Supporting community-based food projects: advisory & training services on participatory video proposals for planning, sharing and fundraising purposes
Make It Grow is a UoS CROSS Catalyst award winner, affiliated to the Institute for Sustainable Food, University of Sheffield, supported by the UKRI's Economic and Social Research Council.
We devise resources to support straightforward ways of enhancing the social inclusion, production and dissemination of video proposals for community groups and facilitators.
We provide tools and facilitate online spaces to enable individuals, groups and organisations to build their video-making capacities, particularly for the purpose of creating community-based, participatory video proposals.
We work with INGOS, community groups and networks, like the United Nations Development
Programme's Global Environment Facility Small Grants Programme and other donors, to support and pilot the integration of video proposals into their grant management and application
process.
Through our social media channels, we provide support for the community partners that we work with by promoting their videos. Public events and video screenings are organised to support the fundraising efforts and raise awareness about sustainable food issues.
Make it Grow received funding from the ESRC Impact Acceleration Account (IAA) fund to support project activities from April - December 2024. In collaboration with partner organisations, Make it Grow achieved:
The Make it Grow project was borne from a need to support grassroots community organisations to use video to effectively share their stories and pitch their project ideas. The workshop is designed to support participants in using video more effectively, as a powerful tool to communicate, to learn, to document and gain support for community-based food projects. Our learning programme is practical and highly interactive, aiming to create an online space for mutual support and knowledge exchange between participating individuals, communities or organisations.
A participatory video proposal, made by members of the Tatenda farmer group in Goromonzi, Mashonaland west, Zimbabwe. Facilitation by Justice Ncube from Fambidzanai Permaculture Centre.
A participatory video proposal, made by members of the 'Vhelaphi Organics' farmer group in Mashonaland west, Zimbabwe. Facilitation by Admire Gwatidzo and Stephen Diwauripo of Kufunda Village.
Chimanimani residents respond to climate change through resilient agroecology techniques, such as holistic land and livestock management. Watch the video below to hear from families and learn more.
Proud Nyakuni shares her vision for supporting food security and empowering women in her community through poultry projects.
