2. Issues and Questions

1. 2. Issues and Questions Priority Information Themes for ACP Agriculture and Rural Development This lesson will help you with the organisation of the first part of a priority-setting meeting. It will provide you with answers to three questions. Why are we here? What do we mean by priority-setting? How should we begin? 1

2. 2. Issues and Questions Priority Information Themes for ACP Agriculture and Rural Development Dr. Carama opens the meeting. The room is almost full. He welcomes the participants. And then he asks the obvious question: why are we here? 2

3. 2. Issues and Questions Priority Information Themes for ACP Agriculture and Rural Development Dr. Carama then mentions a second purpose for the meeting. 3

4. 2. Issues and Questions Priority Information Themes for ACP Agriculture and Rural Development When Dr. Carama finishes his welcoming remarks, the participants applaud. One of them raises her hand. 4

5. 2. Issues and Questions Priority Information Themes for ACP Agriculture and Rural Development Dr. Carama has anticipated this question. He has already discussed the rationale for setting information priorities with Shema and Akil, and he is ready with some answers. 5

6. 2. Issues and Questions Priority Information Themes for ACP Agriculture and Rural Development The questioner raises her hand again: "Thank you. I agree with you. But though you have told us why we SHOULD set priorities for information, I am still not sure that we CAN. Maybe next year I will have access to new technology and maybe this new technology will make it possible for me to use new types of information. How can we plan for that?" Dr. Carama responds: "You are right. But I think we need to do the best we can. If we do not try, we run the risk of making all our investments in information on an ad hoc basis. A bit of hardware here, some software there, some subscriptions here, a few publications there. MMRI has done that. We have spent money inefficiently in the past and I fear that we run the risk of making more mistakes in future." "So, the answer to your question... Maybe we need to go through a priority-setting exercise this year and then do it again next year." 6

7. 2. Issues and Questions Priority Information Themes for ACP Agriculture and Rural Development OK. Let's get started. I will begin with a simple diagram to introduce the idea of a "priority information theme". In the middle is a big question mark. It represents a priority theme that we will try to identify. And around the edges are considerations that we will have to take into account as we set this priority. I have listed them here in the form of questions. 7

8. 2. Issues and Questions Priority Information Themes for ACP Agriculture and Rural Development Let's say that our goal is increased agricultural production. We think that many farmers are not using the most up-to-date cultivation methods. And so we say that "information on improved cultural practices" is a high priority. But before we decide on this PIT, we have to ask (and answer) at least the following questions. Which specific groups of farmers are we targeting with our information? How confident are we that they will use the information that we provide? Do we actually have appropriate information on this subject available now, or will we have to produce it and then package it? How much will this production, packaging, and dissemination cost? 8

9. 2. Issues and Questions Priority Information Themes for ACP Agriculture and Rural Development One of the participants has been busy taking notes. He has developed a checklist of questions that any group needs to deal with at the beginning of a priority-setting exercise. There are FIVE steps. First, we have to say what we are trying to achieve. In the example that Dr. Carama has just given us, the goal was "increased agricultural production". Second, we have to say who our target groups are. Third, we have to analyze the state of the information that we currently have available. Fourth, we have to look at costs. And fifth, we have to think about our chances of success. 9

10. 2. Issues and Questions Priority Information Themes for ACP Agriculture and Rural Development Dr. Carama is pleased that the participants are taking such an active role in the meeting. You are right. Your list of five steps is excellent. But just suppose that we had set our goal as "more equitable income distribution" instead of "increased agricultural production"? How would that decision have affected the target groups for our information? Specifically, might it have shifted our balance between big farmers and small farmers? And in turn, might that change have affected our evaluation of what information content we had available? A new target group might have required different content. 10

11. 2. Issues and Questions Priority Information Themes for ACP Agriculture and Rural Development We'll start with two assumptions. First, that our goal is "increased agricultural production". And second, that the final target group for our information is medium-size farmers. Now the question is: what content should we focus on? What is our highest PIT? There are lots of possibilities. Information on cultural practices? Information on crop protection? Information on post-harvest technologies? Information on market prices? 11

