Impact from Israel

#ThatYouMayTell

No words can describe how much understanding I have gained from visiting Israel – a historically holy land and a modern day miracle.

Jerusalem

 

The Holy Land as a Historical Place

There is nothing like going to the place that you have only read about and only seen in your imagination. The land of Israel awakened my faith in a way that no revival bus or conference high could ever re-create and I do not take for granted the privilege of visiting the Land that many only dream about seeing. I thank God for the opportunity to go; I asked him when I was 12 years old for a chance to go to Israel, and 9 years later He answered my prayer! Today as I open my Bible, the words are fresh and are coming alive on the pages. I cannot wait to re-read every scripture at my hands.

Israel as a Modern Day Miracle

Experiencing the modern state of Israel and hearing from Jewish and Palestinian-Muslim speakers alike opened my eyes to so much about Israel in the context of the Middle East. What stands today was considered impossible yesterday. No other nation of people (the Jewish people) has ever survived once they were scattered from their homeland, yet Israel has survived and in many ways thrived through 2000 years of exile. Today it is successfully and somewhat unexplainably protecting and stewarding its homeland while surrounded by many enemies who want to see the destruction of the Jewish people. Israel as a nation has experienced trauma after trauma. I would have expected to see a wounded, limping people and nation, struggling to move forward today. Yet, these past 11 days, I witnessed quite the opposite. I saw RESILIENCY. Families living in locations continually hit by rockets from the terrorist organization Hammas choose to stay in their communities as a symbol of hope for peace in the near future. I saw INNOVATION and CREATIVITY. Despite its small population and many obstacles, the nation of Israel can take credit for a ridiculous amount of the world’s top inventions such as the modern drip irrigation system and the USB flash drive. Today the state contains masses of start-up companies and thriving crops in soils that shouldn’t be able to grow anything.

View of fruitful agriculture from the top of Mt. Precipice

The bustling market in Tel Aviv

But besides these miraculous fruits coming from this Jewish nation, what struck me the most was the undeniable sense of PEACE and HOPE that filled the land, the people, and soaked into my soul while I was in Israel. I thought I would see a traumatized people filled with fear and I thought I would feel afraid in the land. Instead I saw a people who are unafraid, secure, and at peace with themselves. They have seen so many miracles already that all the cay do is trust that miracles and favor will continue to pour out on them.

Israel is unfortunately used to being misrepresented and blamed in the media around the world. Yet they are the only democratic nation in the Middle East and they work hard to bring equality and freedom to all people in Israel. While they are not perfect, they run the government and defense forces on moral principles, valuing all lives and making every effort to protect people in danger – Jewish or Muslim, Israeli or Palestinian, Citizen, Resident, or Foreigner. The IDF often puts their own soldiers in danger to protect Arab civilians in the Gaza strip and in Syria. I am no expert on politics let alone Israeli politics, but what I saw on the ground in Israel did not match up to the negative things I have heard through the media about Israel and the way they treat those around them.

View of the Syrian border from Mt. Bental. Sound and smoke from bombs in the distance.

 

Blessed to Be a Blessing

Every human is highly and equally valued by God, yet God has shown favor on Israel. These things actually do not contradict one another. I do not believe that God is allowing Israel to be re-established and thrive so that it can take over the world or even the Middle East, but so that it can be a light to the Middle East and to the world. At the establishment of the people of Israel between God and Abram, God promised in Genesis 12:2 that “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing to others.” In a land where war is rampant, democracy is scarce, and lives are being destroyed to preserve power and dominance, Israel is a light. Perhaps God has sent the Jewish people back to their homeland not just to be preserved or to be comfortable, but to preserve, comfort, and value the lives around them. In this context, being Pro-Israel today could also be a way of being Pro-Life…Pro-Palestinian life. (As a side note, being anti-Israel does not necessarily make one Pro-Palestinian). God’s favor over Israel does not just infer blessing, but also a high calling and hardship along the way. (I do not think anyone would argue that the Jewish people have experienced extreme hardship throughout history). The Jewish people are being sent home for a purpose that is bigger than themselves. I believe they are being sent to be a light, and to be love to all nations. Isaiah 49:6 reads “He says: ‘It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.’” Peace and Wholeness from Israel to you – Shalom.

