What do we hear from the farmers in Dogu’a Tembien? : innovation in farmer-to-farmer extension in Tigray, Ethiopia

Extension, or distribution of scientific knowledge to the end users in Africa and Ethiopia in particular, goes through a long formal extension system. As we have carried out research in the Tigray region of Ethiopia since more than 20 years and published >100 articles in SCI journals, we may state that we did a significant contribution to scientific knowledge regarding a wide range of scientific disciplines that are relevant for rural development and sustainable livelihood. From all this research three extension manuals came out, two in English and in the local Tigrigna language, and one in English only. We recently also started preparing research briefs that are aimed at policy makers at different levels. Direct knowledge sharing with farmers was done through (i) the implementation of five development projects, and (ii) the organisation of so-called Farmers’ Days (a dozen in total) in which farmers from various districts were brought to a particular area, where research findings are demonstrated in the field. It is not clear how much of this information finally trickles down from the privileged model farmers who generally assist in such Farmers’ Days, to the rest of the community. In a bid to reach the rural community, to hand the knowledge directly to the farmers, and hence to empower them, we took inspiration from ‘almanacs’ as they had been used in northwest Europe since many centuries. One of the traditional functions of such almanacs is, in view of the close links between a calendar and farmworks, to attempt to make such booklets most useful to the peasant majority of the population. Hence, the objectives of the research reported here are to (1) develop a booklet that holds basic research findings, expressed in simple words, and combined with other useful and sometimes lighter information; (2) distribute it among farmers with the aim that it is not only read by farmers but also passed on and discussed within the communities (farmer-to-farmer extension); and (3) evaluate the take-up of the messages contained in the booklet. An almanac type booklet was developed specifically for the district of Dogu’a Tembien, where the authors have their attachments, and where much of the mentioned research was carried out. Inspiration was taken from one of the most popular, the Mathieu Laensberg almanac, edited regularly since 1636, and still published as Almanach de Liège. All 19 municipalities (tabias) of Dogu’a Tembien had been visited through more than 20 years of formal research undertakings, and they were again visited to collect very local information from at least three key informants per tabia. Key informants were at least 50 years old, generally male, and lived their whole life in their village. The resulting booklet is written in Tigrigna language (Fig. 1). The title is “ካብ ሓረስቶት ደጉዓ ተምቤን እንታይ ንስምዕ?” (Kab harestot Dogu’a Tembien entai nsemie? – What do we hear from the farmers in Dogu’a Tembien?); it was chosen to give the farmers as much as possible ownership of the book’s contents. In its 100 pages, the book contains sections about market days, typical traditional Tigrigna words (landforms, rocks, housing, ploughing, land management, crop harvesting, livestock keeping, roads and footpaths), the geology of the area, names and locations of the best springs and local beer houses, conservation agriculture, soil and water conservation, reforestation, gully control, farmers’ sayings on weather and climate, rain and temperature in the district, all local religious holidays when many people gather in a particular village once a year, tree planting, and catchment management. These sections are organised by larger thematic topics, mingling sections on local knowledge, scientific findings, some ‘wise advice’ (e.g., do not mistreat donkeys; global warming; gender equality), and lighter sections. Generally an organisation by month of the year was attempted. The authors are mentioned in several places of the book by their first names (or even nickname) and the readers are invited to interact with them. An internal review of the book was done by Mitiku Haile, former president of Mekelle University, who has a background of soil science and sustainable land management. The first edition of the booklet was printed in 1000 copies; it is being distributed through individual contacts with farmers, in their home, during social gatherings in small local beer houses on the occasion of the market in Hagere Selam, and also at annual holidays in villages. Evaluation of the process is ongoing, in which we verify whether the ambitions of the booklet with regard to popular education are fulfilled, and also through which pathways the information is shared. For instance, whether it is read aloud with discussion, in social gatherings or at the wake. This will then be the base for reworking the book towards a second edition

Scientific and indigenous knowledge in local (farmers’) language : a case from Tigray, Ethiopia

Outcomes of our research in the Tigray region of Ethiopia over more than 20 years has been published in many journals, and contributed to scientific knowledge that is relevant for rural development and sustainable livelihood. Direct knowledge sharing with farmers was done through (i) the implementation of five development projects, (ii) the organisation of so-called Farmers’ Days (a dozen in total) in which research findings were demonstrated in the field, and (iii) the development of three extension manuals (two in the local Tigrigna language and one in English). In a bid to better reach the rural community, to hand the knowledge directly to the farmers, and hence to empower them, we took inspiration from ‘almanacs’ as they had been used in northwest Europe. One of the traditional functions of such almanacs is, in view of the close links between a calendar and farm works, to make them most useful to the peasant majority of the population. Hence, the objectives of the research reported here are to (1) develop a booklet that holds basic research findings, expressed in simple words in Tigrigna language, and combined with other useful and sometimes lighter information; (2) distribute it among farmers with the aim that it is not only read by farmers but also passed on and discussed within the communities (farmer-to-farmer extension); and (3) evaluate the take-up of the messages contained in the booklet