Over the past few weeks Farm Radio International was fortunate enough to be covered in a great article by Melissa Ulbricht (@melissaulbricht) on both Mobile Active and the MediaShift Idea Lab blog on www.pbs.org.  The article looked into what we believe is a very exciting application of newer technologies to tried and true radio in the developing world.  The idea is quite simple:  give farmers the ability to listen to market prices, archived radio broadcasts and other content on-demand and make it available when and where they feel is most convenient.  This idea sprang out of a traditional weakness of radio in the past; that it is inherently a technology that is broadcast once (sometimes twice) at a specific time.  For many farmers, broadcast times have been inconvenient, interfering with work that needs to be done in the field or elsewhere.  Women have often been excluded from listening to broadcasts due to lack of access to a radio during the time of broadcast and simply being busy with household duties.  To us it was a shame that such valuable information was only broadcast a finite amount of times and was often missed by the people that could benefit most.

The idea: What if we could make broadcasts and market information available to farmers through mobile phones on-demand?  The wide availability of mobile technology to even the poorest farmer in Africa could give access to radio stations’ back catalogue of programs when and where the farmer wanted – additionally making market prices/info available through a simple phone call even further enhances the radio’s agricultural services to farmers. Our research has shown that on more technical agricultural issues and quick listing of market prices, farmers want a chance to repeat listen in order to be sure about the techniques and prices.

The technology: The folks at Kubatana.net have created the technology that has brought this idea from the drawing room to a reality.  Their technology called Freedom Fone, is known as an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system.  In all likelihood, if you are reading this in Canada, the US or Europe you have probably used something very similar to this technology when you try to get customer service for product X.  “Press 1 for service in English.”,  “Press 2 to listen to our store hours.”  When you interact on the phone with a computer system this way you are actually accessing a type of IVR.  Where our implementation of Freedom Fone differed, however, was the type of content that was loaded and the fact that it was linked to a farm radio campaign.

From Freedom Fone to Farmers’ Fone: We deployed Freedom Fone in both Ghana and Tanzania as part of our African Farm Radio Research Initiative (AFRRI) funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in order to learn how can new technologies could increase the effectiveness of radio as a sustainable, interactive development communication tool.  In both countries the technology was used to support and enhance what we call participatory radio campaigns (PRC’s) on specific agriculture topics that have the potential to improve the food security of local farming households.

A farmer uses her phone to access the Freedom Fone IVR system in Ghana

We won’t go into too much depth here (you can read some very detailed analysis in the article here:  http://www.mobileactive.org/case-studies/freedom-fone-field).  In Tanzania, through Radio Maria, farmers were encouraged to call into a specific number that was advertised on the farm radio program and leave messages that told their story of how they were implementing the change on their farm.  We know that farmers love to hear voices like their own on the radio and that when they hear these voices they are much more engaged in the farm radio programming.  In Ghana, the system was used to make commodity prices for local markets available for re-listening as well as the radio programs in two different local languages: Ewe and Akan. The system received over 4,500 calls, just over 2,000 of which accessed past the welcome message.  It was clear that we had found a service that farmers found interesting and useful.

Now the implementation of the technology was not perfect (you can read what worked and what didn’t here:  http://www.pbs.org/idealab/2010/08/how-freedom-fone-helped-create-participatory-radio-in-africa215.html)   but in the end we have gained some valuable insight into how newer technologies can push radio to a new level of interactivity and in the process act as a more effective medium for farmers to participate in.  This is just one example of radio 2.0, where lines blur between mobile phones, SMS, MP3 and radio.  It is indeed an exciting time to be working in the field of communication for development and we are loving every minute of it.

Stay tuned for more results from the AFRRI project this fall when we will be releasing our major outcome reports, including one assessing our use of newer technologies with radio. http://www.farmradio.org/english/partners/afrri/info.asp

Farm Radio International’s fourth radio scriptwriting competition on Healthy Communities in sub-Saharan Africa is well underway. On August 16th, a free, 10 week online scriptwriting course commenced for all registered participants. This year we are pleased to announce that the number of participants has almost doubled to 419 people!

The free distance training, first offered last year for the radio scriptwriting competition on smallholder farmer innovation, has been applauded by many broadcasters across the African continent.

Bravo to the hard working facilitators your work was highly exceptional to me because of your personal time you devoted to this training for the past two months. I am now extending what I have learned to other colleagues at our community.

