Staff Reporter
Lahore
USAID Pakistan Agricultural Technology Transfer Activity (PATTA) held a consultative working group meeting to discuss innovative approaches to enhance the use oftheir agricultural technologies by farmers in Punjab. USAID PATTA provided technical assistance to the private sector todevelopsocial and behavior change communication (SBCC) toincrease awareness regarding bestagricultural management practices, increase sales, and improve farmer adoption of innovative agricultural technologies. Ultimately, as the project’s partners increase outreach, the farming community will make significant gains by using the right tools and practices to spend less and earn more on their farm land.
PATTA seeks to commercialize agricultural products and services which can enhance farmers’ productivity and access to affordable and innovative technologies through its private sector partnerships. The project offers support in enhancing SBCC approaches to help the private sector to develop an understanding of the current practices and behaviors which generally discourage wider technology adoption.
Hussnain Atta, Business Development Manager at Farm Dynamics Pakistan (FDP), participated in this consultative session and appreciated USAID’s commitment to upscale technology adoption. He added,“PATTA’s facilitation in broader marketing and promotional techniques is an excellent opportunity to reach new farmers. By introducing SBCC tools and marketing tactics, we can reinforce messages to mobilize farmers and take our technologies to new areas.”
Since January 2019, PATTA has collaborated with private sector partners to develop effective mediums and messages which are impactful and cost-effective. In particular, PATTA facilitated FDP in launching its first-ever SBCC campaign on improved fodder seeds earlier this year. The campaign focused on using interpersonal communication methods supplemented by a social media campaign to reinforce the messages to farmer communities.Due to these efforts, FDP expanded its presence in new targeted districts of Punjab and reached over 900 farmers as well as dealers and local influencers.
“By spearheadingtransformative change through modern SBCCtechniques, USAIDPATTA is closely working with itspartners to organize community engageme ntactivities and digital media campaigns.
