Documentación de experiencias campesinas con uso de Tecnologías de Información y Comunicación:
Un instrumento de gestión del conocimiento local

Luis Carlos Aguilar, Jocelijn Francois, Anne Piepenstock and Sergio Quispe, 2005.
ISBN 999905-905-0-08.
Fundación AGRECOL Andes. Calle Pasos Kanki No. 2134, zona Cala Cala, Cochabamba, Bolivia.
http://www.agrecolandes.org , E-mail: info@agrecolandes.org

 

The methodology presented here is the result of a project run by AGRECOL Andes with farmers from different communities in Bolivia. It started when a group of farmers approached them with a set of photographs, asking for help in making nice printouts as they wanted to show their work in a local fair. This helped the AGRECOL team realise the possibilities that cameras can have in a participatory documentation process, and their potential advantages for sharing information generated and validated by the farmers themselves. The resulting project, carried out with the support of the International Institute for Communication and Development (IICD), aimed to involve male and female farmers in a process of knowledge generation and exchange. This was based on the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) and on a farmer-to-farmer approach. This book is based on the results achieved.

Documentation and ICTs
After a brief introduction, the authors highlight the importance of local knowledge and of local capacities in development. In order to be effective, all development processes need to start by focusing on the self-esteem of the population. They must consider the possibilities which local knowledge and the capacities of the local population can bring, especially when looking at agroecology, agricultural production and rural development. The farmer-to-farmer approach (or campesino a campesino) is seen as an effective way of increasing self-esteem, as it is based on what farmers know and aims at building local expertise, validating it and disseminating it. The documentation of local knowledge plays an important role in this process, helping promote local development.

The use of ICTs has many advantages, and can therefore contribute in many ways to an effective documentation process. Digital cameras, for example, can be easily used by non-experts or by those with no previous experience. They help give an instant visual message, containing elements and ideas which are easily conveyed and understood (in contrast to, for example, a written text). Their use can be easily complemented by portable computers and multimedia equipment.

A documentation methodology
AGRECOL’s work with 15 organisations helped develop a structure for documenting farmers’ experiences. It starts by considering what type of experiences can be documented (on the basis of a set of criteria), and looks at the different actors who can take part in it. The actual process begins with an initial preparation phase, followed by a training stage and then by the actual in situ documentation. The third phase validates the results, leading to the exchange of experiences among participants.

• Preparation. In this step the experiences to be documented are identified, as well as the organisations and individuals to be involved. It is necessary to present the process clearly to the community leaders and to the whole population. Then a group of local facilitators can be selected, as those who will support the documentation process.

• Training and documentation. The purpose of this step is to help the local team become acquainted with the use of cameras and computers, for which a set of training courses is organised. The team then prepares a tentative script, as a sequence of activities to follow, selecting the issues which participants want to show and the specific message they want to convey. The team then goes to the field and takes a series of photographs, all of which are saved. At this point it is important to record all the relevant information related to each image: location, names of those involved, objectives, etc., either as a text or as an audio file.

• Validation. A short presentation is made of all photographs, helping those involved to express their opinions and recommend changes (e.g. in the sequence, or in the information provided). It may be best here to work in subgroups. After the necessary changes are made, the whole group prepares the final product (often a Power Point presentation).

• Exchange and dissemination. This is an important step in every documentation process, for which it is important to establish links with other communities and organisations. In this case, the community itself becomes an open space for communication and horizontal interaction between farmers. Those who have documented their experience can show their work in their own and in other communities; going to other villages also helps them start a new documentation process. In both cases, the electronic presentations are easily complemented by songs, plays, or simply by visiting the farmers’ own plots.

The guide then looks at the main advantages of this methodology: it helps to show the value of local knowledge, while at the same time introducing new ideas and concepts. The whole process helps create a common and collective knowledge, which is easily shared. This is all presented in detail through a series of lessons learnt, and is complemented with examples of experiences documented.

 

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