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By and large, the general conclusion supported by the results sections is that the campaigns worked relatively well in the face of unusual weather conditions and other unanticipated obstacles. Most assuredly, they left little doubt that as a development communication strategy, intense multi-channel campaigns over a short period of time are capable of inducing significant surges in levels of awareness and specific knowledge gains. Less certain is their capacity to galvanize knowledge gains into recommended practice changes, but the outcomes from the maize campaign point to optimism in this regard. And as pilot exercises in this new approach by the AIS, they offer several guidelines for improving the weaknesses detected and strengthening future projects.
The most obvious constraint inherent in all the campaigns conducted was the short lead-in time for materials preparation and detailed planning. Indeed, the hiatus between the conducting and analysis of the baseline target audience surveys and the actual launch of the first presentations in all three campaigns was less than two months. The end product as we noted was that only the first two presentations were media complete, that is to say, they included the full complement of radio broadcasts, audio-cassettes, slide-tape presentations, posters and hand-outs. Slide-tape screenings were missing from the second half of each campaign since there was simply not enough time to produce them.
Associated with the lack of sufficient time for production was an almost total absence of materials pre-testing which we consider to be an integral part of the DSC Process Model. Indeed, it can be well hypothesised that the "lows" in knowledge levels in some of the maize and sorghum cultivation operations could have been improved through pre-testing the understanding of media presentation content and appropriateness of technical production factors such as pacing, length of presentations, and attention holding power of the approaches used. Normally, in chronological order of increasing effectiveness of pre-testing materials with various groups, the scale runs as follows:
As the foregoing classification clearly shows, the further removed from the target audience, the less certain that a producer can be of the appropriateness of the materials developed. In the case of all campaigns, only the first two categories were used, with some input from the extension workers during the field communication workshops. The general rule of thumb in development communication, however, is that no matter how standardised reactions are to a given set of materials by producers, subject matter experts and field workers, the proof of their effectiveness lies in reactions by the intended target group. In practice, this translates into testing a cross section of the materials with either individual members or small groups of the target audience. The importance of this activity lies in its potential for detection of
errors in production design, and the opportunity to correct them before going into full scale operation. The field trial then becomes a test of the campaign in action and often is a validation of how thoroughly the smaller scale pre-testing was carried out. All things considered, we would suggest a minimum of six months for materials pre-testing and preparation - after the baseline target audience KAP survey has been conducted and analysed - for future campaigns of this order.
Another pre-delivery suggestion to improve the conduct of future projects would be to thoroughly brief the extension staff involved on all aspects of the campaign content per se so as to standardise message delivery and responses 10 questions put by farmers. This would pre-empt the possibility of competing - or incorrect - information being disseminated and better prepare the interpersonal component for solid reinforcement of the media-mix. Again, because of time constraints, the pre-campaign workshops which were conducted for extension agents in our Lesotho examples concentrated primarily on organisational aspects of setting up cassette-listening groups, with little reference to actual content details.
As for the ten village, two-week-out, two-week-in delivery strategy used in the media intensive target area, more flexibility would seem to be warranted. Notable mention has been made earlier of campaign presentations having to be cancelled because of weather conditions, scheduling mix-ups, poor advance notice, deaths of prominent people, and competing events during the designated timing for a particular presentation. Unfortunately, the rigid one village per day schedule over a ten day period did not allow repeat visits. Discussions with the AIS presentation team lead to suggesting about a 20% flexibility ratio, that is to say, allowing twelve days to cover 10 villages, with the two extra days available for revisiting villages in the event of cancellations.
Future campaigns should as well incorporate the most flexible, and powerful of all group media, namely, video. As H currently stands, small format video production equipment has been provided for each of the three campaign pilot districts, in addition to AIS headquarters, and an FAO training programme was carried out over a three month period. In addition, playback facilities have been set-up in three farmer training centres. While there is no question that these will be useful for a number of training exercises, moving video playback opportunities directly to the village level as part of group media sessions would greatly enhance the effectiveness, and popularity, of campaign presentations.
A short reference should be made as well to the radio and audio-cassette format used during the campaign. Basically, the set pattern consisted of the voice-piece introduction by the SMS, followed by farmer interviews, and concluding with a dramatic sequence. By far the most popular of the segments was the drama sequence. While acknowledging the initial success of this format, it would seem advisable in the future to introduce and test other strategies to maintain a compelling mix of information, education and entertainment. Experimenting with village led versus urban expert presenters would be one useful approach; listeners also said they would like to hear more traditional music segments. These suggestions might be particularly appropriate for increasing the popularity of the morning broadcasts which at present command only a small portion of the potential listening audience.
A final recommendation arising out of the campaign exercises, but which applies equally to the day-to-day functioning of AIS, would be the establishment of a communication research unit as an integral component within the service. This unit, which would minimally consist of a director and at least one assistant, would carry out, and/or commission with direct supervision, all research and evaluation to support AIS production activities. This would include as a matter of course baseline and impact surveys such as those described in this report, radio audience monitoring, and analysis of extension feedback from the field. As well, this unit would assist media production teams in the kinds of pre-testing exercises described previously, as well as conduct more rigorous experimentation of the effects of different production techniques and presentation strategies. As a case in point, the effectiveness of the extension agents' "second wave" listening group strategy of the campaign was not assessed here but could well have come under the purview of a permanent evaluation unit. Evaluation has been deservedly termed the key to Improvement; a communication research unit familiar with all aspects of the range of AIS production capability would be a positive step in helping media producers do what they do better.
In summary, the pioneering efforts of AIS in undertaking the most complex and at the same time the most effective of all short term development communication delivery strategies are commendable. Sustaining development, however, should be uppermost on the agenda of any organisation dedicated to providing information, motivation and training for the agricultural sector. The immediate on-going challenge will thus be to maintain the considerable knowledge gains generated during the campaigns and to provide reinforcement where needed, so that further down the road one can look for changes toward recommended practices, and ultimately, improved rural living standards.
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