- Jefferson Massah from Radio Gbarnga in central Liberia

Everyone who completes the training course will receive a Sansa MP3-player. Here is what Robinson Wikana Mukangayi from the Shinyalu Community Telecentre in Kakamega, Kenya had to say on last year’s competition and training:

Robinson Wikana Mukangayi (right) from the Shinyalu Community Telecentre in Kenya receiving his certificate and Sansa MP3 player after completing the scriptwriting competition online training on the topic of smallholder farmer innovation

I am writting to confirm that I have recieved a Certificate and a Sansa Player from Farm Radio International.

I am so grateful about your keeping to your word. It is indeed a confirmation of your kind dedication to our welfare and smallholders as whole. I shall particularly continue working in the same line for the betterment of this very important population.

I also want to confirm to you that our Government has finally after much deliberations on the media laws, enlisted us among those to be allocated FM Radio frequency which eventually can incorporate TV. We have much lined up for the smallholder in all sectors including research, Agriculture, ICTs, health, education among others and thats why we have this as their station. So far they are enjoying the immense wealth of information from Farm Radio International, CTA and others ranging from publications, scripts, training like the just completed and constant interactions. I am moving on to pass on the knowledge to others whom we intend to use in the station as broadcasters and reporters so you have for sure set the best pace.

Kindly endeavor to include us in any other training. Make use of us at all times. Otherwise, thank so much.

Robinson Wikana Mukangayi, Shinyalu Community Telecentre, Kakamega, Kenya

Farm Radio International partner, Lydia Ajono from the Ghana Community Radio Network

Farm Radio International broadcast partner, Lydia Ajono, has been involved with the Ghana Community Radio Network (GCRN) since it began in 1999. She has worked with community radio for many years. When she left high school, she joined a Radio Netherlands project in northern Ghana. Since then, she has been to the Netherlands for training, worked with the national media in Ghana, and been involved in international community radio projects.

 She spoke with Farm Radio International from Bolgatanga, in northern Ghana. She was on her way to train some radio producers in programming. Like a radio professional, she described the scene before her with little prompting: “I am standing on the edge of the market in Bolgatanga, next to some stalls selling woven baskets. It is quite noisy and there are donkeys in the market.”

 Ms. Ajono works as a trainer with the Ghana Community Radio Network. There are two aspects to her role. First, she works with communities, using participatory methods to help them understand what community radio is, how to use it, and how to tune in and participate. She also trains staff on production and programming skills. She works with station staff, showing them how to research and develop programs. She passes on key skills, such as the story-based approach, which she learned through her involvement Farm Radio International’s AFRRI – the African Farm Radio Research Initiative.

 There are currently 10 fully operational community radio stations in GCRN. Ms. Ajono says that 12 more are preparing to go on air, from all over Ghana. She has also been able to share her experiences with other African countries. In 2008, she travelled to Sudan to give training in support of a community radio network being set up in Southern Sudan. GCRN also has contacts with and supports community radio in Nigeria, Liberia, Uganda and Kenya. The Network accomplishes all this with a secretariat of five people and 10 volunteers.

 Ms. Ajono wrote an award-winning script for our recent scriptwriting competition on smallholder innovation. Her script tells the story of a woman farmer who grows henna. As part of her prize, Ms. Ajono will take a trip to Argentina later this year to attend the tenth World Assembly of Community Radio Broadcasters, sponsored by the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC).

Radio is a very important tool that can challenge a community’s own development agenda. It is part of our cultural development and language, as it reflects people’s lives and identities. Radio can bring people together, says Ms. Ajono.

Click here to read Ms. Ajono’s award-winning script.

Soil is the foundation of farming. When farmers take care of the soil and ensure that it’s healthy, the farm will be more likely to provide the food and income that is needed. If the soil is not healthy, farmers cannot produce what they need.

Soil is more than just a thing in which farmers grow plants. It is a living, dynamic environment, which is like a human body in several ways. Like a human body, it needs good nutrition, good things to eat and drink. Like a human body, it needs to be healthy in order to support growth. And like a human body, its sub-systems need to work well individually and cooperatively to support maximum health and growth.

Two central ways to support soil health are to ensure that soil is fertile, and to ensure that soil is protected from erosion (this is called soil conservation). This script package explores these two critical aspects of soil health.

Click here to read the scripts.

To read our broadcaster newsletter, Voices, click here.