Coast of the Mediterranean Sea at Ceasaria

 

 

 

Conserving Wildlife While Improving Environmental and Human Health Through COMACO

COMACO’s radio show Farm Talk in Zambia

Just a few months ago in January 2014, Carrie Young traveled to the Eastern Province of Zambia to conduct one on one surveys in an effort to assess the effectiveness of COMACO’s radio show, Farm Talk. Just days after the trip, she returned late to TA in one of my communication classes, and I immediately wanted to hear about the project. She began by educating me about COMACO (Community Markets for Conservation), a wonderful company in Zambia with goals to reduce poverty and improve quality of life through conservation and farming.

COMACO was founded when Dale Lewis, a biologist working on his dissertation, was doing research in Zambia many years ago and decided to stay to help wildlife conservation in 2003. This non-profit company uses a holistic model to attack dimensions of wildlife, environment, and human health. Its main goals are sustainable food security, wildlife conservation, and ecosystem preservation. The organization targets smallholder farmers and uses extension workers to teach better farming and land use methods that promote the above goals. They also reward farmers who use conservation methods with trade benefits and with a market to sell their produce to. COMACO creates local depots in the farming local areas that provide this market to farmers who, through conservation techniques, are able to produce surplus grains.

One of COMACO’s many efforts is their radio program, Farm Talk. This program conveys important information for improvement of food security, environmental sustainability, and human health, and reaches over 100,000 farmers. Not only does it give information that farmers can directly use, but it also makes them aware of the resources that COMACO has to offer and how they can get involved. It airs twice weekly in the Eastern Province of Zambia in their most commonly used language, Nyanja. In September 2013, ACSF’s Rapid Response Fund enabled Professor Katherine McComas and Ph.D. Student Carrie Young with the funds to evaluate this program and survey the response of farmers and how they are learning and using information from Farm Talk.

In order to make this evaluation, Carrie Young and the producer of the radio show, Filius Jere, conducted interviews with 34 individual farmers to collect initial information. The interview was split up into sections including demographics, exposure to Farm Talk and COMACO, perceptions/comprehension/recall, beliefs/attitudes, and adoption/diffusion of information.

They found that most farmers very consistently gathered in groups from 5 to 30 or more people to listen to the radio program. Lead farmers who had been trained by COMACO extension workers usually organized the gatherings and allowed for discussion after the program. Farmers reported that the information given in each radio show is a good amount and presented in a way that they can follow it and apply it. Many said that if they had questions or needed follow-up help they referred to their lead farmer or COMACO’s The Better Life Book. Farmers did show an interest in more interactive features with the show, like having question and answer call-ins. This, along with their supplemental use of contact with other farmers, shows the benefit of personal contact for farmers to be able to process and use the information in their own farming methods. Although Farm Talk and The Better Life Book are significantly useful resources, no one resource can ‘do it all.’ COMACO is smart to have many resources that overlap in order to reinforce learning and give multiple ways of learning and implementing information.

The importance of reinforcement was also confirmed throughout the surveys when farmers were asked if they had learned new information. Most actually said that they had not learned new information on the show, but used it as a way to reaffirm what they had already learned about conservation farming, beekeeping, and raising poultry. This reinforcement is important to these farmers, however, or they would not continue to listen to the show with such dedication. These farmers who listen to Farm Talk understand the benefits of trying new things. They also want to hear about others like themselves who are trying these things. The desire to hear directly about other farmers’ questions, successes, or failures on the show was expressed more than once. Farmers who are trying these new methods want to hear firsthand from others what works and what doesn’t, and how they can make improvements on their own farm.

COMACO is still young, but is making huge advancements for sustainable food security and ecosystem preservation in Zambia, Africa. Farm Talk is one effective tool that they are using to convey information and methods to smallholder farmers. The show is not only reinforcing information learned by individuals; it is also changing the social norms and increasing the acceptance and use of conservation farming and practices. Farmers are willing to try new things, defying the culture of skepticism. COMACO is providing multiple layers of resources and sources of information that is helping African farmers to make gains and improve their quality of life. The obvious improvements that COMACO have made in Zambia are proof to me that a sustainable future really comes through small steps.

