Grants:Programs/Wikimedia Community Fund/Rapid Fund/Wiki Loves Africa Botswana 2025 (ID: 22884798)/Final Report
Application type: Standard application
Part 1: Project and impact
1. Describe the implemented activities and results achieved. Additionally, share which approaches were most effective in supporting you to achieve the results. (required)
Wiki Loves Africa 2025 in Botswana focused on the theme “Farm to Plate”, inviting local photographers to visually document agricultural practices, food systems, and cultural expressions related to food in Botswana.
We held two training workshops for beginner contributors, targeting young creatives and farmers in collaboration with local institutions. We also used social media campaigns to spread awareness and provide guidance on uploading content to Wikimedia Commons.
Results Achieved:
Over 400 high-quality photos were uploaded to Wikimedia Commons, representing diverse local agricultural scenes and food culture. Participants gained new skills in photography, storytelling, and licensing their work under Creative Commons. First-time contributors made up a significant portion of uploads, showing growth in local community engagement.
Effective Approaches:
Hands-on training in familiar local languages Use of storytelling to explain Wikimedia’s mission Strategic partnerships with photography clubs and agriculture-focused groups
2. Documentation of your impact. Please use space below to share links that help tell your story, impact, and evaluation. (required)
Share links to:
- Project page on Meta-Wiki or any other Wikimedia project
- Dashboards and tools that you used to track contributions
- Some photos or videos from your event. Remember to share access.
You can also share links to:
- Important social media posts
- Surveys and their results
- Infographics and sound files
- Examples of content edited on Wikimedia projects
Project pages:
Wiki Loves Africa 2025 in Botswana project page on Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Wiki_Loves_Africa_2025_in_Botswana) Category of uploaded images (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Images_from_Wiki_Loves_Africa_2025_in_Botswana) Dashboards & Tools:
Wikimedia Commons category for tracking contributions (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Images_from_Wiki_Loves_Africa_2025_in_Botswana) Social media examples:
Wikimedia Botswana Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1AeQP1m7ie/)
Additionally, share the materials and resources that you used in the implementation of your project. (required)
For example:
- Training materials and guides
- Presentations and slides
- Work processes and plans
- Any other materials your team has created or adapted and can be shared with others
For example:
Montage Photography basics walkthrough
3. To what extent do you agree with the following statements regarding the work carried out with this Rapid Fund? You can choose “not applicable” if your work does not relate to these goals. Required. Select one option per question. (required)
| A. Bring in participants from underrepresented groups | Strongly agree |
| B. Create a more inclusive and connected culture in our community | Strongly agree |
| C. Develop content about underrepresented topics/groups | Agree |
| D. Develop content from underrepresented perspectives | Agree |
| E. Encourage the retention of editors | Strongly agree |
| F. Encourage the retention of organizers | Agree |
| G. Increased participants' feelings of belonging and connection to the movement | Strongly agree |
| F. Other (optional) |
Part 2: Learning
4. In your application, you outlined some learning questions. What did you learn from these learning questions when you implemented your project? How do you hope to use this learnings in the future? You can recall these learning questions below. (required)
You can recall these learning questions below: For the Wiki Loves Africa 2025 "Farm to Plate" Photo Contest, we aim to learn the following:
How to raise awareness and increase participation from local photographers, farmers, and youth in Botswana. Barriers to participation, such as access to knowledge of Wikimedia platforms, and how to overcome them. The skills gained by participants in photography and Wikimedia contributions. How to encourage sustained engagement in contributing content to Wikimedia beyond the contest. The impact of the contest in improving the representation of Botswana’s agricultural practices and food systems on Wikimedia.
What we wanted to learn:
How to engage photographers, farmers, and youth in Botswana Barriers to Wikimedia platform access and how to address them Skills gained through participation How to sustain contributors after the contest Whether the contest improves Botswana’s agricultural content on Wikimedia What we learned:
Awareness of Wikimedia remains low; hands-on training helps bridge this. WhatsApp and Facebook are effective for local outreach. Most participants valued practical photo tips and appreciated learning about open licensing. Many expressed interest in contributing to other Wikimedia projects, especially those with cultural relevance. The campaign significantly improved the visual representation of Botswana’s food systems.
