Implementation of the project involved a series of stages as indicated in the flow chart below. These implementation stages built on each other through a process of reflection or experiential learning. Stages at which this particularly took place are indicated below as "R" (reflection). The process was accompanied by various events at different levels (national, regional, zonal) designed to raise awareness of policy makers and to facilitate networking. A summary of project events is given at the end of this section.
The project started with two activities, one of which was the convening of a national workshop (which will be discussed later under point 3). The second activity involved familiarisation of both project staff and project clients (staff and farmers) and preparing the ground for the case studies. Project staff from the national level travelled to the regions and pilot zones and with the co-ordinators briefed staff on the project aims and objectives, assessed training needs and shared the criteria by which the case study woreda should be selected. The process was repeated within the selected woreda and selected development centre.
Criteria for selection included the need for the village to be accessible in all seasons, fairly typical of villages in the woreda, and having a strong peasant association. In selecting which development centre, and indeed which woreda in which to conduct the case study, those classified as being "self-sufficient" or "food-surplus" woredas were selected over and above those classed as "food-deficit"3.
Implementation involved three training/village implementation cycles, each building on the experience of the preceding one through reflection. The first cycle involved research to prepare training case studies and training of teams in how to carrying them out. Conducting the research provided an ideal opportunity to learn from experience and to start to develop a client-oriented approach extension approach tailored to the Ethiopian context. This experience formed the basis of the training materials used in the first Training of Trainers. Once these trainers had trained grassroots staff and they had implemented the approach in a certain number of villages, a second training of trainers workshop provided the opportunity to reflect once again on the client-oriented approach so far developed and to improve on this. Grassroots staff were given further training in the light of agreed upon improvements to the approach and had the opportunity to implement this approach in additional villages.
This action-reflection cycle also occurred within each village study including the case studies. Thus any information gained through work in the village was analysed every day both by the team and, through verification, by the villagers. This analysis guided the direction of the study on the following days.
As can be seen from the chart above, a sequence of training occurred. A general account is given here of the training. Further details of training content, numbers etc. are provided in Annex I.
Training objectives were set in line with those of the project and training content blended theory and practice concerning participatory approaches and gender analysis with experience gained during implementation to produce the "client-oriented" methodology. Experienced national trainers were recruited for parts of the two training of trainers. Much of the training was given in Amharic and most of the handouts were also in Amharic4. Active learning techniques were employed to a great extent including group work and role play and a participatory evaluation technique was used throughout.
In preparation for the start of the first training of trainers, a guide entitled "How to make your extension program client-oriented" was prepared and published in Amharic. The guide was designed for use by woreda staff and development agents and as a supplement to the training. In the guide, gender, the gender analytical framework and rapid or participatory rural appraisal were covered as were the steps to be followed in using the gender analytical framework to put together a client-oriented extension plan. The guide drew on the case study experiences with all examples (of PRA tools and of the gender analytical framework) stemming from the case studies.
A 25 minute video was also prepared on client-oriented extension planning. The video was made during the first two case studies. Later material was added from an implementation site in the third pilot area. The steps to be taken to draw up a client-oriented extension plan are indicated in the video which introduces the need for extension to reach women farmers, the use of various R/PRA tools and gender analysis and the validation and ranking of development constraints by the communities. The video was used in training of trainers and also in awareness raising workshops.
The three major areas of training were:
· participatory approaches, tools and techniques;
· gender, gender roles and needs, gender analysis; and
· extension program planning.
The level of experiential learning taking place during training increased as the project progressed. Thus by the second training of trainers, a third of the time was spent on reviewing the testing of the client-oriented extension approach and working together on how to improve it. To this end, woreda staff also participated in this training (unlike the first training of trainers where only zonal and regional staff participated). Also during this second training of trainers, the three staff who had gone for overseas training provided five days of training (as detailed in Annex I). The last part of the training sequence - the second training of woreda staff - was not included in the project document or log frame but was seen as vital by all involved in the second training of trainers. Funds were consequently reallocated to enable training sessions to be run in each of the three pilot zones during which reports from the first round of testing of the approach were used for group work.
