Entry: Bill Guyton, World Cocoa Foundation and Stephan Weise, STCP
Earlier this week, we received great news that Dr. Sonii David of the Sustainable Tree Crops Program (STCP) was recognized for her work on “Video Viewing Clubs” in West Africa. We congratulate Sonii, the STCP Ghana team, our local collaborators in CRIG, Stratcom Africa, ANS Media and MOFA, and the FFS farmer video crew in Ghana. We also would like to acknowledge the contribution of CABI Bioscience in initiating the participatory video development approach with us back in 2005. The funding support from this program is attributed to US Agency for International Development, along with World Cocoa Foundation members: SunSpired, Nestle, and Mars Inc.
Here is a message received by IITA Director General (Dr. Peter Hartmann) by Dr. Ren Wang, CGIAR Director (Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research):
I am delighted to inform you that IITA's nomination for the work of the Sustainable Tree Crops Program led by Dr. Sonii David on 'Videos and Guidebooks for Cocoa Farmers in Ghana and usage of Video Viewing Clubs' has been selected as the winner for the CGIAR Science Awards 2008 - Outstanding Communications category.
A panel of three judges carefully reviewed and evaluated each entry.
The panelists' decisions were unanimous. All were extremely impressed with the program and its impact on the livelihoods of farmers, as well as with the creative communications products, methodologies and concepts developed to support the training of farmers. Notably, the participation of farmers in the making of the videos and guidebooks and the establishment of Video Viewing Clubs as a means to effectively demonstrate new techniques to farmer groups are seen as truly promising communications initiatives to improve technology transfer to farmers in rural settings.
The award will be presented on Tuesday, December 2nd, during AGM08 at the Joachim Chissano International Conference Center in Maputo, Mozambique.
Please convey our congratulations to Dr. Sonii David, the primary nominee on the submission.
Comments (1)
Science is really a complex subject, possibly at times, a field with plenty of ego at stake. That is clear. There have even been bouts of "outsiderness" inside the scientific community (molecular biology vs. ecology, or mathematics vs. physics), and types of dogma rising above scientific acumen are too numerous (even once is too much as inside the "Clovis first" mandate). Skepticism has long served science well, but it surely may be time to get a new paradigm -- a subtle, yet strong shift in attitude and thinking. Could "selfless restraint" fill that duty? It's got all the correct elements with no excess baggage that all too frequently goes with skepticism. One glance at the "skeptics" forums and websites, and it is possible to see the kind of illogics that at times discover their way into scientific thinking.
Posted by Devin85Weiss | April 4, 2010 3:36 AM
Posted on April 4, 2010 03:36