Farmer-to-farmer videos on ‘Fighting against Striga’ launched

Dr Eva presents the DVDs to a farmer.

ICRISAT West and Central Africa (WCA) launched the ‘Fighting  against Striga’ DVD campaign on 8 June with a ceremony led by Dr Farid  Waliyar, WCA Regional Director. The event was attended by representatives from  Mali’s Ministry of Agriculture, the national research institute – IER, the  Centre National de recherche agronomique (CNRA), farmers’ organizations (APCAM,  CNOP), training institutes (IPR), farmers, media and others partners (e.g. the  Aga Khan Foundation).

The farmer-to-farmer videos aim to train farmers and  strengthen their capacity against Striga and enable them to benefit from  integrated soil fertility management. Striga hermonthica is a major challenge for thousands  of farmers in the Sahel. To overcome this  challenge, ICRISAT and its partners have in the past decades conducted Farmers’  Field Schools and experimentations to explore  a wide range of options and methods for Striga and integrated soil  fertility management (ISSFM). The farmer-to-farmer videos ‘Fighting against Striga’  support these actions to reach more farmers. About 200,000 farmers are targeted  by this communication campaign covering Niger,  Nigeria, Ghana and Mali. A campaign in East Africa will soon follow.

The DVD package contains 10 videos in French, English and national  languages ​​(Bambara, Bomu, Fulani, Hausa, Zerma)  ready for wide distribution. The videos can be used in Farmers’ Field Schools,  by rural radios, farmers’ organizations, training institutes, and mobile  digital cinema, among others. During the launch, participants viewed some of  the videos and provided their feedbacks. Partners congratulated ICRISAT for the  videos and expressed their commitment to help in their successful dissemination  to the target audience.dissemination to the target audience.