Video preparation on intestinal worm control in small ruminants in the Sahel

A new video on intestinal worm control in small ruminants is in the works. It has been a collaborative process benefiting from the combined expertise of Access Agriculture, Work Package 6 researchers, and PhD students.

Image showing a person holding a FAMACHA card to the eye of a small ruminant

FAMACHA testing. Photo credit : Amina Beye

field showing small ruminants grazing in West Africa

Herd of small ruminants. Photo credit: Amina Beye

New video in the works

Access Agriculture facilitates the production and distribution of quality farmer-to-farmer training videos in local languages that build the capacity of actors involved in agriculture, such as rural advisory services and agricultural education systems. From previous discussions, Access Agriculture had the prerogative to lead the process of producing a video on intestinal worm control in small ruminants in collaboration with WP6 researchers.

Knowing the steps involved in the farmer-to-farmer video production process, preparations for script development began on January 25, 2024 with a discussion and scoping meeting between Fernando Sousa and Félix Heckendorn of FiBL, Eva Schlecht of Kassel University, Jonas Wanvoeke and Paul Van Mele of Access Agriculture.The aim of this first meeting was to refocus the subject of the video and to discuss the content of the video on gastrointestinal worms (GIN) that Access Agriculture is to produce on behalf of SustainSahel farmers and the entire region.

At the end of the meeting, a script was drawn up for a 12-15 minute video. The team also decided that they would work towards having the full script ready by the end of May. We had also decided that the video would draw on the research work of WP6 thesis students to further develop and enrich the content of the script.

At the annual project meeting held in Bamako in February 2024, we continued discussions with the WP6 team. A parallel session had been held between Access Agriculture, WP6 researchers and PhD students to clarify and understand some of the information collected in the past. We used this opportunity to gain a better understanding of the PhD students' research results, which we need to exploit to enrich the scenario.

After 3 months of hard work and information gathering for a farmer-to-farmer video, version 5 of the script has been shared with WP6 members, and a consultation and discussion meeting is scheduled to take place in early May to approve and validate the content of the script before setting up the film crew. Based on interviews with farmers, we have also advanced the script for the mulching video. A second filming visit is scheduled for May.