A number of youths have failed to secure formal employment and hence resorted to small scale farming. However, they are yet to break through the market ceiling due to lack of information on various platforms available to market their produce. Therefore, this project will be a blessing in time to the young farmers. Being knowledgeable on the social channels they can exploit in increasing their agricultural productivity will reduce household poverty levels. Currently, rural poverty stands at 47 per cent.We will meet them in the villages.
Topical focus:
Country:
What locality or neighborhood will your project focus on?
Nakuru
Describe the specific population with whom you will be working.
There are 57,429 persons in Njoro ward, 27,047 in Mosop ward, 30,965 in Bahati ward and 8,956 in Kapkures ward. In each of these four electoral units, 40 young farmers will be trained on the use of the citizen media specifically Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. This is in consideration of the young farmers’ affordability of the mobile phones which can support the applications.
Mobile phones are more common than computers and the young farmers are likely to use them more often than visit cybercafés or Information and Communication Centres to seek and share the marketing information.
The 160 trained will be champions of change.They will share the information with others through either their general social networks or farmers’ exchange programmes undertaken on the individual or group level.
Who else will be on your team to help implement the project?
Jonathan Kimuge, a seasoned consultant in farming and environmental issues. He has also been involved in several farming communities’ activities which have resulted to decline in household poverty levels.
Facebook: Jonathan Kimuge
https://www.facebook.com/#!/jonathan.kimuge?fref=ts
Twitter:@infoscep
https://twitter.com/infoscep
What kinds of news, stories and other content will be created?
Showcasing the success stories of the farmers who have changed their socio-economic status through increased production as a result of simultaneous creation of the chain market will boost agricultural production in the county of Nakuru.
This way the county leadership will support this initiative because it is in line with the five year plans as spelt out in the County Development Integrated Plan. seek to prioritize creation and expansion of the value addition cottage industries in the villages. Further, more farming communities will adopt the system, therefore promoting agricultural trading commodity exchange doing away with middlemen who manipulate them.
What technologies and digital tools do you plan to use in the trainings?
Describe the connections that you or your organization have already established or plan to establish that will contribute to the success of the project.
In our daily interactions, we associate with various farm groupings and this provides us with the ground framework upon which we will reach out to the farmers.
By 2015, the county government of Nakuru intends to establish the ward Information and Communication Centers in which an average of 15,000 persons are anticipated to utilize the available resources to access information.
How many participants do you think will be trained in your project?
160 young farmers (males & females) in four electoral units within Nakuru County as champions of change in Information and Technology Communication to advance value chain in agri-based economy.
We will ensure we provide them with meals and adequate training materials as well as hold the trainings in convenient locations.
Describe which technologies, tools, and media you will focus on when training participants.
PowerPoint slideshows,
Mobile phones
Projector to illustrate how they can use Twitter, YouTube and Facebook to market their products
Describe the facilities where you will hold the workshops.
Community resource centers such as the social halls with chairs and electricity connected. The centers are closer to the farmers and can accommodate the minimum of 40 persons.
Hired schools and churches which are furnished with chairs and writing walls as well as connected to electricity. They also have adequate lighting and ventilation.
They can accomodate more than 100 persons.Each young farmer attending is expected to have his or her own mobile phone.We will be using three laptops and three modems.
What is your current relationship with the community with whom you plan to work? What makes you the most appropriate individual or organization to implement this project?
We have had consultative relationship with the farmers along agricultural value chain managements in Nakuru County and the biggest gap has been technology transfer. This is where we come in to train them on the use of the social media to adverse their marketing, knowledge and skills hence improving their income levels and in the long term address food security in the country at large.
What specific challenges do you expect to face when planning and implementing your project?
We anticipate an overwhelming response from the young farmers yearning to learn how to use the social media to advance their agricultural activities and increase visibility but the resources will be inadequate to meet the demand.
Weather changes. Changes in the climatic patterns resulting to hailstorms and thunderstorms will most likely interfere with our work schedule as we will be forced to postpone our meetings.
How will you measure and evaluate the project’s impact, specifically: your primary participants, the wider regional community, or the global digital community?
Monitoring and impact evaluation is important to continually evaluate the Project in order to learn lessons of success and failure. It is likewise important to communicate project learnings and experiences to the government, funding agencies and stakeholders. An information and communication component will give the Project visibility and advocacy activities will give the Project the needed public visibility that would hasten replicability as well as attract potential donors for subsequent project expansion. Increased number of young farmers will be using the social media positively in agricultural marketing purposes.
In the long run, their livelihoods will have changed as the household poverty levels will continue to decline.
If your project were to be selected as a Rising Voices grantee, what would be the general timeline of project activities in 2014?
May to October
May 1st-31st: Planning and mobilisation
June 1st-30th: Training
July 1st-August 31st: Champions(young farmers) to undertake the social media engagements
September 1st-30th: Project evaluation and exit strategy
Detail a specific budget of up to $2,500 USD for operating costs.
PROVISIONAAL BUDGET IN KENYA SHILLINGS
Administration units unit cost Total
in dolars in dollars
a). stationeries 1 42.2 42.2
b.) local travels 4 72.25 289
c.)Training resources 180 2 356
d).Brochures 160 0.22 34.7
e). Hall hire/ 4 45.2 180.8
f). food/beverages 180 4.04 728.2
g).PA systems/flip charts 27.05 108.2
h).Transport reimbursement 160 4.3 688
i) Internet/communication 3 34.7 34.7
j) Airtime 3 11.6 34.7
GRAND TOTAL 2496.5
Besides the microgrant funding, what other support can Rising Voices provide for your project to ensure its success?
Linkages and networking with other developments partners championing for change through the social media. To improve the quality of life of the potential beneficiaries, the Project will integrate the e-Knowledge content and training into the various community capacity-building programs. The latter can derive support from bridge finance offerings/models, e-market-linkage facilities, and functional support from knowledge subject-matter experts (VoIP-video conferencing). These components can be digitally embedded and delivered through the same broadband access and Community e-Center facilities. These concerns should be considered in establishing content modules.
Contact name
Moraa Obiria