What is the initiative and where is it implemented (city or country, for example)?
Integrated Functional Literacy and Technical Training Programme (IFLTTP) is an initiative developed by Société de développement et des fibres textiles (SODEFITEX), a textile fibres and development company in Senegal. It aims to equip farmers with basic literacy and technical skills with a long-term objective to improve agricultural productivity, promote sustainability and enhance quality of life. As of 2019, BAMTAARE Services’ IFLTTP was implemented in seven regions of southern Senegal: Kolda, Tambacounda, Kédougou, Sédhiou, Kaffrine, Kaolack and Fatick. The services provided by IFLTTP include literacy training, technical training, support for new rural professions, rural development, development of cereal and oilseed crops, management advice to rural farms, and production of certified seeds (UIL, 2021).
How was the initiative established? How was it implemented?
In 1982, SODEFITEX started a functional literacy programme in response to particularly low school enrolment rates in rural areas of Senegal. The work of BAMTAARE Services SA is part of a plan to strengthen rural development services in support of the new rural economy. The organization launched IFLTTP, the first literacy programme for national languages in support of farmers, in 2003. Although the agricultural sector is the largest employer of the working population in Senegal, many parts of the country still face food shortages and nutrition insecurity. Farmers must have the knowledge necessary to increase their agricultural productivity. This context highlighted the need to create integrated learning programmes to increase farmers' literacy level and develop and improve their entrepreneurial, marketing and other skills.
BAAMTAARE Services SA has three main areas of work: capacity-building, agro-industrial support through consultancy, and research and development. The programme's aims can be reached through functional literacy, vocational training and other courses providing certification. The programme
- enhances farmers' basic literacy and numeracy skills in the national language and in their mother tongue;
- provides training in modern technical skills, knowledge, and tools;
- encourages farmers to apply and practise newly-acquired skills;
- promotes food sovereignty by supporting family-run agricultural holdings; professionalizes relevant stakeholders and associations by providing training courses with recognized formal certificates.
Which stakeholders are involved in the design and/or implementation of the initiative? Which sectors do they represent?
The programme involves stakeholders from the private and public sectors, including state representatives, producer organizations, development projects and programmes, private individuals and other institutions, including BAAMTARE Services SA, which is a SODEFITEX subsidiary in charge of literacy provision in national languages. Other stakeholders are the National Federation of Cotton Producers (FNPC), a member of the National Council for Rural Dialogue and Cooperation (CNCR), the country’s Ministry of Basic Education and National Languages, the Department of Professional and Technical Training, and school inspectorates (UIL, 2021).
What are the impacts of the initiative in terms of facilitating lifelong learning? Who does it benefit and how?
Completion of the literacy and technical training phases results in certificates of achievement that validate the skills gained. These are not only accepted but also highly regarded in southern Senegal, guaranteeing certificate holders a respectable job under contract with farmers’ associations, agricultural holdings, NGOs and local development programmes.
Around 90 per cent of learners who complete the course are employed by farmers’ associations in their villages almost instantly. More than 63,735 people living in rural areas, including 15,032 women, have received literacy training from SODEFITEX since the start of the initiative. This number includes 40 literacy facilitators and supervisors, 1,647 technical plant production team members, 600 technical livestock production team members, 72 crop managers, 58 farm managers and 18 agricultural advisers chosen from among the best members of the various technical production teams.
Another significant impact of the programme is a measurable improvement of literacy skills. The training statistics show the stability of the participants’ achievements. Moreover, the programme has had a positive psychological impact on learners, increasing their self-confidence by showcasing their potential abilities and talents. Learners developed skills for communication, analysis and problem-solving. Additionally, farmers under contractual agreements with SODEFITEX were able to increase their income due to enhanced agricultural productivity. For example, quality control of production was improved due to newly acquired skills and knowledge, such as proper drying and storage practices, timely harvesting methods and diversification with regard to cotton and corn.
Consequently, learners were able to identify problems that hindered productivity, including technical and economic constraints, and solve them using agricultural planning tools, soil erosion combating techniques, organic fertilization processes, loan management and data-harvesting tools. Practising toxic vigilance and combating pests in an environmentally friendly way (threshold measures) also played a role in increasing productivity, as did the use of technology and modern techniques to measure the surface area of their fields via GPS (UIL, 2021).
References
UIL (UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning). 2021. Integrated Functional Literacy and Technical Training for Farmers, Senegal. [Online] Hamburg, UIL. Available at: https://uil.unesco.org/case-study/effective-practices-database-litbase-0/integrated-functional-literacy-and-technical [Accessed 16 September 2021].