This issue places the spotlight on the Dimitra community listeners’ clubs, with a special dossier made up of several articles that focus on the impact of projects under way, the development of this approach and the launch of new initiatives. Dimitra Newsletter 22 is available in English and French.

In Niger and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the rate at which listeners’ clubs are being formed and the fact that the approach is now being reproduced in various settings are indications of the success of this strategy and the extent to which it is proving sustainable. In South Kivu, for example, a new formula has been tested with excellent results: the introduction of Farmer Field and Life Schools has been supported by existing community listeners’ clubs. In addition, a process for evaluating the impact of the clubs has revealed an unexpected but promising factor: the improved capacity of club members to engage in more formal rural structures. In this sense, the clubs are paving the way for greater participation of women in producers’ organizations and rural cooperatives. (2012)

This issue focuses on particularly innovative activities that enable women to have better access to land in several African countries. Dimitra Newsletter 21 is available in English and French.  See page 11: Within the framework of FAO’s Knowledge Management and Gender Programme, the Capitalisation of good practices in support of agricultural production and food security project organised an action learning workshop on the capitalisation of good practices in Niamey (Niger) from 5 to 9 December 2011.

The action learning workshop in Niamey was attended by 21 people, a third of whom were women. It brought together the Capitalisation project team, several members of the IARBIC project (Intensifying agriculture by strengthening cooperative input shops), of the Emergency Rehabilitation and Coordination Unit (ERCU), ONG-VIE (Dimitra’s partner), as well as representatives of three producers’ organisations: Mooriben, the Réseau national des chambres d’agriculture du Niger (RECA – National Network of Nigerien Chambers of Agriculture) and the Fédération des Coopératives Maraîchères du Niger (FCMN-Niya – Federation of Nigerien Market Gardening Cooperatives). (2012)

This newsletter contains a special Dossier on Radio & ICTs in Rural Areas that puts together a variety of experiences in this field, from an electronic forum on Gender, ICTs and Rural Livelihoods, over participatory community radio to empower rural women and men, to the use of different methodologies of communication communication for development to address issues related to climate change and food security. The Women’s Portrait series features Dorothy Okello of WOUGNET in Uganda, who speaks about the role we can and should all play in applying ICTs to achieve sustainable development for all. (2011)