Grants:Programs/Wikimedia Community Fund/Rapid Fund/FARM TO PLATE PHOTOWALK TO SONGHAI FARMS AND BUGUMA COMMUNITY IN PORTHARCOURT IN THE NIGER DELTA (ID: 22893577)

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Applicant Details

Main Wikimedia username. (required)

Iwai-dialax

Organization

N/A

If you are a group or organization leader, board member, president, executive director, or staff member at any Wikimedia group, affiliate, or Wikimedia Foundation, you are required to self-identify and present all roles. (required)

N/A

Describe all relevant roles with the name of the group or organization and description of the role. (required)

Main Proposal

1. Please state the title of your proposal. This will also be the Meta-Wiki page title.

FARM TO PLATE PHOTOWALK TO SONGHAI FARMS AND BUGUMA COMMUNITY IN PORTHARCOURT IN THE NIGER DELTA

2. and 3. Proposed start and end dates for the proposal.

2025-02-20 - 2025-05-15

4. Where will this proposal be implemented? (required)

Nigeria

5. Are your activities part of a Wikimedia movement campaign, project, or event? If so, please select the relevant project or campaign. (required)

Wiki Loves Africa

6. What is the change you are trying to bring? What are the main challenges or problems you are trying to solve? Describe this change or challenges, as well as main approaches to achieve it. (required)

FARM TO PLATE PHOTOWALK TO SONGHAI FARMS AND BUGUMA COMMUNITY IN THE NIGER DELTA LED BY MICHAEL DIALA & DAPPA SOLOMON

1.PHOTOWALK TO SONGHAI FARMS LED BY MICHAEL DIALA In the heart of Bunu Tai, within the Tai Local Government Area, lies the expansive Rivers Songhai Farm, stretching across 314 hectares. Originally envisioned to bring economic prosperity to Rivers State in the Niger Delta area of Nigeria, Songhai Farms held the promise of job creation, income diversification, skill development, and enhanced market access for local farmers. These potential benefits were seen as pivotal for driving socio-economic growth in the region and fostering sustainable agricultural practices.

Unfortunately, the lack of succession planning, mismanagement, and insufficient funding have led to the decline of this once-magnificent agricultural hub. This has not only diminished food security but also resulted in inflated prices of agricultural products, increased unemployment, and hindered research and development efforts in the area. It is evident that urgent advocacy efforts are needed to revive Songhai Farms and restore it to a thriving economic entity.

This proposed Photowalk to Songhai Farms, organized as part of the Wiki Loves Africa campaign 2025, aims to highlight and document the farm's rich agricultural practices. With a theme centered around 'Farm to Plate,' the event seeks to celebrate these practices while drawing attention to the pressing need for all stakeholders to come together and support the revival of the farm to its former economic capacity. In Line with the theme Farm to plate, we plan capture and showcase the preparation of a rich local delicacies from the farm .

2 .PHOTOWALK TO BUGUMA COMMUNITY LED BY DAPPA SOLOMON

This project will focus on the Ijaw people and their rich cultural heritage, particularly their unique foods, which are underrepresented in the Wikimedia movement. It will be the first of its kind in the Niger Delta region, which remains one of Nigeria's most under-represented areas in terms of content and volunteer engagement within the Wikimedia ecosystem. The Ijaw people have a deep root to their cooking traditions, including their distinctive dishes such as the fisherman soup, the Onunu food, the oporo fulou, the roasted plantains (combined with fish & yam which is known as Bole),the traditional seafood steps. These foods, often made with ingredients found from the rivers and creeks of the Niger Delta, showcase their reliance and the relationship with the waters. This year's theme, "Farm to Plate," will serve as an avenue to spotlight the cooking heritage of the Ijaw people while bringing in more volunteers to contribute quality images to the Wikimedia movement to fill in the image gaps on the Ijaw people. I will be working with the Rivers State Professional Photographers body to bring this project to light as a member of the body. This in turn will help the movement get in new top professional photographers to join the movement. Looking through the Ijaw people profile on Wikipedia, there is no image to represent her people and the reason to embark on this project is to bridge the gap.

