Agricultural education in Africa using YouTube multilingual animations: A retrospective feasibility study assessing costs to reach language-diverse populations.

There is a critical need for widespread information dissemination of agricultural best practices in Africa. Literacy, language and resource barriers often impede such information dissemination. Culturally and linguistically localized, computer-animated training videos placed on YouTube and promoted through paid advertising is a potential tool to help overcome these barriers. The goal of this study is to assess the feasibility of reaching language-diverse populations in Africa using this new type of information dissemination channel. As a case study, cost estimates were obtained for YouTube ad campaigns of a video to prevent post-harvest loss through safe food storage using sanitized jerrycan containers. Seventy-three video variants were created for the most common 16 languages in Ghana, 35 languages in Kenya, and 22 languages in Nigeria. Using these videos, campaigns were deployed country wide or focused on zones of influence that represent economically underdeveloped regions known to produce beans suitable for jerrycan storage. Using data collected from YouTube ad campaigns, language-specific models were created for each country to estimate how many viewers could be reached per US dollar spent. Separate models were created to estimate the number of viewers who watched 25% and 75% of the video (most of video without end credits), reflecting different levels of engagement. For language campaigns with both country wide and zone of influence areas of deployment, separate region-specific models were created. Models showed that the estimated number of viewers per dollar spent varied considerably amongst countries and languages. On average, the expected number of viewers per dollar spent were 1.8 (Range = 0.2-7.3) for 25% watched and 0.8 (Range = 0.1-3.2) for 75% watched in Ghana, 1.2 (0.2-4.8) for 25% watched and 0.5 (Range = 0.1-2.0) for 75% watched in Kenya, and 0.4 (Range = 0.2-1.3) for 25% watched and 0.2 (Range = 0.1-0.5) for 75% watched in Nigeria. English versions of the video were the most cost-effective in reaching viewers in Ghana and Nigeria. In Kenya, English language campaigns ranked 28 (country wide) and 36 (zones of influence) out of 37 analyzed campaigns. Results also showed that many local language campaigns performed well, opening the possibility that targeted knowledge dissemination on topics of importance to local populations, is potentially cost effective. In addition, such targeted information dissemination appears feasible, even during regional and global crises when in-person training may not be possible. In summary, leveraging multilingual computer-animations and digital platforms such as YouTube shows promise for conducting large-scale agricultural education campaigns. The findings of the current study provides the justification to pursue a more rigorous prospective study to verify the efficacy of knowledge exchange and societal impact through this form of information dissemination channel.

Dramatically increased accessibility and decreased cost-per-person impacts are needed for scaling IPM in Africa.

While traditional scaling for integrated pest management (IPM) in Africa requires the movement of expert trainers from village to village, these efforts are often costly, time-inefficient, hampered by distance, and became impossible under COVID-19's movement restrictions (despite tremendously increased public need for IPM-scaling knowledge). One solution to this dilemma is IPM-scaling, usable by a diversity of development actors expending limited or few resources, to deliver critical information to large numbers of people with systems-approach information and communication technologies. This paper describes one such systems-approach scaling platform, Scientific Animations Without Borders, which effectively elicited end-user solution-adoption and decreased unit costs over increasing scales in three African countries during COVID-19. How to scale game-changing IPM insights 'off the shelf' and 'into people's hands in the field' is also discussed.