Digital Green Training for Small Scale Farmers

Digital Green uses social organization and technology to improve the efficiency of extension systems globally

DG Offices

DG Partners

DG Academic Collaborations

WHERE WE WORK

Information Sources for Farmers in India % farm households (n = 51,770) Other progressive farmers Salesmen (e.g., fertilizer, pesticide) Radio Television Newspaper Extension worker Cooperative Buyer Government demonstration Others

0

5

10

15

20

Main source of information about new technology and farm practices over the past 365 days (India: NSSO 2005) 3

Digital Video for Extension

Video provides… – Resource-savings: human, cost, time – Accessibility for non-literate farmers

4

Early Experimentation

Early Experimentation Parameters Varied

Background Backgroundof ofactors actorsin in video, video, Types Types of of content, content, Six and months in field trying various combinations Location of Method of Location andtiming timing ofscreening, screening, Method ofdissemination, dissemination, of Background of etc. Degree ofmediation, mediation, Background ofmediator, mediator, etc. design Over 200Degree days of surveys, ethnographic investigation, and iterative 5

Initiation

Mobilization

Situational Awareness

Training

Production

Topic Identification

Storyboarding

Shooting

Editing

Diffusion

Dissemination

Adoption

Reporting

Digital Green: Early Results 7 times more adoptions over Training & Visit model Mediation

90 80

Social homophily between mediator, actor, and farmer Desire to be “on TV” Trust built from identities of farmers and villages in videos

70 60

Classic GREEN

50

40 30 20

Digital Green

10 0

Apr-07 May-07 Jun-07 Jul-07 Aug-07 Sep-07 Oct-07 Nov-07 Dec-07 Jan-08 Feb-08 Mar-08 Apr-08 May-08 Jun-08 Cumulative

Integration into existing extension operations

Adoption Rate (%)

Repetition (and novelty)

15 months: 13 villages, 3 nights a week, 1,000 regulars

7

Cost-Benefit System

Cost (USD)

Adoption (%)

/Village/Year

/Village/Year

Cost/Adoption (USD)

Training & Visit

$840

11%

$38.18

Digital Green

$630

85%

$3.70

Note: Decreasing amortized cost of hardware with time and scale

digitalGREEN is at least 10 times more effective per dollar spent than a Training & Visiting system 8 8

Initial assessment

$250 $200 $150

$243 incremental increase in farmer income over 8 months

$100 $50

$0 Jun-10 -

Jul-10

Aug-10

Sep-10

Chili Nursery Chili Line System of Rice Bitter Gourd Raising, Beans Sowing, Beans Intensification Pest & Ginger Line Sowing Fertilizer Rot Application Management

Oct-10 _

Nov-10

Dec-10

Potato Line Improved Sowing, Onion Seed Tomato Intercropping

Jan-11 Improved Poultry Rearing

Analytics

analytics.digitalgreen.org

Videos

videos.digitalgreen.org

Digital Green’s next 3.5 years in India National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) Bill Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) • From 2000 villages to 10,000 villages • From 200,000 farmers to 1 million farmers • Increase their production by 20% • Decrease their production costs by 15%

Digital Green work beyond NRLM – Research and learning grant from DFID – Test model in low-income countries – Moving into health and nutrition domains

• Nutrition and agriculture domain based convergence – research-based conferences • Virtual Training Institute – Internal cadre of master trainers on video production and dissemination techniques

• Formative research / RCT design for ongoing programs

Thank you