Assessment of Educational Entertainment in Kenya

Two educational TV shows have been aired in multiple countries in Africa to promote social and economic development. One, called Makutano Junction, is an educational and entertaining soap opera; in my opinion, it is very well done. I enjoyed sampling a few episodes and it hooked me. Another edutainment show aired is Shamba Shape Up, a reality TV show dedicated to rural farming methods and techniques. I admit when I went to sample this show I expected to be bored, but I enjoyed a couple episodes of this as well, despite the “reality” of the show for my own life. Both shows have been and still are aired weekly and are accessible to many rural farmers.

                   

Until recently, however, the effectiveness of either show, both produced by the Mediae Production Company based in the UK, had not been assessed. In January 2012 Carrie Young led a team of five from Cornell University to conduct qualitative research in an attempt to make this assessment. The team conducted interviews with 54 farmers in Kenya with questions designed to gauge the educational and potential impact of Makutano Junction and Shamba Shape Up. Farmers were also given the chance to compare the TV shows and provide their preferences and opinions. Questions also gave the researchers insight into the farmers’ knowledge about climate change, environmental conservations, and farming methods and techniques. This type of thorough, qualitative research is time consuming but produces an abundance of detailed and interesting results.

Makutano Junction aims to educate about and promote the millennium development goals set by the UN for the time between 1990 and 2015. These eight main goals are summed up by the image below:

Although Makutano Junction covers a variety of issues, farming and sustainability is a large aspect of the soap opera. All these issues are woven into a dramatic story that reaches almost 13 million people, 68% of whom are farmers.

Shamba Shape Up was created just a couple of years ago and is in the style of a reality TV show targeting farmers, a narrower audience than reached by Makutano Junction. They hope to reach 11 million farmers. Shamba Shape Up is a more direct way of teaching farming methods and techniques. The question is whether or not more direct makes it more effective.

Still from Shamba Shape Up

Direct farmer feedback through 50 questions produced a lot of information and inferences about several aspects including enjoyment, knowledge obtained, and recall from each show. Demographics showed a fairly even distribution of age and gender and revealed that 100% of the interviewed farmers have access to a television and a radio. Viewers gave very positive feedback and seemed to enjoy and gain information from both shows. There was a near even split of preference between the shows and the viewers’ perceived increase of knowledge, the amount they were trusting, taking in, and being entertained by the information being presented.

The majority of interviewees responded that they had learned new information from both Makutano Junction and Shamba Shape Up. In response to the soap opera, 80% of those who responded said that they had learned something new about the environment, 70% about farming, and 60% about raising livestock. Many were excited about learning about planting trees and the benefits form it. Almost everyone who said they remembered learning something from the show mentioned tree planting, a lot mentioned conservation, and quite a few actually did plant more trees.

Researchers allowed each farmer to watch an episode from Makutano Junction and one from Shamba Shape Up and followed up with questions to test recall. Both episodes pertained to making silage, a farming technique. The recall was high and fairly even between both shows, but it was hard for viewers to remember specific measurements or numbers. Right after viewing episodes, the majority of the viewers did not remember the ratio of molasses to water correctly or the length the grass should be cut. Viewers remembered more qualitative information but had a hard time remembering the quantitative information.

Still from Makutano Junction, Episode about making silage

Overall, assessment proved to show both Makutano Junction and Shamba Shape Up as useful and educational tools to educate about developmental issues and specifically about environmental issues and agriculture. This assessment from Cornell’s research team also holds valuable information from viewers that could help to improve these shows. Through analysis of the information taken from these farmers, we can begin to answer hard questions to improve the effectiveness of these tools. Is one style of TV shows – soap operas or reality TV – more effective than another in relating information? How can we sharpen current perceptions of environment and climate change? Is there a relationship between farmers’ demographics and their perception of climate change or use of farming methods? What has been most effective through these shows in producing behavioral changes? What language is most effective to air these shows in? These are just a few questions that are being asked and analyzed in hopes to further the social positions and quality of life for rural farmers in Africa.

Agriculture in Kenya