“We knew the technique of composting, but it is by the strength of radio that we have the courage to do so.” These words from a farmer in a small village in rural Mali tell a story that we have seen repeated many, many times over the past three years.  It is the story of how radio, by far the most widely available mass communication medium for most of the developing world, has provided life changing agricultural information for farmer after farmer across sub-Saharan Africa. Since 2007 Farm Radio International in partnership with World University Service of Canada (WUSC) and funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, has been undertaking an action research project called the African Farm Radio Research Initiative (AFRRI).  The major aim of the project is to design and implement a participatory, multi-stakeholder action research program to discover, document and disseminate best practices for using radio-based communications to enhance food security in Africa.  In short, we are trying to learn and share how radio can be used most effectively to ensure that farmers are able to provide food for their families and earn income on the market.

AFRRI represents one of the first attempts ever undertaken to systematically measure the effects of farm radio programs on the practices and knowledge of farmers, extension workers and others involved in helping smallholder farmers achieve greater food security.  In the past, there was some evidence that radio is an effective means of communicating with smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa but the truth is that much of it was anecdotal.  Thanks to AFRRI, we started getting hard data to back up these stories.

So after three years what are we learning?  We are now in the last year of the AFRRI project and we are starting to see some very exciting results.  Using a participatory method of program production, including extensive community dialogue, we have seen that radio is most effective whenit is voices of fellow farmers that are on the air talking about their triumphs and challenges.  Of course there is room for agriculture experts such as extension staff, but it is truly the voice of farmers that makes the difference.  We are also learning how men and women have different experiences in implementing new techniques learned on the radio.  Above all else we are learning just how effective radio can be when it reflects the concerns and hopes of the local farming population.  We are learning how important radio is to rural development across sub-Saharan Africa.

To read more about the research results that are coming in from the field please click here.

Enock Kyambaddee, Farm Manager for Uganda Rural Development Training Center (URDT) in Kagadi Kibaale

The video above (or here) shows Enock Kyambaddee, a supporter of AFRRI who believes radio is the best tool to inform and educate millions of farmers in Africa.  Enock works as a Farm Manager for Uganda Rural Development Training Center (URDT) in Kagadi Kibaale. He also volunteers as an extension support officer for AFRRI. In 2008, he attended the radio broadcaster’s capacity building program. Since then he has supported the Kigadi Kibaale radio station in producing and broadcasting radio campaigns on agriculture topics that are important to local farmers.  Enock says that radio “Gives voice to the voiceless”We can’t agree more, and we will continue to support small-scale agriculture in Africa to make sure farmers are able to have a voice in their own development.

If you want to learn more about AFRRI please visit our website.

Adama Zongo - editor-in-chief of Farm Radio broadcasting partner Radio rurale du Burkina

Adama Zongo has been the editor-in-chief of Farm Radio broadcasting partner Radio rurale du Burkina – the national broadcaster – since 2005. But Adama is not new to rural radio broadcasting. He started his career in July 1982 after being trained at the Centre Interafricain d’Études en Radio Rurale de Ouagadougou, in Burkina Faso. Adama first received Farm Radio International script packages in the 1980s, when the organization was known as the Developing Countries Farm Radio Network. From 1985 to 1990, Adama dabbled in print journalism as a reporter for the national daily newspaper Sidwaya. But his love for radio brought him back to broadcasting in 1990, when he started working for Radio rurale du Burkina as a trainer of local radio broadcasters.

Radio rurale du Burkina produces many radio programs on rural topics such as: improved seeds, dry season crops, irrigation, organic manure, fodder production, production of crops such as cowpeas, rice and corn, and diversification of agricultural production; as well as climate change which, Adama stresses, has a significant impact on agricultural activities.

In all his years as a rural radio broadcaster, Adama says the best story he covered was in 1984. The story was about a bank’s inconsistent practices in informing farmers about purchase prices for inputs. Adama explains that each year, before the growing season, the bank estimated the input needs of farmers without setting a fixed price for the inputs. It was only after the inputs were distributed that the bank set the prices. The farmers did not understand why the bank was unable to set the prices before they distributed the inputs. They felt cheated and were convinced that the bank was trying to rob them. After these concerns were broadcast, the bank felt the need to provide the farmers with more information. They started an awareness campaign to educate farmers on agricultural credit.

As editor-in-chief of Radio rurale du Burkina, Adama says his station regularly covers events such as la Journée Nationale du Paysan, where farmers have face-to-face discussions with Burkina Faso’s president and voice their concerns, as well as events such as International Women’s Day.

