1. Introduction and objectives of the workshop

Transcription

1 Workshop report on Developing agriculture network at the provincial and district level in Oudomxay, Phongsaly, Bokeo and Luang Namtha Provinces Held in Oudomxay Province June 26-27, 2007 Produced by the National Information Center For Extension (NICE), National Agriculture and Forestry Extension Service and Research Information Management Center (RIMaC), National Agriculture and Forestry Research Institute

2 1. Introduction and objectives of the workshop 1.1 Overview of workshop NAFRI and NAFES have established the working group on Agriculture Information Management (AIM) to improve dissemination and communication processes to the local level. A key element of this collaboration is to develop a network of information providers at different levels (provincial, district and kum ban) so as to improve the flow of information to field based extension staff and to farmers. This workshop was held to introduce the concept of the AIM working group to provincial and district stakeholder as well as begin to develop a better understanding how we can improve information and communication processes at the provincial and district level. The meeting brought together more than 75 participants from four different provinces -- Oudomxay, Luang Namtha, Bokeo and Phongsaly(see Annex 1 for list of participants). Participants included provincial and district staff, project staff as well as the Oudomxay Provincial Department of Culture and Information. This report provides a short overview of the key issues that arose from the workshop as well as a number of annexes from the outputs of the workshop. 1.2 Workshop objectives The purpose of this workshop was to introduce the concept for establishing effective information and communication linkages to the provincial and district levels as well as introduce the overall focus of AIM to provincial and district staff. The objectives of the workshop were to: Introduce the concept and overall focus of AIM activities Introduce how to use the sourcebook and wisdom bag, provided initial feedback, and developed action plan to use back in their work Share experiences, information and materials between provinces and districts Identify overall roles and responsibilities district and provincial information focal points and develop an action plan based for each province 2. Presentations on overall AIM purpose and roles and responsibilities of district staff Two presentations were made to introduce the overall purpose of AIM and also to explain the roles and responsibilities of staff at different levels. Mr. Khamphay Manivong presented an overview of AIM working group and a vision for how a network of staff can be developed. AIM is a partnership between the National Information Center for Extension (NAFES) and the Information Management Division of NAFRI. In such a rapidly changing environment such as Laos, information is increasingly important to farmers and extension agents. Farmers need up-to-date and accurate information on new agriculture techniques, market information and factors affecting their harvests (pests, disease, weather, etc). Extension agents are increasingly be requested for a range of information but they have little available to them. AIM was established to deal with these challenges. It was reiterated that AIM will not only work at the central level, but also at the district and provincial level. It is the vision of AIM to create a network of information/knowledge management specialists at all levels to improve the follow of information and communication. 1

3 The second presentation by Mr. Somxay Sisanoh focused on the information and communication roles and responsibilities of provincial and district staff. There are three purposes and seven measures in terms of their mandate and role 1. In the new organizational set up, three levels of technical service centers have been identified: provincial, district, and village development cluster (Kum Ban Pattana). Their roles and responsibilities are compared below: Roles and responsibilities of technical centers at different levels Province District Kum Ban Build capacity for the District Technical Centres, Study, collect, summarise and manage information and needs, which are related to the agriculture and forestry technical extension in districts and village clusters in the province. Expand and carry out demonstration of research results Produce and provide production inputs such as varieties of rice, crops, animal, fish, tree, fertiliser, pesticide, vaccine, machinery, guidelines and extension materials to the production entities within the province. Coordinate with other technical divisions in the Provincial Agriculture and Forestry Office and other external agencies in order to seek out credit, production inputs, investment, markets and information that are relevant to the local production in the province Encourage and set up villager learning groups and different production groups based on the conditions and needs of the villagers Promote and disseminate technology and production techniques, provide training and guide the villagers in the production, organise knowledge sharing activities between villagers and production groups Collect information on the production condition, summarise and provide information to the upper agencies and to the villagers in the kumban and the neighbouring villages. Provide production inputs such as varieties of rice, crops, animal, fish, tree, fertilizer, pesticide, vaccine, technical tools and machinery as well as technical guidance on utilising those inputs Cooperate with villagers in providing technical services such as on-site technical training, establishment of demonstration plot to expand results of researches, learning and good practices, creating a coordination mechanism with the model families, production groups, private agro-businesses or entrepreneurs Spread out technology and production techniques, training and experience sharing between farmers Carry out production and provide production inputs such as varieties of crops, animals, trees, fertilisers, pesticides, vaccines, funds and credit, technical tools, machinery, technical guidance and instruction of the production input utilisation Provide information on issues and needs of producers and entrepreneurs, production situation and changing trends Set up production groups, develop local technical staff, provide guidance in the actual production, set up demonstration plots to spread out results from learning and good practices so they become the village extension network. Source: Guideline to implement ministerial decree 0216/MAF 08 (06 March 2008) 3. Introduction into AIM products and services Six stations on AIM activities (and one from the Provincial Department of Information and Culture) were created so that participants could be exposed to activities that NAFRI and NAFES were doing. It also provided an opportunity to get feedback from provincial and district staff as to how the products could best meet their needs. Below is a summary of the key issues and comments from the six stations: 1 Since the workshop there has been major restructuring of the extension system. A short overview of new MAF ministerial decree No. 216/08 is provided 2

