In Israel, as in most developed nations, consumers think little of farmers
and agricultural development when they go to do their grocery shopping.
Pushing a cart up and down the isles of a well-stocked grocery store is
about as close as many city-dwellers get to their fruit, vegetables and
other purchases. However, in every farming nation, there is a need to
supply information to the actual farmers and receive information back from
those who make their livelihood working their land. In each Ministry of
Agriculture throughout the world, there are trained professionals and
extension workers whose job it is to see that information flows freely to
the farmers and that their feedback is received.
For this reason, MASHAV, in cooperation with the Israeli Ministry of
Agriculture and the Centre for International Agricultural Development
Cooperation (CINADCO) of the Ministry of Agriculture, initiated the first
ever International Workshop on Media Communication Systems In Agriculture.
The workshop, held from January 10-February 2, 1996, combined field
visits, lectures by Israeli media and agriculture professionals and
intensive work on personal projects.
Buket Karaturhan is an agricultural extension specialist from Turkey. She
has a Bachelor's degree in agriculture and oversees the publications of
the Izmir Regional Agricultural Centre. "My job has a lot of different
elements to it. I organize meetings of extension workers and sometimes
there is a public relations element to my work. I also prepare a quarterly
journal for extension workers that is distributed nationally. We publish
700 copies every quarter," says Karaturhan.
"About 40% of the Turkish population are farmers, so we are talking about
a huge number of people. But, one of the problems that we face is a fairly
low level of education among the rural farmers. Many have only a primary
school education. Therefore, a lot of the material that I produce is
specifically for our extension workers, who are highly educated and
trained. They are the ones who generally study the material and transmit
it to the farmers," explains Karaturhan.
Turkey is a country with vast supplies of fresh water available to its
farmers. According to Karaturhan, figs, grapes, tomatoes, vegetables and
cotton are some of the highest volume crops. The cotton crops are a
particularly successful export crop.
Other participants in the course came from countries that are not
officially considered developing nations. Dr. Krzysztof Hofman of Poland
says that the educational level of agricultural workers is quite high -
but that they do face a number of challenges.
"Poland doesn't need technology - we have a very educated population. The
main thing that we are looking for is information. We need access to more
literature and the opportunity to exchange information. This has been one
of the main purposes of my participation in this program. I hope that now,
with the advent of Internet (the worldwide computer connection) we will
have access to much more information than ever before. This is one of the
aspect of the Israeli professionals that has particularly impressed me:
their willingness to share their professional experience," says Hofman
admiringly.
Hofman is an economist who specializes in agricultural studies. In
addition, he is on the editorial committee of the Scientific Journal,
which contains highly specialized and technical articles for researchers
and scientists.
"Poland produces a large variety of goods, including potatoes, wheat,
crops for oil production, poultry, milk, pork and many different kinds of
fruits and vegetables. We are actually producing a surplus of food, and
are looking for new markets. Hungary has recently started to buy our
apples at a large volume. However, we do compete directly with the
Netherlands for markets, and there is a problem of preferential treatment
at the hands of the European markets," he explains.
Hofman says that approximately 40% of the Polish population earn their
living from farming, and that most have a high school education. He notes
that most of the literature produced on the subject of agriculture is very
high-level, and geared towards extension workers. They, in turn, transmit
the material to farmers in the rural areas.
Like Hofman, Vladimir Kara also hails from a developed country - the Czech
Republic. However, Kara says that Czech farmers face a number of issues
that must be addressed.
"This is my second trip to Israel. I am a Christian and wanted for many
years to visit here. Under the communist regime, it would have been
impossible. I had to wait until the revolution, and then my wife and I
took the first plane that went directly from Prague to Tel Aviv in 1991,"
he remarks.
"I am a television producer by profession and entered the Ministry of
Agriculture because they needed someone to produce publications and to
communicate with foreign bodies. I was actually involved in preparing the
agricultural agreement between the Czech and Israeli governments," notes
Kara proudly.
"We are a very industrialized country and, for many years, supplied much
of the world with arms. Now, we are trying to move away from that. There
are also a lot of problems that are the legacy of the communist regime,
and we must face these issues, too," he adds.
"For many years, the system was such that farmers were required to join
cooperatives and farm particular types of crops. If someone refused, he
was sent to jail and his children were taken out of school. It was just
terrible," he says, sighing.
"Now, we are having trouble giving land back to those who owned it. People
own agricultural lands, but don't know what to do with it. People simply
lost their connection to the land. The situation now is that there are
huge farms, lots of machinery and educated personnel with university
degrees. We have to find ways of connecting people to their land again,"
he explains.
