This article was originally published on RedR UK.

RedR UK has partnered with Welthungerhilfe (WHH) to deliver trainings designed to help prevent post-harvest loss in Sudan.

In 2017 a total of 2,094 farmers attended training in Kassala and Red Sea states in Sudan.

The challenges faced by small scale farmers in Sudan

Aline Dessarzin, Head of programmes for WHH, explains:

“A big challenge is that a lot of the farmers have been displaced, so their agricultural methods are not really adapted to the locations where they are; to the land they work with, to the plants they work with. So to just increase the skill level a little bit already helps a lot.

Another challenge is that illiteracy rates in this area are very high. This meant that we needed to take a different approach with the training. You can’t just lecture people, you have to make it more participatory. So what RedR did was to develop a training package that focused a lot on pictures and practical exercises”.

RedR UK’s office in Sudan worked with national trainers to develop materials and adapt the delivery of the training to suit the context, to ensure that the project was effective. Aline describes the impact of this adapted training process:

“You do see the difference where the training has been adapted to the context. I remember the RedR trainers demonstrated a practical test to see if the grain is dry before you put it into the storage silo. To do the test, you don’t need anything fancy, just an empty glass bottle with a little bit of grain and salt, but you get a really clear, useful result. It’s a very visual part of the training and that’s something that the trainees actually practiced and there you can see ‘that’s going to stick’. You can see what the trainer means and you can actually do the test later with your own grain.

So in this regard I think the adaption of the material is incredibly important. The feedback from the beneficiaries was that they really felt that there was a clear increase of knowledge and skills.”