Since Tuesday 14th April 2009, participants from nine South Pacific countries namely; Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu have been engaged in a 2-week CTA training course hosted by the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) at the Novotel Hotel in Nadi, Fiji. The course was formally opened by Dr. Richard Bayer, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Primary Industries.
The general objective of this course is to improve the practical communication skills of agricultural extension agents as well as enhance their ability to write and produce extension materials for field staff and farmers. The course is intended to enable participants to identify sources of agricultural information and acquire skills to develop materials in formats appropriate to the farmer populations they serve.
One intensive week of activities has gone by in which the participants were exposed to the principles and practices among which were :- efficient and effective agricultural extension, characterisation of agricultural audiences, planning to write extension materials, editing styles, briefing artists, illustration and photography; quality of good illustrations, Cultural relevance of illustrations, budgeting and production costs of agricultural extension materials.
During the week, the participants had the opportunity to meet previously selected farmer groups to do a diagnostic survey of their agricultural information needs. The training group members were treated to the rich tradition and cutural protocols of rural Fijian society. The meeting began and ended with long-drawn kava drinking ceremonies. Very interesting dialogues were initiated between participants and the villagers working in four groups. At the end of the half day of interaction, the participants came away with a list of information needs duly prioritised by the farmers themselves. We were then treated to local fruits and foods in a typical demonstration of traditional hospitality.
Based on the information needs identified and prioritised, participants formulated the titles of extension materials and began researching for the content to go into the materials. After a busy period of search involving reference materials from CTA, SPC, the Fijian Ministry of Agriculture and Internet sources, the draft content was developed. The farmers themselves, in some cases, had expressed their preference for the format in which the information was to be produced and presented to them. During a busy weekend half-consumed by work, the rudiments of the materials were being developed.
Today, they have been laid out using MS Publisher and Adobe PageMaker software applications with appropriate illustrations and photographs with the support of graphic artists and desk top publishing specialists from SPC some of whom are also participants on the course. Participants began to be excited as they saw their content appear in the form of agricultural extension materials - brochures and leaflets - that farmers can rely on as sources of agricultural information to support their farming practices.
The group will return to the farmers in the village on Wednesday April 22 to present the draft materials and solicit feedback from the farmers in order to validate and finalise the materials for use.
The general objective of this course is to improve the practical communication skills of agricultural extension agents as well as enhance their ability to write and produce extension materials for field staff and farmers. The course is intended to enable participants to identify sources of agricultural information and acquire skills to develop materials in formats appropriate to the farmer populations they serve.
One intensive week of activities has gone by in which the participants were exposed to the principles and practices among which were :- efficient and effective agricultural extension, characterisation of agricultural audiences, planning to write extension materials, editing styles, briefing artists, illustration and photography; quality of good illustrations, Cultural relevance of illustrations, budgeting and production costs of agricultural extension materials.
During the week, the participants had the opportunity to meet previously selected farmer groups to do a diagnostic survey of their agricultural information needs. The training group members were treated to the rich tradition and cutural protocols of rural Fijian society. The meeting began and ended with long-drawn kava drinking ceremonies. Very interesting dialogues were initiated between participants and the villagers working in four groups. At the end of the half day of interaction, the participants came away with a list of information needs duly prioritised by the farmers themselves. We were then treated to local fruits and foods in a typical demonstration of traditional hospitality.
Based on the information needs identified and prioritised, participants formulated the titles of extension materials and began researching for the content to go into the materials. After a busy period of search involving reference materials from CTA, SPC, the Fijian Ministry of Agriculture and Internet sources, the draft content was developed. The farmers themselves, in some cases, had expressed their preference for the format in which the information was to be produced and presented to them. During a busy weekend half-consumed by work, the rudiments of the materials were being developed.
Today, they have been laid out using MS Publisher and Adobe PageMaker software applications with appropriate illustrations and photographs with the support of graphic artists and desk top publishing specialists from SPC some of whom are also participants on the course. Participants began to be excited as they saw their content appear in the form of agricultural extension materials - brochures and leaflets - that farmers can rely on as sources of agricultural information to support their farming practices.
The group will return to the farmers in the village on Wednesday April 22 to present the draft materials and solicit feedback from the farmers in order to validate and finalise the materials for use.
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