Mutizwa, in looking for external support, farmers would do well to recall and retain their identity and goals. In the final analysis, it is the duty of farmers to state clearly who they are and what they want to become before getting into policy formulation and seeking support.

The use and ownership of ITCs by FFOs
by Gilles Mersadier of Inter-Réseaux France

In his review of the definition of ITCs and their applications in Africa, Gilles Mersadier have a number of examples of ICM for FFOs and their membership. He then went on to suggest a number of elements which could be useful in the integration of ITCs within FFOs.

There is a variety of information and communication systems which can be, and are, used by farmers and their organisations. Current experiments in this field include the combination of various media (as in the case of a farmers' network in Uganda) and a focus on a specific technology such as linking mobile phones to the Internet (as in Uganda and in Senegal).

For the most common type of farmers' organisations, Gilles Mersadier suggested that there is room for rationalising the use of ICTs in information processing and transmission. At the level of the offices of a federation of farmers' organisations, the tasks of Internet-based research and monitoring of information trends, production of CD-ROMs, and electronic messaging (email and forums) have a role to play. At the provincial level, appropriate tasks can include the collection of information and data, its entry and storage on computer, passing on this information to the media and local partners, as well as providing, where possible, access to and training in ITCs for local organisations.

In his conclusion, Gilles Mersadier encouraged FFOs to invest in and implement information and communication systems which include ITCs and the Internet, bearing in mind that these technologies are merely tools to help improve and consolidate existing information and knowledge.

Access to strategic information for strengthening farmers' capacities in the development process
By Dr Fadel N'diamé of FRAO-WARF Senegal

Referring to previous presentations, and in particular that of Marie-Rose Mercoiret on Day 1, Fadel N'diamé recalled that the last two decades of rural development in Africa had seen the landscape be changed by the decentralisation of State responsibilities, trends in the nature of international development cooperation, and the privatisation of services. This scenario of change had given rise to challenges in terms of natural resource management, the definition of policies and strategies for rural development, control over markets and sectors and the issue of partnership.

Strategic information, he concluded, is of relevance when it can assist African farmers' organisations to correctly interpret the dynamics mentioned above, to analyse challenges and key issues and to position themselves in the new arena of development. In this, they had to adopt the following strategic goals: adopting a visible political presence, positioning their organisation and defining their communication strategies, control over their relationships with other organisations ('know the other and act accordingly') and empowering their organisation (in its contractual relationships and in democratising information.)

In the discussion following this presentation, some participants expressed their concern about the perverse effects of globalisation: it puts African farmers and African agriculture at the same level as farmers in developed countries as far as access to strategic is concerned, whereas they do not have the same starting point.

Following the framework presentations to the seminar, and those describing the experiences of farmers' organisations and support agencies in improving their information and communication strategies, the afternoon of the second day was spent in working groups. This enabled participants to pursue their exchanges of experience in more depth.
Four working groups were established, all examining the same theme: “Current internal ICM practices in federations of farmers' organisations: constraints and successes”.
After their deliberations, the working groups reported back to a plenary session, with the following major findings:

Current internal ICM practices in federations of farmers' organisations:
The experiences shared by participants were listed and categorised in four main areas:

Constraints to practices

• Information retention (retention of information), mainly by leaders of federations of farmers' organisations
• Conflicts of interest within federations of farmers' organisations
• Problems of language and literacy which hinder access to certain media
• Inadequate materials, human resources and teaching facilities in federations of farmers' organisations and in their member organisations
• Difficulties of newspapers and magazines achieving financial viability
• Continuing problems of access to ITCs
• Relative lack of independence of government of support agencies

Some successes
A successful application of ICTs:

• When at sea, fishermen in Senegal use WAP technology to communicate and exchange key information, mainly about fish prices and catches

A successful magazine in a federation of farmers' organisations

• The Kenya National Farmers' Union has continued to publish a regular magazine for its members, using its own resources, after support agencies had stopped their funding and after unsuccessful attempts at generating revenue from advertising.
• Nonetheless, despite its success, the magazine still has to resolve certain questions:
  • Should it be sold or distributed free of charge to members?
  • How can it achieve and maintain complete self-financing?
  • Should it be a simple magazine, or a more complex one?
  • What are the best means of distribution

Preparatory study
The discussions on the experiences of federations of farmers' organisations (FFOs) in improving their own communication strategies and on the experiences of support organisations in that process were started by a presentation of the findings of the study "ICM practices at the level of umbrella farmers' organisations" by its author, René SEGBENOU.

The study had been organised in two main parts. Firstly, there had been a review of recent studies undertaken by the CTA on the communication strategies of farmers' organisations in West Africa. Secondly, two country studies were conducted in Cameroon and Tanzania to analyse current practice in the management of information and communication - also known as ICM - in several farmers' organisations. This analysis, together with the detailed findings of the study, were used to define the goals and themes of this present seminar.

The experience of FENOP
The National Federation of Farmers' Organisations of Burkina (Fédération Nationale des Organisations Paysannes du Burkina - FENOP) was founded in 1996 following the process of withdrawal of the State which had been common throughout Africa during the 1980's.