7. What are the planned activities? (required) Please provide a list of main activities. You can also add a link to the public page for your project where details about your project can be found. Alternatively, you can upload a timeline document. When the activities include partnerships, include details about your partners and planned partnerships.

1. 1 Virtual Info Session/ Campaign Launch led by Michael Diala and Dappa Solomon

2. 1 Physical Training of 30 participants including 15 photographers organized by Michael Diala & Dappa Solomon

3. 2 PHOTOWALKS (a) Photowalk 1 to Songhai Farms Led by Michael Diala (b) Photowalk 2 to Buguma Community to document the rich cultural delicacy of the Ijaw people such as the fisherman soup, the Onunu food, the oporo fulou, the roasted plantains (combined with fish & yam which is known as Bole),the traditional seafood steps from Farm To pLate

4. 1 General Photo contest facilitated by Michael Diala & Dappa Solomon 5. 1 General Upload Session facilitated by Michael Diala & Dappa Solomon 6. 1 Farm to Plate Exhibition Organized by Michael Diala & Dappa Solomon 7. 1 Debrief, Closeout and Reporting by Michael Diala & Dappa Solomon

8. Describe your team. Please provide their roles, Wikimedia Usernames and other details. (required) Include more details of the team, including their roles, usernames, Wikimedia group, and whether they are salaried, volunteers, consultants/contractors, etc. Team members involved in the grant application need to be aware of their involvement in the project.

Project Lead : Michael Diala is a driven social innovator who established the Wiki Niger Delta in 2019 with the backing of Team Initiative from Nigeria. With a master's degree in project management, Michael has cultivated exceptional problem-solving skills and top-tier project management expertise through his unwavering passion for developing impactful solutions. He would be leveraging on his wealth of experiences in project management alongside with the support of other team members in executing this project , as the volunteer project lead.

Project Co-Organizer

Dappa Solomon is a seasoned documentary photographer who has learned to think about his documentary as an ongoing body of work and not as an individual project that will end with him. He recently won the Wikimedia Foundation National Photography contest as over all best in the Wiki Loves Folklore and Wiki Africa Create contest out of all the entries totaling five thousand images (5,000).Dappa merges creativity, storytelling, and visual mastery.He will be co-leading this project leveraging on his documentary photography and event management skill which is critical to the success of the project .

Welfare & Admin : User: Andikan Efiok Eduok is a Video content Editor, Social and Community manager and a Wikimedian who has led, organized and facilitated Wikimedia programs and trainings within Akwa Ibom State and Rivers State, Nigeria. She is the founder of the Wikimedia Akwa Ibom State Network.

3. Logistic & Facilitation:

Username : Albertoblaq

Mkpongonyong Albert, a wikimedian and civil engineer based in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. A member of the igbo wikimedians user group with a passion for Arts and Photography, He serves as an ambassador to Wiki Loves Africa is the region and would be helping the project align acutely with the theme of the Wiki Loves Africa .

9. Who are the target participants and from which community? How will you engage participants before and during the activities? How will you follow up with participants after the activities? (required)

Our target participants are lovers of Photography, New and Existing Wikimedians , while the contest is open to everyone in the Niger Delta region.

While we hope to engage and follow up participants through a dedicated WhatsApp group.

For newly trained editors, we would assign experienced editors as mentors to guide and follow up new editors.

10. Does your project involve work with children or youth? (required)

No

10.1. Please provide a link to your Youth Safety Policy. (required) If the proposal indicates direct contact with children or youth, you are required to outline compliance with international and local laws for working with children and youth, and provide a youth safety policy aligned with these laws. Read more here.

N/A

11. How did you discuss the idea of your project with your community members and/or any relevant groups? Please describe steps taken and provide links to any on-wiki community discussion(s) about the proposal. (required) You need to inform the community and/or group, discuss the project with them, and involve them in planning this proposal. You also need to align the activities with other projects happening in the planned area of implementation to ensure collaboration within the community.

