Good evening to all,
We have come to the end of today, Friday, November 29, 2019 which marks the end of our discussion on collaboration. During the last 4 weeks we had an interesting and intellectual discourse, a lot has been said and we have learned a lot from each other, the tips to guide us in the improvement of collaboration for richer and improved farmer programs that drive positive change in our communities.
Here are some of the ideas that emerged from this discussion. Please note that these points were drawn from our discussions of weeks 2, 3 and 4, and are not exhaustive. I am sure we will certainly recognize these quotes from the discussion.
On our understanding and experience of collaboration, here is what we said:
- Collaboration means joining hands together to achieve a particular target.
- Collaboration is the process of two or more individuals or organization working together to complete a task or achieve a goal
- Collaboration means working in partnership with other stakeholders be it government departments, farmers organisations or committees and fellow radios or non governmental organisations. These collaborations can be according to the areas of specialization or expertise of the entities joined together
- it means working together in different ways like but with the aim of achieving something good for the targeted people.
- collaboration needs to do with these elements: vision, communication, brainstorming, trust, support, skill, teamwork, discussion, connection, cooperation and planning.
- I take collaboration to be cooperating to do work together to meet one anothers target or goal
- It is a cooperation or an interactive strategy that seeks solutions to the participants’ goals.
- Collaboration means the practice of working together guided by specific principles to achieve a common goal to benefit all participants in a group
- collaboration is having relationships with stakeholders that include extension staff, farmers and Non-governmental organizations. By so doing, each side benefits in one way or the other.
- Collaboration is the act of mutually coming together of individuals, groups, communities, with the sole with the purpose of pulling their efforts or resources togetherto achieve the desired goal
It all comes down to working together as a team or as partners on a particular project to achieve desired results.
On the advantages and challenges of collaboration, this came out:
Benefits
- Through c0ollaboration we have learned how to do farmer program and get the attention of the farmers.
- collaboration with some stakeholders has resulted into referrals for media businesses, the stakeholders end up getting us business in talk shows, spots message which may not necessarily be for farmers.
- trust is built
- working with the extension officers also bring a lot of knowledge in the sector to the table and they also inform their farmers to listen in which increase your audience on the show.
- collaboration breeds credibility. When the right information is given over time, listeners tend to have that belief in the source of the information
- collaboration for agricultural programs alleviates tasks. It is difficult for an extension worker of good will to be able to reach all the farmers in his area to raise awareness and follow them closely.
- Collaboration with stakeholders offers broadcasters the opportunity to play their role better by providing people with relevant and quality information and productions. This advantage is made possible by the availability of resource persons and experts who are well acquainted with current agricultural policies.
Challenges
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Lack of funding or sponsorship
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unavailability of experts,
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Farmers asking for money in exchange for information
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difficulties with transport facilities to meet experts.
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some parties not respecting their commitments.
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communication or language barrier
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collaborating on subjects that the radio station would not like to be associated with because of money
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Promoting products that farmers cannot afford to purchase
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greatest challenges in collaborating with farmers especially rural farmers is making them to understand that the collaboration will benefit them at the long run.
On gender and radio interviews, our exchanges gave the following:
- The kind of collaboration that will ensure that radio programmes address gender issues and include women include engaging those individuals that perfectly understand that gender and social inclusion in all aspects of our development initiatives is the key to our overall social coherence and productivity
- scout and identify stakeholders who are into gender and female /women related issues
- the radio programs targeting women could be presented by women/ girls themselves.
- we need to collaboratively create ways to encourage women to speak up on issues that are affecting them and invite them to share their experiences with regards to farming or any other topic.
- It is worth refreshing our minds on Gender. Gender talks about the roles, tasks, responsibilities, and duties assigned by society to men, women, boys, and girls in a community.
- where I come from there are traditions that bar women from freely expressing them selves in anyway. One will not say a thing unless permission is granted from a husband!
- I think even our cultures regard women as an inferior gender, for example when you prepare chairs during a village meeting, women will prefer seating on ground much as their are many and enough chairs for every one.
- Find out what is important to women and cover it
- Collaboration would hardly be effective if the right tools necessary to address gender issues at the radio are not effectively used by both parties collaborating
A message will be better understood if it is delivered by someone who is convinced to share the same similarities with the communicator. Since the feminine gender is important in the agricultural world especially in developing countries, the message delivered by a woman will seem more relevant and will be better perceived by women. The same message would seem less relevant when delivered by a male broadcaster.
On the sustainability of collaboration, a lot has also been said. Here are some highlights:
- for collaboration to be effective and sustainable, all stakeholders need to live up to their commitments.
- an agricultural program that depends on external financing will stop without delay when funds run out.
- No sustainability without funds
- There are other collaborations which might not require funding but the willingness, commitment and passion of the the parties to collaborate to achieve a set goal is all what is needed but not physical money (if funding as used here is money).
- Funding serves as a motivating factor
- There is no collaboration without use of funds – every activity has a monetary value or need.
- Not all collaborations should come with money but should not be free for ever.
- There are ways to sustain collaboration between stakeholders and broadcasters. The easiest one could be building mutual understanding between two parties and also going further to signing MoUs
- We need each other or one another in collaboration where we each benefit from it as per the agreement. This may not necessarily require money between us in order to benefit from each other or render a service to each other.
- in collaboration you have to benefit from each other or you accept to bare a big price than your collaborator.
You will agree with me that during these four weeks we have been weaving a knowledge network in the light of all the above. Much has been said and we have in this discussion some useful ideas for improving our collaborations and consequently our shows for farmers. In as much as this is supposed to be the last day, the platform is still open. You can of course revisit whenever you are able to in the coming few days and contribute.
Please note that Farm Radio International will send to you all a survey on this e-discussion in the coming days.
I would also like to remind you that only those who have made at least two significant contributions each week, for a total of at least eight (8) contributions during this discussion, will receive certificates from Farm Radio International. If you have not met this requirement, there is a grace period to still catch up.
I would like to appreciate you all for making time to contribute and share ideas. That is how we learn from each other. Special thanks to our resource person Abukari Yakubu @Yakubu as well as Ben Fiafor @bfiafor.
Thanks and see you next time!