The major focus of the presentation by FENOP's representative, Paul OUEDRAOGO, was on the communication issues and initiatives at play within the Federation. Among this highly instructive set of experiences, he highlighted the sequence of events which had been triggered by a massive decrease in agricultural production in the 1996/97 season, itself a result of an attack by parasites which available pesticides had been unable to prevent. The cotton company, SOFITEX, accused farmers of not having applied the pesticides properly, while the farmers refuted the quality of the pesticides. Anticipating very heavy losses (50% of production), the farmers' organisations entered into negotiations with SOFITEX to lower the level of loans made for the season. SOFITEX, however, was intransigent and FENOP went public, mobilising the national printed and spoken media, organising collective study sessions within the organisation and calling - successfully - on members of the National Assembly to raise the issue. The Assembly questioned the Minister of Agriculture and the Director of SOFITEX, and finally a compromise was reached to lower the levels of loans for the inputs in question.

The experience of MVIWATA
MVIWATA is a national organisation in Tanzania operating through networks of grassroots farmer groups. At present it comprises 75 networks bringing together 20,000 men and women farmers and 3,000 individual members. The network structure has been instrumental in ensuring good communication within the organisation and with external partners. In their presentation, two leaders of MVIWATA and a training officer Mr Shekilango spoke of their experience in the use of information and communication to facilitate the participation of farmers in drawing up policies for rural credit.

This came about at a time when farmers were starting to get together to set up their own lending banks and the government established a working group to lay down a policy for micro-credit institutions in rural areas. The farmers had not been invited to participate in this working group.

In response, MVIWATA organised a series of seminars on credit which concluded that one solution to the problem of access to rural credit was for farmers themselves to set up and run their own savings and credit banks, at the local level.

Organising these seminars, which had brought together grassroots groups, local savings and credit networks, many support organisations and financial institutions, led to MVIWATA being accepted by governmental bodies as an essential stakeholder in defining rural credit policies. Now MVIWATA plans to present the recommendations and resolutions of their seminar programme to members of the Tanzanian parliament, with a view to getting their support for this case.

The experience of INADES
INADES-Formation was set up in 1962 and operates on a continental level, with a network of national associations based in ten African countries: Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroun, Chad, Congo (RDC), Côte d'Ivoire, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Togo.

In his presentation, the Secretary-General of INADES, Ibrahim Ouedraogo, drew attention to three original experiences in which the organisation had been involved:

1. The Castor network in Côte d'Ivoire brings together about thirty farmers' organisations in different agricultural sectors. The goal of the network is to exchange local market information in real time with distribution by electronic mail, and in some cases by trucking companies or telephone.
2. The transformation of rural radio stations and magazines into platforms for expression by federations of farmers' organisations. With the emergence of large number of such rural media, INADES Formation has set up a network structure with other stakeholders. It embraces five networks of rural radios and magazines, operating in Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Côte d'Ivoire and Guinea.
3. The ARCOPAD network which as the 'Réseau Africain de Recherche en Communication Participative pour le Développement' is the African Network for Research on Participatory Communication for Development. It aims at the empowerment of women and young girls, organising them in development projects and maximising synergies between their farmers' organisations and NGOs providing support.

Mr Ouedraogo concluded his remarks with some lessons that can be drawn from the support provided by INADES Formation, in particular the need for support in ICM to take into account:

• language questions
• support to literacy education
• strengthening the capacities of farmers in analysis and research
• development of rural radio programmes and the use of information and communication technologies
• the need to support farmers' organisations in making priorities and selecting major targets.

The experience of the PGPA project
PGPA is the project for the Promotion of Agricultural Producers' Groups (Promotion des Groupements de Producteurs Agricoles - PGPA). It operates in the Centre province of Cameroon, and involves a federation, seven unions and three associations. As well as providing support to economic activities, it aims strengthen the technical management and methodological skills of farmers' organisations.

In his presentation, Prosper Ngoma of the PGPA project described the various means of communication used to disseminate information within farmers' organisations, such as:

• study visits and exchanges
• training sessions and study workshops
• training for farmers' organisations by other farmers' organisations through using school-worksites
• technical leaflets
• feedback workshops.

• the programmes of support which the CTA had provided over the last five years to farmers' organisations and other groups of agricultural and livestock producers in order to empower them in taking the train referred to above;
• the provision in the Centre's Strategic Plan, which is currently being considered for approval in its supervisory bodies, for the continuation and even strengthening of such support over the next five years. This support is intended to provide Federations of Farmers' Organisations with the necessary instruments to fully play their role as stakeholders in the agricultural and rural development of the ACP States.

• converging objectives and priorities
• serious difficulties in the implementation of these priorities
• reduced room for manoeuvre
• unfair competition from the subsidised agriculture of developed countries
• a low capacity for investment
• constraints in changing priorities

The effects of the agricultural policies arising from the economic reforms of Agricultural Structural Adjustment Programmes (ASAP) enjoyed very low appreciation from the point of view of the vast bulk of producers, she said. The withdrawal of the State, however, had seen a transfer of responsibilities towards farmers' organisations. This had had strengthened their autonomy, and had led to the birth of a farmers' movement.

In her conclusion, Ms Mercoiret pointed to the growing influence of farmers' organisations in drawing up agricultural policies, having been limited for a long period. She noted, nonetheless, that varying degrees to which their contributions were taken into account in various countries and sectors. It was remarkable, she ended, how African farmers' organisations had taken up their position as full stakeholders in agricultural and rural development over a very short space of time, and how this was increasingly recognised.