Kara says that Czech farmers number about 4% of the population. They
produce wheat, meat, chicken and sugar from sugar beets. One of their most
successful crops is hop, a grain used in brewing beer. The Czech Republic
imports citrus fruits, flowers and fruit juices from Israel, but there is
a trade deficit between the two countries that Kara would like to see
reduced in the future.
Jacintha Jacobs is an agricultural instructor and works in the
Communication Information Unit of the Ministry of Agriculture and Labor in
the Caribbean island nation of St. Vincent. Of the approximate 110,000
residents on the island about 6,000 are farmers.
"We have no natural resources on the island, so we depend on agriculture
quite heavily. Bananas are our main crop, and we have preferential
treatment to export to Europe and Britain. Most of the vegetables that we
raise are for local consumption," she says.
Jacobs lists sweet potatoes, yams and eddoes(taro) as the main crops.
Ginger is also produced on a large scale and exported to other islands in
the region.
"One of the challenges that I face is getting information back from the
farmers to include in our publications. I have found that people generally
are eager to see their pictures in the paper, so I try to include a
photograph, almost as an incentive to get material. The farmers are glad
to get the journal. It contains news and also occasionally influences
government policy decisions."
On one occasion, an article was published questioning government decision
to import onions. Eventually, it was decided to protect local farmers and
their onion crops for part of the year and allow imports for the other
part.
For Mohammed Zaria of Nigeria, the workshop has been a learning experience
and a chance to experience the religious side of Israel. A Moslem, Zaria
says that praying at the Al Aksa Mosque in Jerusalem was a very special
experience that he will never forget.
"I have to say that my wife was a little bit nervous about me coming here,
but it was an opportunity that I could not resist. I actually heard about
the workshop through an interesting channel," he explains.
"I decided to write a letter to the Israeli Ambassador to Nigeria
describing some of the programs I am involved with at the Ahmadu Bello
University. I wanted to see if there were any possibilities of cooperation
between our countries. I was invited to the embassy, and had a chance to
describe some of our work. One day, out of the blue, the Ambassador paid a
surprise visit to the Institute! I didn't know that he was
particularlyinterested in bee-keeping. He spent the whole day with us and
was very impressed," says Zaria proudly.
"About 70% of our population is rural and involved with agriculture, but
about 30% of them are virtually illiterate, with only religious education.
Our farmers face a wide variety of climatic conditions. We have monsoons
and deserts and everything in between," he notes, adding that Nigeria's
cash crops (for export) include cotton, peanuts, sesame, soya, cocoa,
coffee, palm and rubber. Crops produced for local consumption include
sorghum, millet, cassava, wheat, yams, sweet potatoes, Irish potatoes,
maizet rice and cow peas.
A journalist by training, Juan Elhordoy of Uruguay is responsible for the
scheduling and broadcasting of economics and agricultural radio and
television programs and is an editor of the monthly Agropecuaria Magazine
dealing with a wide range of agricultural issues.
"One of the main things I am interested in learning about is how the
kibbutz movements in Israel get information to the farmers. It is very
important for me to learn how they do this, what are their methods. I hope
that I will be able to create a similar system when I return to Uruguay,"
says Elhordoy.
"One of the main obstacles that I face in my work is the lack of
organization among the farmers. It is very hard for people to cooperate
with their neighbours. This is one aspect of Israel that I have found most
impressive - the organization of the agricultural world, and of course,
the qualifications of the professionals," he remarks.
Uruguay's most important product is beef and meat. Most farmers are cattle
breeders, and beef accounts for 50% of exports. Uruguay is recognized
internationally as being a country free of hoof disease. As such, it is a
preferred market for US beef imports, which account for approximately
20,000 tons per year. Elhordoy points out that Israel is Uruguay's second
largest market for beef exports.
"We also have a booming wool industry. We have about 3 million people in
Uruguay and about 22 million sheep. Some of our mills are internationally
owned, and others are private. China is our best customer for wool,
accounting for 50% of the exports," says Elhodory. He adds that another
emerging market is the country's dairy industry, which currently accounts
for 7% of exports.
Elhordoy relies mostly on the radio to reach the farming population of
Uruguay. Television is the second most utilized medium, and printed
material ranks third on the list.
Workshop participants all brought rich professional experience and talents
with them to Israel. They had different specialities and problems, yet
they all found a common language when discussing the transfer of
information to farmers and exchanging anecdotes and experiences from the
field. The Ministry of Agriculture and CINADCO have facilitated three
intensive weeks of professional development and sharing, which will
hopefully make a positive impact on the agricultural spheres of all 24
countries that the participants represent.
In issues of Shalom Magazine to come we will enjoy publishing project
reports and articles by these "media" people.