The greatest challenges in collaborating with farmers especially rural farmers is making them to understand that the collaboration will benefit them at the long run. They have this idea that radio Broadcasters working on the radio or producing Farmers friendly contents are always out to use them to achieve their (Broadcasters’) purpose. Again, most farmers hardly give time to such relationship. They give more time to attending to their farm than making out time to engage in such collaboration. This is because in ost cases such collaboration entails farmers leaving their farms and farm works to travel to the radio station or town hall for a meeting. Even when the Broadcasters visit the farmers at their locations, majority won’t give quality time to discuss and contribute to the meetings. many farmers are not willing to share ideas of what they know and do as routine to enable the other parties critically analyze and assist them with their own knowledge. Since collaboration entails sharing knowledge and managing knowledge, when farmers do not share enough, the relationship becomes lopsided and not mutual. The collaboration in that case that is suppose to be synbiotic becomes parasitic. Consertiveness comes in on the side of farmers in most collaborative relationships or engagements. They believe that what they know and do everyday is the best practice. However, there are lots of benefits in collaborative engagements: These include, support as African proverb puts it, “Right hand wash left hand, Left hand wash right hand, the two hands come out clean” "Iron sharpens iron they say. In collaboration we support each other to stand. Farmers who collaborate with Broadcaster bring their knowledge and experience to bear on the farm radio contents to enable the Producers and Farm Broadcasters to produce rich contents that touch the lives of many farmers far and near. Incollaboration, we learn new ways of doing things. we Collaborate, Learn and Adapt (CLA). By learning and adapting, we make what we do easier and lives are improved when we work smarter and better. Collaboration breaks motonony of ideas and enriches ideas. For instance, the traditional of planting cassava in most Africa communities have been improved over the years due to collaboration, learning and adaptations. Even the increase in the value chain of Africa cash and food crops have been tremendously added so much values . These added values are all results of collaborations - learning from others what worked better for them.
Talking of benefits and challenges of collaborating on farmer programs, I think one of the benefits is quality of information diseminated. Good information must be complete. With effective collaboration, all or most of the aspetcs needed to disseminate quality information are there. I mean you have a package with question, respponses from experts and evidence from success stories. The other benefit I see is all stakeholders win.
Let me share an example, we did some programmes on soil fertility management. In these programmes, we had farmers asking questions on the topic concerning soil fertiliy management (say use of anaimal manure) and we had experts (Comprising of Agriculture extension officer, An agriculture reseracher and a famer succesfully practising the technology). The outcome was as a radio station, we had programmes which listners appreciated much (Good quality of information). The listners and farmers who asked question benefited because they got responses from various experts who included fellow farmers. The expert farmers told us they benefited by communicating their succsses to many. The extension officers also said due to the programmes, more farmers started using the promtted technologies. And the researchers said they had a good opportunityto learn new things to explore and also had opportunity to explain what they have discovered. In short we had quality programmes in which all collaborators benefited.
Coming to challenges, I think the issue of money is coming out strong. Many stake holder now want to be paid. Even farmers want to be paid to talk. In the good example I gave above, It was only the broadcaster (Me) who was not paid. Other challenges include stake holders trying to promote their own side and thereby almost making the programme go in a not planned direction. Also the so called red tape (Authority to talk has to be requested through a long chain of authorisers)
I have faced a lot of experiences of effective collaboration between stakeholders and ourselves as broadcasters during farmer programs.
- In collaborating with stakeholders, we have benefited a lot more because we are able to reach out the most remotest areas of the country in gathering information that can be benefiting to the farmers from other areas.
- Working with other institutions with same agenda, makes it easier to gather and share valid information with farmers.
- Farmers tend to trust us because we are not working insolation but with other institutions that believe in our information dissemination.
- The message is well received by farmers since the interaction with them help to lessen the impact of mistrust and increase to improve the quality of life in rural areas.
- Working together with other stakeholders we have instituted, strengthened and sustained programmes aimed at encouraging small-scale farmers to participate high yield production.
