Online training has become the go-to for a world struck by the impact of COVID 19. For most of us it started as a make-do interim option, but now is a hybrid reality. This necessity pushed online some things which were considered possible only in person. One of them is the last mile training of extension workers. Technology suddenly brings the opportunity to meet expand one’s awareness and one’s networks.
Access, connectivity and familiarity are all barriers. Two worlds are connected without the benefit of meta verbal cues and bridging that is possible when two people meet. Attention spans are reduced with use of mobile phones. Phones themselves are shared – often with patchy audio which also interferes in experience, besides the difficulty in putting on video and connecting due to poor connectivity.
This makes purpose driven design, built on adult learning principles, central to success to online training for last mile actors.
Vriddhi was invited by Arya Collateral to help make digital its in person training to women sourcing managers. Arya offers post-harvest agriculture value chain interventions to farmer producer organisations. In pre COVID times, the intervention was preceded by a training programme for extension workers, leaders and managers of Farmer organizations.
Vriddhi collaborated with B works, a specialist agency in communication, in collaboration with a team of Arya initiated this process.
Based on what we heard as part of the scoping, we thought it is best focused at an individual level – in terms of individual preparedness for role. The training focused on leaders and extension workers of farmer organizations. Arya team was expected to facilitate the joining of the FPOs into the program and then be in touch with them after to take up specific business offerings, where relevant.
The process started in July 2020 and the design was completed by August 2020. The program was structured in four modules.
33 participants, 27 men and six women, from three farmer producer organizations attended the first batch. At the end of the process, two of the three FPOs have made their plans and initiated post-harvest interventions. The third FPO is still in the process of formation and will buy and sell directly this year. There is an interest from other promoting organizations also about this intervention.
The things that worked for them:
It can be said that the program was more focused on “jankaari” than “tayyari”.
This is also because of the delivery- which stayed to the overall message but sometimes the finer message was not delved into enough. For instance in the session on internal coordination, what is to be emphasized is clarity of roles, communication channels and system of conflict resolution. While internal coordination was highlighted as a success factor – what is needed for it to be made into a success was not so much of a focus of the program. Also, due to the whatsapp link being weak, the assignments and post session engagement was patchy.
Participation: Sessions were usually 90 minutes long. Arya team facilitating invited sharing of experiences and invited different members to share their reflections and insights. 9 (8 men, 1 woman) had more than 80% attendance which included the leadership of the organisations. Attendance is only indicative because often more than one person attended via one device. Low attendance was reported from the farmer segment – they had been included as participants but were not in any clear role in the work of the FPO.
The experience was that it started with some disinterest but moved to interest with participants enquiring about link and material of the program. A group had also been formed on whatsapp for sharing links, recording and reference material. Participation on that group was not very much, partially due to access to devices but also because of hesitation of participants.
The content was chiseled to make it sharp to what was needed for their role. It was to build on their sharing their own experiences. The Arya team felt that clearer content, using storytelling and metaphors made it easier for the trainer to focus on what was important. Case studies were included to illustrate specific experiences and form the basis of discussion. Panel discussions became feasible on account of convenience and cost afforded by technology. A face to face training on quality assessment is essential. In fact a mid-way visit/meeting with the participants in their FPO system would help give fillip to the business development goals and also clarify any issues that may be there for the trainees. The business team’s response was to highlight documentation and legal requirement, quality assessment which needs to be done in person and finally the relationship building with farmers. While some sessions can probably be combined, the overall duration being more than 10 days provides for opportunity for some relationship building also.
Arya team: The local sales team of Arya provided the personal touch by being in regular contact with the FPOs and participants during the program. By their participation, trainers were also able to contextualise the content to specific state requirements – e.g. in case of documents or markets. The Arya team members reported their own increase in confidence. They also felt that the training program fanned in the FPO, their desire for association with Arya. It gave them confidence that Arya means business and has some meaningful offering.
Trainers: Lead training was done by Arya team. It was supported by women leaders from FPOs experienced in post-harvest interventions. The local Arya team was available as resource people to give any specific input or clarify as needed for example with respect to warehousing possibilities in the area. This combination worked out well. Listening to other experienced farmer leaders is inspirational for the participants. It also increases the relatability of the content. It would be useful to see these FPO leaders as the core trainers with Arya team coming in to complement or substantiate. A dedicated administrator managed the zoom sessions as well as sharing of links, recordings and resource material after the events.
Bworks played an active role in designing the modules. Shashwati Balasubramanian did the design work on the content in English and Hindi. Ag connectors – a group of International development specialists also gave support in thinking of the learning framework, defining of competencies and goals.
Our recommendations to Arya were that, in the next batch, the following points can be borne in mind:
