Since 2010, GRET and its partner the Cambodian Institute for Research and Rural Development (CIRD) have been implementing the project to Support intensive low-input agriculture (APICI). Conducted in the Siem Reap region in Cambodia, this project aims to increase small farmers’ incomes and living conditions, as well as enabling them to share their agroecological knowledge and practices. To do this, their communication skills were strengthened, especially in the area of video production, a particularly open and popular means of communication.
20 farmers, 31 members of farmers’ federations and 12 government employees were trained by GRET and its partner Mediaseeds to write scripts, shoot videos and take photos on smartphones. 72 tutorials were produced, focusing on a variety of subjects such as production of rice seeds, seasonal and healthy vegetables, preparation of biopesticide and compost, chicken, insect and frog production, and post-harvest management. Some of these videos have been viewed 1.9 million times and shared on online platforms such as ALiSEA and the Ecofarm Facebook page, or by farmers’ federations and the Provincial Department of Agriculture. They had particular resonance among consumers, the private sector, government institutions, and the local & national media.
Today, farmers who are partners in the project are being contacted by other organisations to produce videos giving agricultural advice and to train their peers in agroecological techniques, but also to make videos using smartphones.
In parallel to these videos, GRET initiated a partnership with CFI, the media operator of the French Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, to strengthen Cambodian journalists’ and student journalists’ skills. Workshops examining the impact of pesticide use on agriculture and the environment, field visits to agroecological farms and discussion meetings with the Khmer Youth Association (KYA) were organised in 2019. In addition, CFI enabled facilitation of content production and dissemination, in particular via radio stations, online videos and social media. Dissemination of this type of content makes it possible to give young people in rural areas prospects in their community, in particular by highlighting emerging agroecological initiatives that are promising in terms of income, health and autonomy. Ultimately, GRET and CFI want to strengthen work in partnership with journalists throughout South-East Asia by organising workshops via the ALiSEA network.