As the case studies were primarily a learning experience for all concerned (the teams were new in each location), they were each conducted slightly differently so as to try to identify the best and most practical approach. Thus client groups varied between the cases. Also in two of the cases the team commuted to the case village, but in the third (in North Omo) they resided in the village. Each case study involved spending 10-14 days in the village including time spent in documentation and analysis. Unfortunately, due to the tight schedule of project activities, all three case studies took place in the rainy season when villagers were busy. Hence the team had to exercise patience and be prepared to work with the villagers when they were available and for the time span convenient to them.
Village implementation took place in the first 14 villages as soon as possible after training. Implementation style varied between regions. In West Harerghe staff devised a very ordered, systematic and concise methodology. They also stayed in town and travelled to the site daily. Using only 3 focus groups, they completed implementation - including analysis - within one week in each village. Implementation took longer in most instances in North Omo and North Wollo especially where teams chose to work with many focus groups. However, despite working with more focus groups, implementation was completed on average within 8-10 days.
Subsequent to the second training of trainers, implementation took place in a further four villages in each of West Harerghe and North Wollo and in 2 villages in North Omo along the lines agreed upon during the training. Findings were then incorporated into the relevant extension programs.
At the beginning of the project a National Inception Workshop was held. The purpose of the workshop was to raise awareness about the project, and more importantly, to learn from participants about their activities with regard to use of participatory approaches and gender analysis as well as production of extension materials. Relevant Line Departments, staff of agricultural research stations, and aid agencies working in the pilot zones participated in the workshop. Useful contacts made during this workshop were maintained throughout the length of the project. In this way training and implementation activities complemented and reinforced the activities of the aid agencies in the localities, and the project benefited from the experiences of the agencies in the pilot areas also. The regional workshops, held at a later stage, basically served the same purposes but at the regional level.
During the second training of trainers, the importance of involving local decision makers was stressed by all participants. The main reason for this was that during implementation, clients raised all kinds of constraints - not just ones related to agriculture - and a mechanism was needed whereby these constraints would be brought to the attention of the relevant Line Departments and aid agencies. Consequently funds were made available for zonal workshops to which local policy and decision makers were invited.
During the workshops, which took place in two of the three zones, the project approach and achievements were outlined followed by the findings in the implementation villages. The constraints being faced in the villages, which could be solved by either the Line Departments or aid agencies were stressed. The workshops laid the ground for greater co-operation in the future between the Ministry of Agriculture and the Councils at woreda and zonal levels allowing for more of the constraints of rural clients to be addressed by, or through, the Councils.
SUMMARY OF MAIN PROJECT EVENTS |
DATES |
National inception workshop |
March 1995* |
Familiarisation tours to pilot Regions and Zones. |
March to April 1995 |
Drawing up of project logframe |
May 1995 |
Training of teams followed by case study work |
May to August 1995 |
Development of training materials including guide and video |
Sept. - Dec. 1995 |
First training of trainers from pilot Zones/Regions |
Nov. to Dec. 1995 (2 weeks) |
Regional awareness raising workshops |
January to March 1996 |
Overseas training of three staff |
March to May 1996 |
Training of staff in pilot areas |
January to April 1996 |
Implementation of approach in 14 villages |
January to June 1996 |
End evaluation of project |
July 1996 |
Second training of trainers |
July to August 1996 |
Implementation of approach in a further 10 villages |
Sept. to Dec. 1996 |
Zonal awareness raising workshops |
Sept. to Oct. 1996 |
Production of second edition of guide and video |
Sept. to Dec. 1996 |
Training of staff in extension materials production |
Sept. 1995 to Dec. 1996 |
* Events/outputs in italics contributed towards awareness raising of decision makers
3 The reason for selecting villagers from "food-surplus" areas was that they may have more interest in working with the team and looking beyond their daily survival problems than those from food-deficit areas.
4 At the start of the project Amharic was the official national language. However, due to the regionalisation process, there was a move in some regions towards re-establishing the use of regional languages as the official language within that region. This was the case in Oromia region - hence training materials for grassroots staff in that region were translated to Oromiffa.