4 Activity General comments Partnership Some districts have the CDs but don t have the machine to between LNTV and disseminate to villagers. NAFES Lao language from Vientiane, but the farmers will not understand and need in the local languages. Interested in CDs on specific technical topics. There should be a way to collect the needs from districts and provinces and make quickly. NAFRI and NAFES Topics should be added and updated and focus on district level Newsletter activities. Focus on farmers, projects, companies. Focus on technical content such as bee raising, chili cultivation There is a need to find ways to have provincial and district staff to contribute to the newsletters Lao Agriculture Should be a way for each province to be able to send information to Database LAD to store materials from provinces. Needs to have more Lao language Should focus on getting out to extension staff in districts and make their there are extension related materials. Promote LAD through newsletter or sending out information through hard copy. Lao Link Lack access to internet, computers and electricity Have more information on new technologies in Lao ICT Unit should be established to be coordinator for province, districts and to collect all problems on production for discussion. Provincial Culture and Information Information & communication study There needs to be more coordination between the Culture and Information Office and PAFOs A lot of products are produced but still not getting out widely. The study is interesting and should be done in other areas There needs to be ways to use this type of research in developing activities for farmers. 4. Overview of Provincial Information Market Each of the provinces was asked to prepare a provincial display highlighting different information products produced by projects or government staff as well as present a brief overview of some of the key issues and opportunities in each district. This was done share issues and problems across the provinces. Some of the key issues that arose included: There was little sharing of materials between projects within a province. There is a need to create a central repository for technical information within provinces and create regular sharing opportunities A number of cross-cutting issues arose that were common throughout districts and provinces, this included: o Problems with coordinating concessions, companies and how to deal with contracts and investment rules o Land management issues including increasing conflicts over land, unclear land rights of farmers, land zoning rules not being followed, increasing forest conversion. o Providing information to farmers on their rights and responsibilties in terms of land management o Providing information to farmers on how to understand contracts and marketing opportunities. 5. Provincial action plans Provinces were asked to define information needs, key information and communication problems as well as to map out the different actors and their relations. Below is a summary of each province. Annex 2 shows the information map that each province made. 3

5 5.1 Bokeo Province The key information needs focused on different cash crops such as beans, peanuts corn and maize since Bokeo has a number of cash cropping opportunities. Technical information was sought but there was more emphasis also on understanding contracts, market price, land rights and information on how to establish production groups. The main problem identified by the province was the lack of coordination between different offices. They proposed the establishment of a public information unit to help disseminate information and improve coordination. Bokeo Action plan Describe the content of activity in details. Poster on Purchasing on the natural tea. CD Performance on cultivation on beans, peanuts, corns. Data Collection Centre Establishment in the district level. Hold on the workshop on data & information system. Who participates RDMA, AIM District, DAFO RDMA, AIM District, DAFO RDMA, VECO, DAFO RDMA, VECO, DAFO, AIM District. What support needed Budget for printing and camera. Budget for CD Performance 20 Agricultural kit bags Budget for organizing the workshop. Implementation periods -month 9 / 2007 month 8-9 / 2007 month 7-9 / 2007 month 8 / Luang Namtha The key information needs focused on marketing information for both extension agents and farmers. This included information about the company, standards for marketing and processing, quantities, and price. Technical information included production methods as well as information on successful farmer practices to spread widely. In terms of key problems the province identified lack of human resources, limited infrastructure and equipment as well as no public information office. The solution to these issues included more training and purchasing of equipment. Luang Namtha Activity plan Activity Involved Units Output Involved Office Support Need Provincial AIM Establishment in September Filing System Establishment (July 2007) -leaflets 1000 sheets provided 3 to 4 months. CD distributed (August 2007) Weekly radio broadcasting. Units of Agricultural and Forestry Division DAFO, PAFO District AIM One person from each unit will responsible for the activity. Provide a cabin for documents to each district. -Be aware of the news (Updated) PAFO Admin. and planning Division DAFO, PAFO Budget for organizing the workshop. Budget Information team establishment Topic for leaflet (-monthly) DAFO, Supported staff from NCA and GTZ. Administration Unit One person from each unit will responsible for the activity. Submit the information and leaflet to NAFES (monthly) DAFO District Information Office Budget for organizing the workshop. 4