I have faced some challenges during collaboration with other stakeholders; of examples
- I face challenge of balance reporting between the main sponsor and what is the ground - if the program is sponsored (what farmers has to say, for example poor quality of the sponsor’s poor quality of their seed varieties).
- It is not easy to produce a good sponsored radio program because the questions should be within the work frame of the sponsor.
- You are told what to say, ask and do. If not, you lose business.
- Farmers tend not to trust you because the radio program production is perceived to be representing more of the sponsor’s interest than theirs.
- Lack of independence, control, creativity and self-esteem of the program
Hi everyone,
I am reading from you all who have posted. Thank you very much for your contributions. However, i would like to ask Busi, other facilitators and you my fellow participants here;
qn 1. Is there any difference between sponsorship and collaboration? If there is, what is the clear cut here?
qn. 2 But this one is related to qn 1 above, when a company or organization approached your radio station to sponsor a program or a brand, is that collaboration? Thank you, i am awaiting your responses.
Hello @smawerere
I am glad you asked that question. It is important that people know the difference between the two: sponsorship and collaboration, if there is any. Right now I am not going to give a direct response but I would like to hear from other participants. That is why in Week 2A we asked for people’s understanding of collaboration.
According to the dictionary, sponsorship is money that is given, usually by a company, to support a person, organization or activity while collaboration is an the act of working with another or others on a joint project. Is there a relationship between sponsorship and collaboration? I believe our understanding of the two concepts will lead us to benefits and challenges.
You gave me a good one. In my understanding, sponsorship is when one is paid to do something. In this, I think there is some kind of being bound. On the other hand, I think collaboration means working something without payment with no bondage. I think though the are similar but they are different. I may give an example of one organisation sponsiring a radio programme but for that programme to be produced, you have to collaborate with farmers, researcher and other who have not paid and are not paid.
Good day in the house,Olusina motiasan is my name from Ejulenen 93.7fm igbodigo,okitipupa,ondo state, Nigeria. I just want to ask this question that if we are trying to get some vital information from farmers which will be useful for our program and they refuse to give it out due the the fact that they demanded and we were unable to meet what can we do?
I experienced this while I want to produce a program script for the topic waste to wealth.Olusina Motiasan from Ejulenen93.7fm igbodigo,okitipupa,ondo state, Nigeria
What is happening here?
Do these sponsor airtime to talk about their powers or they just pay for adverts. You say they collaborate, do radio station have goals to disseminate such information such that the traduitional healers are the radio stations sources of information or what. I am not quite sure what is happening and I doubt if this can be called collaboration. Maybe because the radio stations earn some money, otherwise i do not see a win win situation in kind of collaboration.
Hi @Olusina
I believe you cannot force someone to share information if they do not wish to do so. If I understand you correctly here you want to get farmers talking, sharing information for the benefit of others and also that the quality of your farmer program may improve but unfortunately farmers are asking what’s in it for them, what will they benefit and they demand money. Maybe what is needed is change of approach, know how to talk to the farmers for mutual benefity.
Thank you very much Busi and other facilitators in the house am very grateful.I can now say that another knowledge has been added to me
What has worked for me is the relationship I have built with the farmers and the stakeholders overtime before getting to the stage of asking them questions. They feel safe with someone who is like a friend and a family to them. Humility and empathy is another attribute that works.
There were times the farmers request money before we try to refocus their minds from the money requested but support them with agricultural opportunities that will boost their productivity though it could be challenging some times.
Nkungu, such challenges are almost found every where. My joy above it all is that, you were able to break through the farmers with wisdom to get information thanks to how the elders addressed your case.
In some area, the elders will still buy the side of his people, which is a great challengen for broadcasters to collaborate with these stakeholder at the rural level.
I was waiting to hear more responses from others. It really sent me into thinking and consequently took me to also ask.
What is partnership and how does it differ from collaboration? I have done a bit of research and can say as broadcaster, we need to differentiate Collaboration, Partnership and Sponsorship.
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Collaboration involves cooperation in which parties are not necessarily bound contractually.
