USING TECHNOLOGY TO ENHANCE ANNIE’S PROJECT WOMEN FARMER TRAINING

Annie’s Project is an acclaimed national farm risk management training program for women farmers that began in the Midwest in 2003. This program has been extremely successful nationwide due to its facilitation of networking, face-to-face communication, and on-going dialogue between presenters and participants.
After facing several challenges by the speakers/presenters, the team created a course that utilized in-person, distance learning via live video broadcasting, social media tools including Facebook, and the website as a means of achieving its goals in the most time and cost effective way possible.
In 2012, 75 women were reached synchronously through a combination of in-person meetings and distance education.
The use of technology to facilitate the course allowed for its stated goals to be achieved as well as reduce program costs and time commitments from speakers and coordinators.
When the end of the program survey results from both the 2011 and 2012 classes were compared, participants gave similar positive responses.

I International Symposium on Horticulture Economics, Marketing and Consumer Research

M. Melendez, R.G. Brumfield, J. Carleo, J. Heckman, A. Lippet-Faczak, J. Matthews, B. O’Neill, N. Polanin

business management, best management practices, business plan, empowering women, female farmers

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2015.1090.2