3rd Africa Rice Congress Theme 5: Innovation systems and ICT tools for rice value chain Mini symposium 2: Rice knowledge management using using ICT tools for rice value chain Author: Zossou

1. Assessing impact of video and rural
radio on capital assets building with
smallholders rice processors in
Benin
Espérance Zossou
Paul Van Mele, Simplice D. Vodouhe, Aliou Diagne, Philippe
Lebailly
21-24 October, Yahounde, Cameroon

2. Outline
1. Introduction
2. Methodology
3. Results & Discussions
4. Conclusion

3. Outline
1. Introduction
2. Methodology
3. Results & Discussions
4. Conclusion

4. 1. Introduction
• In Africa, agricultural extension services are under
constant pressure to face food insecurity & poverty
• This calls for changes in the traditional public
extension systems => quality video & radio scripts to
strengthen rural learning on rice processing
• Various methods (matching approach) have been used
to test the video effectiveness ( lack of baseline data)
• This study deals to carry out experimental approach
with data before & after learning using the sustainable
livelihoods approach (SLA)

5. Outline
1. Introduction
2. Methodology
3. Results & Discussions
4. Conclusion

6. 2. Methodology
• The study was conducted in
2010 & 2012 in the north and
south of Benin
• 3 types of villages: 4 video, 4
radio & 4 control within similar
socio-economic realities
• 120 rice processors: 40 /group
• We started SLA by focus groups
to get an idea of the overall
description of capitals

7. • Based on qualitative research,
we formulated a questionnaire
• Before videos and radio, we
individually interviewed rice
processors to get capital stocks
recorded in 2010 (baseline year)
• After individual interviews, we
made groups surveys to achieve
a consensus on capital stocks
• 2 years later, we used the same
questionnaire and methodology
to get capital stocks recorded in
the impact year (2012).

8. • Respondents rated capital stocks
on a 0–5 scale for 2010 & 2012
• A spider diagram was then
drawn with value 0 (no stock) at
the centre and the value 5 at the
other extreme
• The causes of changes made
visible in the diagram were
listed and ranked individually
and in groups
• We used the Wilcoxon test,
Kruskall-Wallis test and the
Mann-WhitneyWilcoxon (MWW) test

9. Outline
1. Introduction
2. Methodology
3. Results & Discussions
4. Conclusion

10. 3.1 The components of the financial, social and
human capitals according to rice processors

11. Main components of the three capitals according to rice processors’ description
Capitals
Financial
Social
Human
Entities
Incomes
Quantities of rice processed per year
Access to formal and informal credit
Rate of saving
Financial resources for ceremonies
Clothing
Children schooling
Working in groups
Intra-group cohesion
Inter-group cohesion
Effective collaboration with those who share or
do not share the same views as self
Effective collaboration with local authorities
and development agents
Informations sharing
Solidarity
Knowledges
Health
Skill and ability in the performance of the
activity
Happiness

12. 3.2 Livelihood changes over time for each
category of rice processors

13. Changes in capital stocks: Individual survey
Changes in capital stocks: group survey

14. Drivers of changes
• Video villages: main 3 causes of changes:
– Video shows
– access to credit
– earlier face-to-face training on rice parboiling
• Radio villages: main 3 causes of changes:
– radio broadcasts
– Access to credit
– Gift of the improved rice parboiling equipment
• Control villages: little changes mainly
attributed to more rice production

15. • The ATE model confirmed the impact
perceived on the CF: the revenue gains were
twice as high for video watchers compared to
radio listeners
• The Kruskall-Wallis test showed a significant
difference between the 3 categories: video,
radio & control
• These finding confirmed the power of video,
as observed in our previous studies in Benin
• The video had a significant effect compared to
radio

16. 3.3 Individual versus group assessments

17. • Individual assessments led
to similar results as the
group’s consensus
• Group discussions were vivid
and inclusive
• The similarity between
individual and group surveys
confirms a consensus
• The two assessments are
important for a SLA study to
make a triangulation

18. Outline
1. Introduction
2. Methodology
3. Results & Discussions
4. Conclusion

19. Conclusion
• The improvement in capital assets as
perceived by rice processors in Benin, suggests
that video & rural radio have been effective
• This was confirmed by the revenue gains that
were more important for video watches
compared radio listners
• The videos were used as ressources for radio:
this may also have contributed to the
effectiveness of rural radio

20. Conclusion
• The SLA is a participatory approach that helps
farmers to assess the effect of learning on
their livelihood using their own indicators
• The 2 methods (individual and group surveys)
are important to assess a reliable impact
• The SLA has proven valuable, complementary
& reliable to other methods for evaluating the
effect of information technologies in rural
areas

21. THANK FOR YOUR ATTENTION