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Partnership is a contractual relationship involving close cooperation between two or more parties having specified and joint rights and responsibilities.
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Sponsorship is a cash and/or in-kind fee paid to a property in return for access to the exploitable commercial potential associated with that property
Check more on the links:
https://winybernard.com/partnership-vs-collaboration-which-one-is-for-you/
https://www.ntc.blm.gov/krc/uploads/412/13_MbN_partnership-vs-collaboration.pdf
You and you team has some work to help me. I am about to conclude that in collaboration, parties are not bound to each other and that no payment is involved. Now I see a farmer story with a title suggesting farmer and agric technician collaboration but in the story, technicians are paid.
Hi @MartinMwape
I am hoping our resource people @Yakubu, @bfiafor will give you more information on this. My own understanding is that parties may agree on the terms of collaboration. I am going to make an example: one radio station partnered or collaborated with a cellphone company. The radio station offered this company airtime to advertise their business in exchange for management getting cellphone contracts without paying for the charges. Because this was a community radio station, and was not able to compensate the management for work put in, this was kind of a reward for them. Station management received new cellphones every 2 years while the radio station advertised the cellphone company. Would you not call that collaboration?
Collaboration doesn’t necessarily mean there will no payment involved. It depends on the nature of the partnership. It may be stakeholders getting exposure through radio and farmers benefiting relevant information that will assist them in their farming, no exchange of funds but still the radio station can make money from this collaboration as they will have improved farmer programs that they can sell to potential sponsors or advertisers.
In the Burkina Faso story you shared, I can only speculate that the amount paid to the technician is probably helping in buying the pesticides and not necessarily paying for the service rendered. Even if they were using the pesticides themselves, they were still going to buy.
Thank you MartinMwape for the clarification. Sorry but i am wondering if both collaboration and sponsorship parties are not bound. That binding is only in sponsorship and collaboration no binding kind of arrangement? May be both collaboration and sponsorship need binding since they both need a service from each other.
@MartinMwape: Collaboration will work best if parties involved have a guiding document spelling out what is expected of each party during the collaboration. Hence contractual bound (not legal one) would make the collaboration more effective as no party ambush the other during execution.
As rightly pointed out collaboration could exist with/without money been exchanged. As an agricultural officer our department I would term collaborated and partnered with several FM stations to extend improved agronomic practices to smallholder producers through the station allowing air time (1hour) twice a week and the department providing the technical service or expertise by sending officers to the station.
There was no money exchanged and no documents signed but parties honored what was agreed upon.
The benefit in the collaboration was: the station achieving its corporate social responsibility and the department of agriculture also achieving its main objective of reaching out to high farmers population through radio. As the department had low number of extension agents to reach most farmers but the radio program through the FM made it possible.
Additionally, the department through the collaboration was able to channel and use funds on other relevant activities such as establishing farmer demonstrations.
The department also had other collaboration and partnerships with radio stations by an institution such as Farm Radio International bringing the radio stations and technical staff from the department of agriculture to host and produce programs relevant to smallholder producers’ productivity improvement in Northern and Upper East Regions of Ghana.
In those instances, Farm radio facilitated the linkages, built our capacities and provided some T&T for the staff of the department of agriculture who came to the studio. So you see money was exchanged and all collaborating institutions achieving collective but individual objectives.
Hello everyone
The second topic this week was about benefits and challenges of collaboration. When working with people you might benefit and also experience some challenges as well.
It is suggested that broadcasters should request collaboration from the heads of communities or institutions. When the agreement is from the top, with both parties understanding the goals of the request, it becomes easier to work with people on the ground. It is all about letting all stakeholders understand that collaboration targets mutual benefits.
Again I will share just one post on benefits:
When both parties keep their side of the bargain, collaboration becomes beneficial. Challenges arise when one partner does not keep up on agreement.
As quoted above, it should be clear from the onset if the collaboration has any monetary benefit. I like what @retlinks said:
Collaborating partners should find ways of dealing with the challenges and find ways of maximizing benefits.
Have a lovely weekend!