At the beginning of November 2024, 3 ALL-IN research teams held stakeholder dissemination workshops as part of their research projects' completion plan. The three projects, run independently from 2021-2024, were aimed at testing financial and market innovations that could improve the lives of smallholder farmers and households in Nigeria and Malawi.
Dr. Robertson Khataza, Principal Investigator for the "Digital Innovations to improve market access to horticultural produce in Malawi", and his team organized their stakeholder dissemination workshop for Friday, November 8. The research team, originating from Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR), presented insights from their project, which included developing an app that connected farmers with potential clients.
Kicking off the workshop with a documentary highlighting interviews of farmers and vendors, the team delved into the substance of their work. Apart from presenting their digital innovation tool, a trading app useable on simple-feature phones, Dr. Khataza also presented the impact of ICT innovation on the target population's marketing efficiency. Following the main presentation, Dr. Chikondi Makwiza (Agricultural Engineering Department, LUANAR) held a brief presentation on "The future of farming: using AI to modernize agriculture and stimulate youth participation in the agriculture sector".
On Monday, November 11, the University of Ilorin hosted a joint dissemination workshop for its two ALL-in research teams. Dr. Khadijat Amolegbe, PI for the project on "Digital Literacy, outputs market access and demand for rural E-commerce in Nigeria", and Prof. Opeyemi Ayinde, PI for the project on "Linking financial and agricultural innovations for women farmers' resilience in Nigeria" collaboratively organized the well-attended event.
ICED's Director of Research, Dr. Kwadwo Danso-Mensah, represented the African think tank with opening remarks to stakeholders, including local farmers, decision makers, and media representatives. Following Dr. Danso-Mensah's speech introducing ICED and the ALL-IN initiative, Dr. Amolegbe and Prof. Ayinde shared insights from their research on digital literacy and economic resilience, respectively.
The dissemination also featured a Q&A session, engaging attending stakeholders in conversation with the PIs. The session included further clarification of the research and its impacts on the present guests; a moment of levity occurred in a farmer's request for innovation that would allow maize seeds to mature in a time as short as a month. Following the endline dissemination workshop, Dr. Danso-Mensah and the PIs engaged in interviews with the media house Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) Ilorin, further enhancing the reach of the researchers' desired communications.
