My first encounter with SAWBO was in June 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic when I was introduced to wonderful animations by my former computer student. I kept wondering how this would impact farmers since the videos that captivated me were about agriculture.
At that time, I was transitioning from political blogging to social development and needed an entry point. SAWBO provided the opportunity and put me on the right path by facilitating the following:
- The successful establishment of “Kataru Concepts” as a brand.
- Successful creation and expansion of a vast social media network made up of SAWBO animation users.
- Kataru Concepts ability to impact lives by providing free, educational animations.
- A definitive direction into the future and satisfaction for being part of a greater initiative to change lives.
Goals in the fifth year
As we begin the fifth year of working with SAWBO and as we build Kataru Concepts and SAWBO networks, we have several goals to pursue with passion. These goals are meant to shape the future direction our activities shall take. They include;
1. A focus on our core business.
2. The six-point approach.
3. Forming communities from existing networks.
- Our core business
At Kataru Concepts Africa Farming Technologies and all SAWBO networks, our core business remains “the dissemination of content”. We continue carrying out this exercise in Kenya and other countries of Africa with dedication. The release of the “SAWBO APP” has made disseminating animation videos a simple exercise.
With the new SAWBO App the amount of time needed to train users has been drastically reduced. The App provides a shortcut to accessing the videos right on one’s phone without the rigors of logging onto the website and searching through the video library.
- The “six-point approach”
To facilitate our core agenda, we shall focus on the “six-point approach” as captured in a previous blog post. This approach has proved to be the most effective in content dissemination and networking. It involves,
- Training: We shall continue using our volunteers to organize online and one-on-one training sessions for SAWBO content end users within communities. During such sessions, emphasis will be put on downloading the App and using it to access and disseminate animations.
- Translation: Our animation translation efforts have been boosted by the construction of a sound recording studio at the office. This is expected to boost the translation of animations into different Kenyan languages and dialects.
- Dissemination of content: The dissemination of content shall be done using the App. We are going to use every available opportunity be it online or in face-to-face meetings to increase the app download and installation.
- Extension: We are increasing farm visits by volunteers and members of the community to facilitate the exchange of information, comparing notes, and sharing experiences by farmers.
- Networking: In this fifth year, we intend to increase the membership of our WhatsApp groups by visiting more communities, interacting, and sharing SAWBO content with them. We are going to open new fronts, create new collaborations with different farmer groups, and reach out to communities we’ve not reached before.
- Development: As usual, in our six-point approach, documenting activities is crucial to creating inspiring stories and capturing cases that readers and other people can learn from. We shall be developing new content for publishing on blogs and even videos for sharing on YouTube and other channels.
- Forming SAWBO farmer’s communities
In essence, a community is the state of having and sharing certain common attitudes and interests. While working with farmers in the Central Kenya region, I came across well-organized “community groups” made up of neighbors and families who share common farming interests. Some of the practices that united villagers into forming cooperatives (SACCOs) were:
- Interests in horticultural farming.
- Fruits and dried indigenous vegetable production.
- Dairy farming and its products.
- Poultry farming and its products.
- Rabbits, chicken, fish rearing and their products, etc.
Some of the groups whose registration as community based organizations have been facilitated by Kataru Concepts. From top left: Mumias, Bulechia, Kwale and Migori farmers groups. These groups form the first SAWBO communities whose activities shall be woven around scaling of the digital content. Photo credit by Kataru Concepts.
These villagers were united out of the need to find solutions to their common challenges. They share financial resources; find markets for produce and products have a collective bargaining power, eliminating middlemen, brokers, and most importantly, they share educational content from development partners like SAWBO.
Forming SAWBO communities will entrench SAWBO content and increase its use as different players find their entry points in the value chain. These communities will bring together farmers/producers, farm input dealers, extension service providers, traders, processors/manufacturers, and marketers into the same groups such as community based organizations-CBO or savings and credit cooperatives-SACCOs.
How to form SAWBO communities
The following steps can be used to form SAWBO communities from the SAWBO Farmers Africa network.
- Focus content dissemination on the SAWBO App.
- Emphasize the “six-point” approach (translating, training, disseminating, networking, extension, development).
- Facilitate the registration of social enterprises, SACCOs, and other “for-profit” community groups.
- Assist communities in selecting animation videos that are relevant to their needs.
- Find small grants for farming inputs, working capital, value addition, etc.
- Find ways and partners to “mop up” the extra produce from farmers after bumper harvests.
Forming communities is the next frontier in content dissemination with quantifiable results and testimonies from farmers. It’s an approach that will lead to SAWBO video animations becoming part and parcel of the modern farmer life.
