cliff schmidt: literacy bridge

Delivering life-changing knowledge to the poorest rural families

L I T E R A C Y B R I D G E

L I T E R A C Y B R I D G E

L I T E R A C Y B R I D G E

Delivering life-changing knowledge to the poorest rural families

L I T E R A C Y B R I D G E

Knowledge from Local Experts

Agriculture Practices

Health Behaviors

For the Poorest Rural Families

Delivered On Our On-Demand / Off-Grid Media Platform

Agribusiness

L I T E R A C Y B R I D G E

Maternal & Child Health

L I T E R A C Y B R I D G E

The Talking Book

• Simple

• Durable

• Designed for oral cultures

• Designed for on-demand / off-grid

User Feedback

L I T E R A C Y B R I D G E

Results: Effectiveness

• Effectiveness = Learning, Application, Production

• In homes, 91% had applied a new practice.

• Guidance from a neighbor or use outside the home, only 6 of the 12 had applied

• Talking Book group significantly increased total crop production from 2008 to 2009.

CA reports/ focus groups

Talking Book metrics Monthly community visits

KAP surveys In-depth interviews

Monitoring the Program

Agriculture Impact

• 2009: Average farmer had 48% larger harvest after first year of program(40 farms, one village)

• 201236% larger harvest after first year of program (177 farms, ten villages)

2012 Best Farmer Awards

• Best Peanut Farmer and Best Beans Farmer

• 2 of the 4 major crop awards

• We had reached 6% of the district’s 68,000 farmers.

2013 Best Farmer Awards

3 More!

Best Farmer Awards

• 2012 “Best Peanut Farmer”

• 2012 “Best Beans Farmer”

• We had reached 6% of the district’s 68,000 farmers.

Healthy Baby Award

While the husband learned to become the best farmer…

…his pregnant wife learned to have a healthy baby.