6 Activity Involved Units Output Involved Office Support Need Monthly submit the information to the DAFO. 5.3 Oudomxay Oudomxay identified the key information needs as market information on price, quantity, quality, information on contracts and investments and database of traders in the province. For technical information the main information was on rubber, livestock and other annual crops such as chilies, cassava, etc. The key problems in the province identified included: Limited cooperation between agencies Dissemination to the local level is slow Limited resources for producing information Many ethnic groups and need to produce information in each language The main solutions was to improve coordination through the establishment of a publication information office as well as seek support to produce more materials and produce more in different languages. Oudomxay Action Plan Activities Time Responsibility Sponsor Produce stories on production technologies (VCD, TV), corn and rubber July Sept Dept. Culture & information, PAFO, PAFEC NAFRI, NAFES, IFAD, GAA Production of materials Improved rice variety Maize planting Fruit Processing of NTFPs Home garden production Fish conservation areas Fingerling production Integrated agriculture Off season vegetable Produce stories for radio and village speakers in different languages - livestock production - Corn - Agriculture July Sept July Sept Improve library at PAFO July Dec Districts and province staff GAA, IFAD Dept. Culture and information PAFEC, PAFO PAFO NAFRI, NAFES, IFAD, GAA NAFRI, NAFES, IFAD NAFRI NAFES 5.4 Phongsaly Province General marketing information needs were identified including price, quantity, quality, and traders. For technical information it focused on improve rice breeds, improved forages for livestock, information on developing tea gardens, information on weather and types of crops to plan. They also identified the need to get better information on regulations and policies out to farmers. The key problems identified were lack of financial, human and physical resources as well as inaccurate reporting of information and lack of knowledge on producing information materials. It was suggested that the overall importance of information systems has to be promoted to make people aware of its benefits. 5

7 Phongsaly action plan Contents Involved offices Timing Support Need Leaflet on Technical issues. Appoint the Information System committee. Offer trainings to staff of district and provincial office. Develop extension materials on one identified topic Hold workshop on Agricultural Production for products Organize the workshop for yearly information exchange. Offices concerned related to PAFO PAFO PAFES District Administrative office. DAFO MAF, NAFES AF Research Institution. PAFES, NAFES,DAFO General people PAFES NAFES AF Research Institution. July August September October November Budget Trainings Equipment Budget Manuals Budget documents equipment 6. Summary and Conclusions The following are the main conclusions and recommendations from the workshop. 1. There is a need for better coordination between different lines agencies at the district and provincial levels Networking on the national level is established, but there is a need to arrange for networking on provincial and district level, based on 4 Cs (coordination, cooperation, communication and community). There is a need to assign 1 or 2 persons at each level to oversee/coordinate information and networking. Relations between different provincial and district level agencies need to be improved as well as coordination mechanisms between different levels. For instance, the Oudomxay Provincial Information and Culture Office has strong capacity to disseminate information through its village speaker system in different ethnic languages. There is great potential for PAFO to work with them. Recommendation: Effort should be made to improve coordination and sharing of information between line agencies, particularly the Provincial technical extension service centers and the provincial information and culture office. 2. Need to assign staff to work on information services There is not a place to keep information or that there is not a staff who is responsible for information. For example each district and province have received the sourcebook but most have not seen it before. For the wisdom bag, staff are not sure how to manage it. If they allow people to use, they don t return the books or information. Recommendation: Each province/district needs to assign one or two province staff and one person at each district to be responsible for information. There is also a need to have MAF provide some type of directive so that the provinces have a clear idea about how to structure this and incorporate into the new structure 3. Networking and sharing of experiences It was clear from the provincial information market that a lot of materials had been produced by projects but none of it shared across districts. Often times, projects working in the same district did not know what other projects had. In addition, it was found this type of workshop is valuable for sharing experiences across districts and provinces and should be encouraged more frequently. 6

