CPAM is a Participatory Action Research approach to document and create awareness of pesticide impacts on human health and the environment. It involves community members who undertake the research, and encourages organising and action. CPAM involves recording of the impacts of pesticide use on health and raising awareness of the hazards of pesticide use. Through CPAM, the community learns to record the impacts of pesticide use and becomes aware of the pesticides’ harmful effects. CPAM aims to empower communities to address their situation themselves and get actively involved in solving their problems. This approach drives the changes required to reduce the use of pesticides, adopt more ecological and sustainable agricultural practices, and pressure governments for the implementation of better pesticide regulations and international conventions on pesticides.
The interrelationship between CPAM, organising, action and advocacy is illustrated in the diagram.
As an integral process of CPAM, it makes use of questionnaires as a method of data collection and analysis. CPAM Questionnaire is composed of six (6) main parts, namely:
1. Pesticide Use and Effects,
2. Incident Report Form,
3. Retail Questionnaire,
4. Documenting Advertisements,
5. Corporate Profile, and
6. Children’s Exposure to Pesticides.
These questionnaires are carried out as field surveys via interviews in local languages.
To provide a more focused approach towards data gathering for the various questionnaires, PANAP has designed and developed the CPAM mobile application. The mobile application has been built on an Android platform and has three (3) main modules which makes it a feasible data collection, data storing and data analytical application. The mobile application has three (3) main components:
To provide a more focused approach towards data gathering for the various questionnaires, PANAP has designed and developed the CPAM mobile application. The mobile application has been built on an Android platform and has three (3) main modules which makes it a feasible data collection, data storing and data analytical application. The mobile application has three (3) main components:
Application Program Interface (API) which are made of sets of routines, protocols, and tools on, how the components should interact with the graphical user interface (GUI) components;
Middle Layer which comprises of management system on PHP environment which collects, stores and hosts all the files such as Database, Content Management, Messaging and Resources; and
Android Mobile Application which can be used to conduct the survey, to collect media such as photos, audio and video as part of its survey.
With user registration and sign-up process, intended users are given access codes to download and install the mobile app on their Android phones. The user information and data, which is being collected and transmitted between mobile device and server are of sensitive nature. A robust security plan is implemented to protect the integrity of the CPAM mobile application backbone which holds and manages the data. All data generated by the mobile app users are encrypted as secured data while being transmitted to the Database as mentioned in the Middle Layer. Only Administrators and those with access will be able to view the data.
The complex process of systematic collection and creation of data for CPAM mobile application through its various questionnaire is depicted in the diagram.
PANAP conducts trainings on CPAM to its staff, network partners and their community leaders. CPAM training usually takes three days to complete. SRED, a long-time partner of PANAP, with some of its women staff and community leaders were trained by PANAP on CPAM. The training also includes the use of the CPAM mobile application. CPAM trainings have been proven as an effective tool to help facilitate skills training to research, monitor and document the extent of pesticide trade and use, and its impact on human health and environment in communities. SRED has certainly benefitted from these trainings.
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Telephone: +604 5022337
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Email: info@panap.net