We had to get incites from wikimedians in the Niger Delta region especially from the Wiki Niger Delta and from the Wiki Loves Team here in Nigeria, the facilitator and the ambassador working with us on the project.

12. Does your proposal aim to work to bridge any of the content knowledge gaps (Knowledge Inequity)? Select one option that most apply to your work. (required)

Cultural background, ethnicity, religion, racial

13. Does your proposal include any of these areas or thematic focus? Select one option that most applies to your work. (required)

Culture, heritage or GLAM

14. Will your work focus on involving participants from any underrepresented communities? Select one option that most apply to your work. (required)

Geographic

15. In what ways do you think your proposal most contributes to the Movement Strategy 2030 recommendations. Select one that most applies. (required)

Increase the Sustainability of Our Movement

Learning and metrics

17. What do you hope to learn from your work in this project or proposal? (required)

1. How do you think this Photowalk can bring a sense of urgency to revive Songhai farms through advocacy.

2. Do you think partnership and stakeholder engagement help us achieve this aim ?

3. What do you hope to learn from this project ?

4 How would your participation in WLA make our community members feel engaged and become attached to the Wikimedia movement?

5. How did you feel being part of the WLA? What was your experience like meeting other community members?

6. During next year's contest will you be part of this movement again?

7. Would you recommend this project to somone?

18. What are your Wikimedia project targets in numbers (metrics)? (required)

Number of participants, editors, and organizers
Other Metrics	Target	Optional description
Number of participants	30
Number of editors	30
Number of organizers	2

Number of content contributions to Wikimedia projects
Wikimedia project	Number of content created or improved
Wikipedia
Wikimedia Commons	1000
Wikidata
Wiktionary
Wikisource
Wikimedia Incubator
Translatewiki
MediaWiki
Wikiquote
Wikivoyage
Wikibooks
Wikiversity
Wikinews
Wikispecies
Wikifunctions or Abstract Wikipedia

Optional description for content contributions.

N/A

19. Do you have any other project targets in numbers (metrics)? (optional)

Yes

Main Open Metrics Data
Main Open Metrics	Description	Target
Strengthen linkages through partnerships of organizations working to revive Songhai farms through advocacy.	N/A	N/A
N/A	N/A	N/A
N/A	N/A	N/A
N/A	N/A	N/A
N/A	N/A	N/A

20. What tools would you use to measure each metrics? Please refer to the guide for a list of tools. You can also write that you are not sure and need support. (required)

1. Outreach dashboard tools 2. Ptools 3. Commons category tool and 4. Hashtag tools

Financial proposal

21. Please upload your budget for this proposal or indicate the link to it. (required)

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1NrhZKugy8NWU48yc6iA7Q6cXM_3C0Mfa/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=102927459831844268495&rtpof=true&sd=true

22. and 22.1. What is the amount you are requesting for this proposal? Please provide the amount in your local currency. (required)

5850729 NGN

22.2. Convert the amount requested into USD using the Oanda converter. This is done only to help you assess the USD equivalent of the requested amount. Your request should be between 500 - 5,000 USD.

3769.58 USD

We/I have read the Application Privacy Statement, WMF Friendly Space Policy and Universal Code of Conduct.

Yes

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Stating why the proposal is important for the communities involved and why they think the strategies chosen will achieve the results that are expected.
Highlighting any aspects they think are particularly well developed: for instance, the strategies and activities proposed, the levels of community engagement, outreach to underrepresented groups, addressing knowledge gaps, partnerships, the overall budget and learning and evaluation section of the proposal, etc.
Highlighting if the proposal focuses on any interesting research, learning or innovation, etc. Also if it builds on learning from past proposals developed by the individual or organization, or other Wikimedia communities.
Analyzing if the proposal is going to contribute in any way to important developments around specific Wikimedia projects or Movement Strategy.
Analysing if the proposal is coherent in terms of the objectives, strategies, budget, and expected results (metrics).

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