5. Did anything unexpected or surprising happen when implementing your activities? This can include both positive and negative situations. What did you learn from those experiences? (required)
One unexpected challenge was unstable internet access during one of the trainings. We mitigated this by scheduling a follow-up sessions and one to one session and supporting those who need bundles/internet to upload.
A positive surprise was interest from a number women who expressed a desire to use photography to share more about Botswana.
6. What is your plan to share your project learnings and results with other community members? If you have already done it, describe how. (required)
We have shared results on:
Wiki Loves Africa 2025 in Botswana project page on Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Wiki_Loves_Africa_2025_in_Botswana) WhatsApp group for Wikimedia Botswana Wikimedia Botswana Community Usergroup page. (https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Community_User_Group_Botswana#Wikimedia_Community_User_Group_Botswana_volunteers_organised_and_participated_in_projects_and_events:)
Part 3: Metrics
7. Wikimedia Metrics results. (required)
In your application, you set some Wikimedia targets in numbers (Wikimedia metrics). In this section, you will describe the achieved results and provide links to the tools used.
| Target | Results | Comments and tools used | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Number of participants | 25 | 30 | Number of participants who attended our photography training sessions |
| Number of editors | 25 | 25 | In total we had at least 25 editors upload an images for the contest |
| Number of organizers | 2 | 3 | Lead + assistant trainers from the community |
| Wikimedia project | Target | Result - Number of created pages | Result - Number of improved pages |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia | |||
| Wikimedia Commons | 400 | 459 | 6 |
| Wikidata | |||
| Wiktionary | |||
| Wikisource | |||
| Wikimedia Incubator | |||
| Translatewiki | |||
| MediaWiki | |||
| Wikiquote | |||
| Wikivoyage | |||
| Wikibooks | |||
| Wikiversity | |||
| Wikinews | |||
| Wikispecies | |||
| Wikifunctions or Abstract Wikipedia |
8. Other Metrics results.
In your proposal, you could also set Other Metrics targets. Please describe the achieved results and provide links to the tools used if you set Other Metrics in your application.
| Other Metrics name | Metrics Description | Target | Result | Tools and comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17608 | This is number of people who viewed our adverts the WLA contest meta page | |||
9. Did you have any difficulties collecting data to measure your results? (required)
No
9.1. Please state what difficulties you had. How do you hope to overcome these challenges in the future? Do you have any recommendations for the Foundation to support you in addressing these challenges? (required)
Part 4: Financial reporting
[edit]10. Please state the total amount spent in your local currency. (required)
32061.43
11. Please state the total amount spent in US dollars. (required)
2400
12. Report the funds spent in the currency of your fund. (required)
Provide the link to the financial report https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1SVEW5_vrUvbWOK8ehdrsoQQmo4NoMBGzf1HcLtZ2TEA/edit?usp=sharing
12.2. If you have not already done so in your financial spending report, please provide information on changes in the budget in relation to your original proposal. (optional)
We directed some of the funds toward hiring tools and services, including video recording and editing software, which enabled us to create high-quality training content and session recordings.
13. Do you have any unspent funds from the Fund?
No
13.1. Please list the amount and currency you did not use and explain why.
N/A
13.2. What are you planning to do with the underspent funds?
N/A
13.3. Please provide details of hope to spend these funds.
N/A
14.1. Are you in compliance with the terms outlined in the fund agreement?
Yes
14.2. Are you in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations as outlined in the grant agreement?
Yes
14.3. Are you in compliance with provisions of the United States Internal Revenue Code (“Code”), and with relevant tax laws and regulations restricting the use of the Funds as outlined in the grant agreement? In summary, this is to confirm that the funds were used in alignment with the WMF mission and for charitable/nonprofit/educational purposes.
Yes
15. If you have additional recommendations or reflections that don’t fit into the above sections, please write them here. (optional)
Review notes
[edit]Review notes from Program Officer:
N/A
Applicant's response to the review feedback.
N/A