12. 2. Issues and Questions Priority Information Themes for ACP Agriculture and Rural Development Dr. Carama has finished his introduction. The questions from the participants and the lively discussions have given him confidence that everyone is beginning to understand what has to be done. 12

13. 2. Issues and Questions Priority Information Themes for ACP Agriculture and Rural Development The diagram right shows some possible ingredients for a "Mission Statement". 13

14. 2. Issues and Questions Priority Information Themes for ACP Agriculture and Rural Development Level. Our country One region within our country One organisation One department 13a

15. 2. Issues and Questions Priority Information Themes for ACP Agriculture and Rural Development Goal. Increased agricultural production More equitable income distribution Environmental sustainability Gender equity 13b

16. 2. Issues and Questions Priority Information Themes for ACP Agriculture and Rural Development Target Group. Farmers Extension workers Teachers Scientists Managers Policymakers Donors 13c

17. 2. Issues and Questions Priority Information Themes for ACP Agriculture and Rural Development Technology. Face-to-face Print media Radio/Television Digital media Internet 13d

18. 2. Issues and Questions Priority Information Themes for ACP Agriculture and Rural Development Costs. We need to save money We have enough money We will need to raise more money 13e

19. 2. Issues and Questions Priority Information Themes for ACP Agriculture and Rural Development Now Dr. Carama creates two working groups to prepare drafts of "Mission Statements". Please choose the one that you think is better. 14

20. 2. Issues and Questions Priority Information Themes for ACP Agriculture and Rural Development Group 1. - This group will set PITs for the Mulalo Maize Research Institute (MMRI). The MMRI information programme has two goals: to encourage increases in agricultural production and to promote improvements in the status of rural women. The primary target groups for its information products are farmers, large and small, and particularly female farmers. It tries to reach these audiences directly with both print and digital materials. 14a

21. 2. Issues and Questions Priority Information Themes for ACP Agriculture and Rural Development Group 2. - This group will set PITs for the Mulalo Maize Research Institute (MMRI). The rationale for the MMRI information programme is to disseminate the results of research done at the institute. The goal is increased agricultural production. The most important target group is medium-size farmers, to be reached mainly via extension workers. The extension organisation has asked MMRI to provide it with raw information content, which it will repackage in appropriate formats and disseminate. 14b

22. 2. Issues and Questions Priority Information Themes for ACP Agriculture and Rural Development If you chose Group 1 Probably too ambitious. - Most research institutes do not have the resources to reach such a wide variety of target groups or to produce too many different information products. And MRRI will not want to be evaluated on whether the status of rural women has improved. 14c

23. 2. Issues and Questions Priority Information Themes for ACP Agriculture and Rural Development If you chose Group 2 The better answer. - More modest and realistic. MRRI recognizes that it cannot do everything itself and that it must cooperate with extension services. 14d

24. 2. Issues and Questions Priority Information Themes for ACP Agriculture and Rural Development Finally, the group is ready to set its own PITs. It has discussed the basic principles of priority-setting and it has agreed on a Terms of Reference for itself. It will set PITs for the Mulalo Maize Research Institute (MMRI). Its goal is increased agricultural production. It will try to reach medium-size and small farmers with its information products/services. It wants to use a mixture of hardcopy, digital media, and the Internet if possible. It has to watch its expenditures carefully. Dr. Carama declares that it is now time for a break. He asks the group to reconvene after lunch. 15

25. 2. Issues and Questions Priority Information Themes for ACP Agriculture and Rural Development In this lesson, we have covered five topics The purpose of the meeting (Screens 2-3) The rationale for setting information priorities (Screens 4-8) First questions (Screen 9) Different goals, different target groups = different PITs (Screens 10-11) Mission statements (Screens 12-15) Summary