Building Farmer Capacity Amid COVID-19 & Lockdown

Delhi, India, 2021-Jun-01 — /EPR Network/ — 58%  of India’s population depends on Agriculture as the primary source of  livelihood. However, it contributes to only about 18% of the country’s  GDP. While food grains, milk, pulses, sugarcane, cotton, fruits and  vegetables and several other crops’ production has been increasing year  on year, the agricultural yield i.e., the crop produced per unit of  land, remains low. This underscores the importance of building farmer  capacity in rural India, especially in small farm holdings. The raging  pandemic and the lockdown announced exactly one year back, however,  warranted the need to look at building farmer capacity through novel  means while also laying primary emphasis on the farmer’s health. Here is  how ACF’s teams in 3 regions are working against the odds to enable  farmers and build capacity in the face of the pandemic.

ACF  works with over 40000 farmers In Kodinar, with the major crops grown  being Cotton and Groundnut along with Wheat and Barley. Until before the  pandemic, ACF’s field facilitators would be out in the villages and  farms all day, building and deepening relationships with farmers all the  while also educating them and addressing issues. The sudden  announcement of lockdown caught the team unprepared, and they hurriedly  scrambled to address the situation. It was harvest season, a crucial  time for farmers.

In  the first 15 days of the lockdown itself, the team realised that the  situation may be a long drawn one and immediately established virtual  channels of communication with the farmers. The field facilitators,  working with 500 farmers each, were asked to form WhatsApp groups of the  farmers they collaborated with. While every Farmer did not have  WhatsApp and in some cases, even a smartphone, the lockdown meant that  families were together the entire day. Consequently, the Field  Facilitators were able to map other members in the farmers’ families who  could engage through WhatsApp in case the farmer himself did not have  the application. As a result of this exercise, over 60% of the farmers  were able to receive messaging from ACF’s end. For the rest, a calling  framework with clear progress tracking was effectuated to regularly  enquire of their wellbeing and build capacities through the medium. In  addition, QR codes were highlighted in the villages for farmers to  access relevant information.

In  the context of information sharing itself, COVID-19 awareness was  prioritised to enable the farmers to continue with their farm activities  while safeguarding their health. Video and audio messages were created  and shared regularly by the ACF team in association with KVK, to ensure  that safety protocols are followed. The ACF team also initiated capacity  building for the farmers by sending across well scripted, bite sized  video clips. The timing of the clips was aligned with the harvesting  season of each crop grown in the region. The initiatives were very well  received as was evidenced in a study done with farmers. ACF is now using  these learnings to further the use of technology for capacity learning  as it reduces overall costs and allows the team to reach maximum  farmers.

ACF  works with over 14000 farmers in this region of Rajasthan; most of them  involved in Cotton production. The biggest apprehension among farmers  with the onset of the lockdown was whether seeds and other inputs would  be available. However, by working closely with co-operative societies  and distributors, this fear was allayed by the ACF team. For capacity  building, direct calls were made to each of the farmers working with  ACF. In addition, farmer groups were created on WhatsApp where training  material was disseminated in a fixed schedule. QR codes and voice calls  were also used extensively. The frontline field staff being from the  target villages itself, allowed the team to connect personally with the  farmers despite the lockdown. During the Lockdown, the main areas of  work involved INM (Integrated Nutrition Management) and IPM (Integrated  Pest Management). The initiatives were moved to a virtual medium through  mediums like Google Meet. Short video clips were also created to enable  the farmers deal with various issues including dealing with the Locust  attacks that occurred during the lockdown. For mass awareness around  INM, IPM and COVID-19, narrative wall paintings were employed. Moreover,  animated videos were also shared around these areas through WhatsApp  and the local cable operators.

Paddy  grown through the SRI technique (System of Rice Intensification) was a  standing crop when the lockdown was announced in March. While the team  was just about dealing with the effects of the lockdown another disaster  struck in the form of Cyclone Amphan. The ‘double vengeance’ resulted  in many farmers being severely affected during the period. In addition,  fruit and vegetable farmers were also significantly impacted as the  scaffoldings received extensive damage. Moreover, because of the  lockdown, buyers were few, depressing the prices of the crops. In  addition, Labourers were few to harvest the paddy and inputs such as  fertilisers were not easily available.

To  combat the situation, WhatsApp groups and one to one calling was  promptly initiated with the farmers. That being said, many farmers in  the region did not have smart phones and one to one calling coupled with  group calls was the primary method employed to reach out to the  farmers. Just prior to the lockdown, ACF had enabled the creation of 28  farmers clubs. It is through these farmer clubs’ points of contact that  information was primarily disseminated, including awareness around  Cyclone Amphan and COVID-19. The Points of Contact in these farmer clubs  would then further disseminate the information in their own regions.

It  was also during this time that new interventions such as Aquaculture  through BIO Floc and IPM and INM had been introduced. With the pandemic  and cyclone threatening to play havoc to these capacity building  priorities, ACF tied up with centres like Krishi Vigyan Kendras and  agricultural universities in the region to offer online classes to the  farmers.

As  one can surmise, the impact of COVID-19 and the subsequent lockdown has  been diverse across regions. As such building farmer capacity in the  current scenario requires a deep contextual understanding of the region,  its farmers, and the challenges they face.

ACF’s  experience on the ground allows it to efficiently work with farmers and  build capacity. To know more about its capacity building programs,  write to jagdamba.tripathi.ext@ambujacement.com