Something is making chickens sick in a market in Dakar, the capital of Senegal. Is it bird flu? Is it a parasite? Could it have something to do with the spy who has been spotted lurking in the shadows of the bustling bazaar?
This is the set-up for a thrilling web series just launched in July in several French-speaking countries in West and Central Africa. It was created by the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs-led Breakthrough ACTION project (which closed this spring).
The main goal of Drôle de Marché (“Strange Market”) is to encourage audiences to adopt bird flu and rabies prevention behaviors that feel relevant, especially during the quiet periods between outbreaks – but viewers might not guess that right away. The 13-episode series deliberately puts the entertainment in entertainment education by subtly weaving key prevention messages about zoonotic diseases into a spy drama plot that stands on its own.
“We know that during outbreaks, people quickly adopt prevention behaviors, but once the threat fades, those behaviors often revert too,” says Cori Fordham, who, alongside a team in Francophone West Africa, helped create the series when she was a program officer under Breakthrough ACTION. “Our audiences were understandably experiencing pandemic fatigue after COVID-19 lockdowns. We needed a fresh approach, one that spoke to both heart and mind, to reengage people and prevent outbreaks before they begin.”
The resulting story centers on a struggling, 30-something farmer who raises chickens and sells them at an illegal marketplace to support his family. When a few of his chickens start dying, he doesn’t think much of it—until his prized rooster falls. He’s devastated, and even more shaken when he realizes that if the death is traced to bird flu, the entire market could be shut down. The series shows that the value of bird flu prevention behaviors – such as handwashing, properly cleaning the chicken coops, and informing neighbors and authorities when an animal dies unexpectedly – is both economic and social.
Later episodes introduce a rabid dog who bites two people, triggering a chain of events that teach viewers what to do in real life: wash the wound with soap and warm water for 15 minutes, then seek medical care.
“Strange Market” was designed to avoid the tropes of the “after-school special.”
“The early episodes are just about getting people to connect with the characters,” Fordham says. “We don’t lead with health messages, but we do layer in the emotional and social dynamics that we know shape health decisions.”
One moment that sparked lively debate in pre-tests comes when the main character takes out a loan to surprise his wife for her birthday. “Some people thought it was romantic. Others thought it was reckless,” Fordham says. “That moment was crafted to get people talking—and to surface deeper issues like couple communication and financial stress, which are major drivers of how families make health decisions.”
The intrigue of the show also allows for a plot point that speaks to the role of misinformation and who is trustworthy – and who may not be. All of this adds to the drama of whether the merchants can keep the market open.
CCP worked with the Senegalese production company Marodi TV Senegal to develop the story and deliver the quality of show needed for the project. “They know how to create stories that get people talking,” Fordham says.
The series airs on Marodi’s YouTube channel, which has more than seven million subscribers. New episodes drop every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday at 7 p.m. GMT (3 p.m. ET). Although the episodes are in French, viewers can access subtitles in other languages by clicking the gear icon, selecting “Subtitles/CC,” choosing the original language, then clicking “Auto-translate” and selecting their preferred language.
In its first 24 hours online, the first episode had more than 75,000 views.
Recorded a year ago, the regional series was created by pooling funding and resources from country offices in Mali, Guinea, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Niger, Côte d’Ivoire, and Senegal, supporting what was then USAID’s Global Health Security work.
The production is at times funny, at times sad, using flashbacks, cliffhangers, physical comedy, and other dramatic techniques to keep the audience engaged. Zoonotic diseases – and the behaviors needed to prevent their spread – have usually been presented in a sterile way. “We wanted people to see themselves in these characters—to feel the emotional weight of the risks and then believe they had the power to do something about it,” Fordham says.
“During outbreaks, you want messages that are straightforward. People already feel the risk and want clear, actionable steps that they can take, but motivating action in the absence of that threat is a different story. You have to find a way to get people to feel the loss without actually experiencing it. And to act.”
Photos: Cori Fordham
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