Keeping pigs healthy with storytelling and mobile phones in rural Uganda

Smallholder pig farmers in low-income countries face many challenges, including infectious diseases such as African swine fever (ASF). Outbreaks of ASF can destroy entire herds, undermine livelihoods, and make it hard for communities to recover. Limited access to animal health professionals for advice and to practical information about how diseases can be prevented makes it hard for smallholders to be proactive about livestock disease. For ASF there is no vaccine or treatment, the steps farmers can take to keep their pigs healthy and prevent disease spread includes to prevent direct and indirect contacts between pigs through improved biosecurity. 

In this study, implemented in rural Uganda, researchers wanted to find a creative, low-cost way to help farmers learn and apply better biosecurity practices. In this context poverty and marginalisation is high, and access to animal health advice extremely limited, but most smallholders have access to a mobile phone. Instead of sending trainers or producing printed manuals, we used a drama-based mobile learning approach—essentially turning education into an engaging story people could listen to whenever they wanted on their phones.

Learning through drama

The researchers designed short, story-style audios that followed fictional farmers learning about ASF and dealing with common biosecurity problems: how to isolate sick pigs, keep clean pens, and provide healthy and pathogen free food for the pigs. The audios were delivered via free calls from mobile phones, making them easy to access even in rural areas.

Unlike traditional lectures, these dramas used humour, local language, and relatable characters. This made it easy for farmers to imagine the situations described, and thus better grasp how to deal with ASF in their contexts. The researchers wanted to see whether this method was usable, if farmers liked it and if it had potential to change farmers’ practices around pig health.

Results: Big impact for a small investment

The researchers found that the mobile phone delivered drama on ASF security was successful in terms of that:

• Farmers understood key biosecurity concepts after listening to the audios.
• Many said they felt more confident about preventing disease on their farms.
• Many told they had changed something in how they handled their pigs
• The stories made the information relatable, memorable and enjoyable, promoting engagement.
• Because the lessons were delivered through mobile phones, the approach was affordable and easy to scale up.

Why it matters

This study shows that storytelling in the form of short dramas can be a powerful educational tool, even when concerning scientific or technical topics like animal health. Making use of accessible technology (mobile phones) to disseminate culturally appropriate and practical advice, the program helped farmers learn in a way that fit their daily lives.

We suggest that this “drama-based virtual learning” model could be adapted to other farming sectors or public health issues. It’s a novel example of how simple, creative communication can lead to meaningful change in rural communities.

More information

Link to the publication: https://rdcu.be/eJJoi

Researchers in this study:
 
Erika Chenais^1,2 erika.chenais@sva.se 

Klara Fischer²

Richard Kagolobya³

Michel Dione⁴

Karl Ståhl¹

Susanna Sternberg-Lewerin²

1Swedish Veterinary Agency, Uppsala, Sweden 
2Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden 
3Department of Performing Arts and Film, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda 
4International Livestock Research Institute, Dakar, Senegal 

Erika Chenais1,2*, Klara Fischer2, Richard Kagolobya3, Michel Dione4, Karl Ståhl1 and Susanna Sternberg-Lewerin2 
1 Introduction 
In Uganda, pig farming is common, and the majority of pigs are kept by poor small- 
holders in free-range management systems with low levels of biosecurity [1, 2]. African 
swine fever (ASF), a viral disease affecting domestic pigs with severe clinical signs and 
high mortality, is endemic in Uganda. Disease spread occurs mainly in the domestic pig 
Discover Viruses 
Abstract 
This study describes a novel approach for delivering knowledge to pig producers 
about preventing African swine fever in domestic pigs: a virtual learning course 
consisting of audio recorded drama sketches, employed to support improvements 
in implementation of biosecurity in smallholder pig farming in Uganda. The course 
was delivered via system-generated, automated mobile phone calls. Participation 
was automatically registered and followed up by an interview with the objectives to 
investigate the usability as well as the potential of this type of learning for instigating 
change. The 155 participants were active at different nodes of the smallholder pig 
value chain, and in total 148 of these could be reached for an interview. Resultsais