Adama is a two-time winner of Farm Radio International scriptwriting competitions. In 2008, Adama’s script on organic fertilizer was a winning entry in the scriptwriting competition on African Farmers’ Strategies for Coping with Climate Change. An audio production of his script, Organic fertilizer within easy reach, was produced for World Food Day 2008, with the help of the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO).  Read his winning entry for the scriptwriting competition on smallholder farmer innovation:  “The Motor Pump Mill“.

Listen to one of his award-winning scripts (french only).  http://www.farmradio.org/audio/adama.mp3

We are happy to announce that we have launched our e-newsletter.  The electronic newsletter will be another way to get information on the work that we are doing at Farm Radio International.  We will feature stories from our broadcast partners, stories from African farmers, new audio and video material, favourite blogs, upcoming events and much more.

We encourage you to sign up and keep in touch!  We always love to hear from you.

Farm Radio International, in collaboration with the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) and other partners, is launching a radio scriptwriting competition on healthy communities in sub-Saharan Africa. The competition is open to organizations and individuals that work with radio in Africa, including radio stations, broadcasters, production organizations, NGOs with a radio project, farmers’ associations with a radio program, health NGOs interested in collaborating with a local radio station, and others.

Competitors are invited to submit a radio script that tells the true story of a local initiative that is contributing to a healthy community. To assist participants with writing the radio scripts, a free, 10-week on-line scriptwriting training course will be offered. Click here to read full press release.

We are happy to present the second English audio production of one of our award-winning scripts from the Smallholder Farmer Innovation script package. Thanks once again to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations for funding this audio production.

Stanley Nyakwana Ongwae from Kisima Radio in Kenya

The production you are about to hear is from the script: “Women use ‘hanging gardens’ to grow vegetables and solve land crisis”. This award-winning script was written by Stanley Nyakwana Ongwae from Kisima Radio in Kenya. “Hanging gardens” is the name given to crops grown in synthetic or sisal sacks filled with soil. Based on real people from the slum area of Kibera, this script gives us an insight into their solutions to landlessness in Kenya.

Congratulations and well done, Stanley!

Listen here!   Stanley Ongwae \’hanging gardens\’ audio production

To read the scipt, click here.

Rosemond Ohene, a graduate from Cape Cost University in Accra, joined Ghana’s Rite FM with no experience in radio broadcasting.  It was a very challenging task but luckily for Rose, she found the Farm Radio International web site.  She soon discovered that there was an office in Ghana that operated the African Farm Radio Research Initiative (AFRRI). This was the key to her success.

Rose learned about the script writing competition from Ben Biafor, Farm Radio’s National Research Coordinator in Ghana. According to Ben:

Rosemond Ohene, broadcaster at Rite FM in Ghana

Rosemonds’ encounter with AFRRI/FRI made a tremendous impact on her ability to look at all the possible agriculture programs and how she can turn them into actual product for her station Rite FM. Her first encounter with the AFRRI team allowed us to share with her our approach to farm radio programming using Farm Radio’s VOICE standards. Rosemond had the opportunity to read through and take some copies of the FRI script with her. I am happy to be a part of Rosemond’s career in radio.

Through this network, she joined the online training for Farm Radio broadcasters offered by FRI. With her agricultural science background, she quickly learned the techniques of script writing and was able to not only compete in the competition but also win a prize.

Meeting such vibrant and intelligent people like Rose Ohene has inspired all of us at Farm Radio International. We would like to congratulate Rite FM management for their visionary move towards serving smallholder farmers.

• Value. We value and respect farmers for their hard work in producing food for their families and the markets.  We talk in depth with farmers to understand their lives and to learn how radio can be of service to them.
• Opportunity. We provide farmers with the opportunity to use radio in ways that help them to be active participants in development. We help them to bring their voices to radio and identify issues of concern to them.
• Information. We provide the information farmers need to safeguard and improve farming and the quality of rural life. We present the information in ways that help farmers understand it and use it. This information includes discussions among local farmers about matters of concern to them.
• Consistency. Farmers can count on us. We broadcast to them on a reliable, regular basis, at least weekly, at a time when they say they are available to listen. Where necessary, we broadcast at two different times for the convenience of both women farmers and men farmers.
• Entertainment. We take great effort to broadcast programs that farmers find irresistibly attractive as well as useful. There is no excuse for boring farm radio programs!