Many of village poultry farmers do not own ruminants and, consequently, will have had little or no contact with veterinary services. In addition, village poultry are frequently cared for by women, many of whom are illiterate. Special attention is required in the preparation of extension material for this target group. In Mozambique at least, many farmers are not aware that a vaccine against ND exists and can be skeptical: "how can there be a vaccine for chickens when my children don•t even get vaccinated?" In response, we have enjoyed working with farmers and artists to prepare the following extension material:
1. Radio programs - a radio drama; a question and answer program; in Portuguese and four local languages;
2. A ND vaccination song - prepared by the Mozambican Musicians Association with versions in Portuguese and three local languages after visiting one of the vaccine field trial sites;
3. A pamphlet and poster in Portuguese;
4. A drama piece - written by a local theatre group with experience in community development after visiting one of the vaccine field trial sites;
5. A ND field manual - written in Portuguese; and
6. A flip chart for use by front line staff - it uses clear, largely self-explanatory line drawings with an accompanying narrative in Portuguese. Local frontline staff translate the Portuguese into the appropriate local language.
It has taken us three years to get this far but in this field we believe that "slow and steady wins the race". I would like to hear what other people•s experiences have been in the area of extension material for village poultry farmers.
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