8 In addition, it was felt there needs to be a central coordinating unit or repository for managing and storing information. Currently none of the provinces had functioning libraries or ways to manage and store information. Recommendation: Efforts should be made by projects to share experiences and lessons amongst one another or at the least regularly share information materials produced. Each province should think of developing a library that can be used by all actors. AIM should try to make sure that that multiple copies of information are disseminated to district and province staff or make sure that what they are producing is relevant 4. Need to improve overall production, dissemination and use of materials A couple of key points were raised: There is a need to find ways to get information more regularly to the local level. AIM products are very valuable but there is a need to find ways to disseminate more widely. For example, video CDs need to be made available at the local level and we need to find ways to overcome issues of technology and electricity. For the Lao Agriculture Database, this also should go on CD. For preparing new products the central level relies on high technical competence and equipment, but there is a need to cooperate with the local level during the production process, as the required information is available on the local level For information to have value to farmers it needs to be in local languages, particularly to reach the poor and women since they often do not speak Lao. The wisdom bag is a valuable source of information but we also need to find ways to manage it and make sure the information that inside is being used and meets the needs of the different localities. Recommendation: Models should be developed for how information from national level can be repackaged and/or adapted to local conditions. At the same time, provincial and district capacity in material production should be strengthened so they can begin making their own materials. Finally, efforts should be made to produce materials in local ethnic languages or find ways to ensure that ethnic people can acess this information easily (realizing most do not read or speak Lao well). 5. Feedback and communication channels Two points were raised There is a need to find ways to communicate successful practices or problems from the local level to provincial and national level. There is a lot of experience from districts and this should be spread more widely. For instance, the newsletters of NAFRI and NAFES should include successful practices from the local level. In the same way, we also need to create a problem bag and know the priorities of different district and village clusters in order to address the issues and priorities of specific areas so they can be solved. Again, there needs to be mechanisms to assist in solving these problems. Recommendation: Models should be tested out to improve feedback and vertical horizontal communication channels so that best practices problems can be identified from the local level. 7

9 Annex 1: List of participants and agenda Name Organization Thanongsak ACF Yoksami Latsavong CARE/Phongsaly Gamnakorn Sayaboupha CARE/Phongsaly Somsui Vilaythong PAFEC/PHongsaly Nokham Phavong? Somjit? Jaisainit Thammalath Agriculture division Houmpheng Phetdala PAFEC/Oudomxay Khamphousavanh Petsavath Provincial Information and Culture Sisavath Saisawan Muang Beng Thongphanh Siaphon? Nalee Inthapasouk Namo/URDP Phonesavanh Phengpichith Provincial Information and Culture Pathom Chantavongly?DAFO? Phonsay Sayalath VECO/Bokeo Phonephet Muang Mueng Oudomphon DAFO? Bounchan DAFO? Chanpheng Vongpchith DAFO? BOunma Phongbanya GAA Somsamouth Phongsavath PAFO Thavorn Thammavong Bountai DAFO SOunee Kounpasert Viengphouka, DAFO Khamphet Souphavong? Khamphet Silivanh Boun Neua, DAFO Somvang Soumvilay Nout Ou, DAFO KHamphay Silisouk Agriculture PAFO Bouaphorn Vongkhamsone CCL/Phongsaly Wanikorn Mingboupha Muang Hum? Bounlat Vilaysak DAFO/Pak Beang Khamphay Vanasi Moung la/dafo Bounsong GTZ KHamhakl RRTDC Xeu Vo CAMKID Khamdaeng GTZ Bouaphan Vilayhong PAFO/Oudomxay Lattaporn Sengtom PAFO/Oudomxay Phonesavanh Gaewhongsa GTZ Lao Thao CIAT Douangchan Sihalath GAA Somleut Sangvilay Muang Mai Khampout Phothilath Muang Namtha/DAFO Lingson Paijongwow Namo/DAFO Bouaphanh Namavong PAFO/Luang Namtha Duangdee Kalee kham PAFEC Khamjan Hou DAFO/Phongsaly Asoun Phoulakham Muang Long Somsak Phantasong DAFO? Souksaytin Chankham Homdahak PAFO/Oudomxay Hiengkham Vilaysak Provincial Information and Culture Oudorn Oudomxay Phouvieng PAFEC Bokeo Noksavanh Sayawong PAFO/Oudomxay Souksountala Khonkeo Bannavoug Singh/DAFO Chansouk GAA 8

10 Annex 3: Maps of information flows from different provinces Bokeo Map Phongsaly Map Oudomxay Map Luang Namtha Map 9