 | Background: | |
In the Field is a 12-part series of 15-minute programmes made as a collaboration
between the BBC and the Natural
Resources Institute with funding from DFID
and the BBC which looks at innovative ways of improving the livelihoods of poor
people from around the world through sustainable management of the environment,
drawing on research projects which have successfully begun to tackle issues and
problems.
Each
programme has at its core stories told by poor villagers themselves, together
with extracts from interviews with local and international researchers who have
worked to research and solve livelihood problems which villagers face. These range
from rats which eat household grain and cause illness in Mozambique to the need
for non-farm income in Poland and the importance of access to forests for spiritual
as well as practical reasons in Ghana. Brief
details of the issues around which each programme centres is available here.
|
| Audio | To
listen to the audio files, which are in MP3 format, requires an audio system such
as RealPlayer. You can download this for free at RealPlayer.
The
series has been archived at the BBC World Service website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/sci_tech/features/field/index.shtml
| Text of Audio | Transcripts
of the In the Field programmes are also available for download.
| | |
| 1 | The Buabeng - Fiema Monkey Sanctuary - Word |
| 2 | Tree
Pods - a New Way of Feeding Goats - Word |
| 3 | The
Need for Agricultural Land in the City - Word |
| 4 | Stepping
Off the Pesticides Treadmill - Word |
| 5 | Vegetable
Gardens in the City - Word |
| 6 | Farmers
Who Don't Just Farm - Word |
| 7 | Introducing
Ethical Trade - Word |
| 8 | Different
Ways of Understanding Ethical Trade - Word |
| 9 | Fighting
the Rat Problem Using New Traps - Word |
| 10 | Alternatives
to `Slash and Burn' Agriculture - Word |
| 11 | Trading
Cocoa Fairly - Word |
| 12 | Training
'Barefoot Vets' to Treat Village Animals - Word |
| Programme Notes |
Programme notes are
now available on the In the Field website of the Natural
Resources Institute or through links below:
| Further information |
Most of
the programmes draw on projects funded by DFID, through the Renewable Natural
Resources Research Programme. The
problems focused on have global resonance and the series aims both to emphasise
this and to make the stories relevant to people everywhere by bringing out the
particular human stories about how they are played out. The focus is on positive
messages and a positive future while not avoiding problems and unresolved issues. The
audience envisaged for the series included not only professionals working in development
but also people in villages who face problems similar to those which are presented
in the programmes. Jargon and technical language have been avoided or explained
so that the programmes and notes will be as accessible as possible.
It
is envisaged that the programmes, together with the notes,
may be useful in a teaching or training context, where there
is a focus on taking a sustainable livelihoods approach. Cassettes
and a booklet were produced to accompany the series, and these
have been distributed and used widely in teaching and training
around the world, in schools, universities and in training
extension staff. Some cassettes and booklets are still available
- contact Dr. Monica Janowski (m.janowski@sussex.ac.uk)
There
is also website for the series containing the material in the booklet in a different
format - see http://www.nri.org/InTheField/ | 
