Farm Radio International very often submits proposals for new projects and funding. Last week our ICT and Radio Specialist, Bart Sullivan found a funding opportunity which suits his latest idea for supporting African radio stations. He is proposing new ways for radio stations to share information and content. We have submitted his idea to the Knight News Challenge, an international media innovation contest, calling it:

“Radio commons: Cloud-based telephony apps and content sharing for African radio stations.”

In a nutshell we are proposing to create a low-cost, sustainable phone platform that rural radio broadcasters across Africa can use.  They will be able to load audio content onto the system and allow access to any farmer with a simple mobile phone.  We’re talking:  market prices, radio broadcast repeats, the ability to leave messages for radio stations etc.  Now, this technology is something we have used a lot in the field already, but with this funding we are planning to expand this to a much larger scale and add many much-needed features.  We are really excited about this opportunity, but we need YOUR HELP!

Please take a moment to read the proposal (it is only 400 words long!) and leave a comment or click the “like” button. If we can get the visible support of African radio broadcasters and our supporters around the world, it will assist our proposal and increase our chances of funding. The five entries with the most activities in terms of comments or “likes” will be advanced to the semi-finals.

Follow this link! Many thanks!

http://bit.ly/fri_knight_news_frw

Here is Bart Sullivan at Farm Radio explaining why radio and other ICTs (such as the voice-based systems mentioned in this recent proposal) are so important for rural Africa:

To mark International Women’s Day, this week’s issue of Farm Radio Weekly, features stories of four remarkable women. Featured in this International Women’s Day blog, is the story about Farm Radio International broadcast partner, Ugochi Anyaka, who went to the town of Mpape, just outside Abuja, Nigeria, to research what would become her award-winning story. There, she met with John, the originator of a unique method of manufacturing briquettes.

As Ms. Anyaka explains in her audio report, Saving the Trees for Paper Briquettes, John is the brains behind a project that uses waste paper to manufacture briquettes. The briquettes are an alternative fuel to traditional firewood. In the report, John explains, “Briquettes are made of paper which you soak into water for two hours, and you press it into the briquette maker and it comes out in the form of bread and you start using it like charcoal.”

Ugochi Atrophy, a broadcaster from Farm Radio International partner Aso Radio in Nigeria, with her UNEP award

The UNEP award “aims to showcase excellence in the field of environmental reporting and nurture new talent that will help to shape opinion on the environment in Africa, and beyond, in years to come.”

Ms. Anyaka explains that her story “was done to show the opportunities in a changing climate – and not just the woes. It also seeks to show the conflicting viewpoints about the Clean Development Mechanism.” (The Clean Development Mechanism is a tool within the Kyoto Protocol to mobilize additional funding in developing countries for investment in renewable energy and energy efficiency.)

Ms. Anyaka, a self-proclaimed eco-journalist, can be heard on Aso Radio’s airwaves every Thursday at 9 a.m. as the host of Green Angle, a show that delves into environmental and climate change issues.

To listen to Ms. Anyaka’s award-winning story, click here.

To learn more about Ms. Anyaka and her eco-journalism, you can read her blog, Eco Nigeria, or follow her on twitter: @UgochiAnyaka.

To read the UNEP press release about the Young Environmental Journalist Award, click here.

From all of us at Farm Radio International, congratulations Ugochi!

For over 30 years, Farm Radio International has understood the importance of radio in giving access to information to millions of small-scale farmers. Radio is reliable, affordable and does not require literacy. It can reach remote areas, women and children. That is why our mission is to support broadcasters in developing countries to strengthen small-scale farming and rural communities.

UNESCO recently announced that World Radio Day will be celebrated for the first time on February 13, 2012. Farm Radio International is marking this day by releasing four stories specially written for Farm Radio Weekly. Each tells the story of a farmer who is never without a radio!

Goodson Chisaleka, a vegetable farmer in Chatata village, Malawi

Our first story takes place in Malawi, where a vegetable farmer took advantage of advice he heard on Malawi Broadcasting Corporation. Goodson Chisaleka now makes a good living selling vegetables door-to-door in Malawi’s capital city of Lilongwe.

In the Republic of Congo, an indigenous woman’s life was transformed by listening to Biso na Biso radio station. Simone Botékéwas inspired by the story of indigenous women farmers who were growing their own cassava. Soon after, Simone started growing her own vegetables.

Our third story comes from Zambia, where a farmer took advantage not only of market prices broadcast on QFM, but of recommendations on which markets were best for selling her fully-grown pigs. Guided by the information she hears on QFM, she sells her pigs for a good profit.

When a local radio station in western Kenya interviewed a mushroom farmer and broadcast her contact information, the woman’s business took off. Farmers called her for information, visited her and invited her to their farms. Joan Kimokoti now runs a successful mushroom business and has trained more than 300 other farmers to grow mushrooms.

Here is one of the four stories being published later today:

Malawi: Listening to the radio perfects Goodson Chisaleka’s vegetable farming skills (by Norman Fulatira, for Farm Radio Weekly in Malawi)

Goodson Chisaleka never goes anywhere without his radio – even his vegetable garden.

Mr. Chisaleka is a vegetable farmer in Chatata village, in the central Lilongwe district of Malawi.

He carries his radio everywhere. When he cycles, Mr. Chisaleka laces the small radio to his shoulder. He switches among the four major channels in Malawi, listening to news, music and other programs.

Mr. Chisaleka says, “One day I was tilling in my vegetable garden and at the same time listening to the state-run Malawi Broadcasting Corporation radio’s Ulimi Wamakono program.”

Ulimi Wamakono means “modern farming methods” in the local language. And it was Ulimi Wamakono that changed his attitude towards vegetable farming.

Mr. Chisaleka had already taken up vegetable farming as a pastime. But after listening to the radio program, he realized that there was money in vegetable farming, provided he used modern methods.

He increased the size of his vegetable beds and planted hybrid varieties, following the advice he heard from the anchor on Malawi Broadcasting Corporation, which is a Farm Radio broadcasting partner. Now, he makes a good living growing vegetables. He takes advantage of the ready market in Lilongwe, where he sells vegetables door-to-door.

Mr. Chisaleka cycles through the townships of Lilongwe selling vegetables, with his radio across to his shoulder and humming to the music. Most days, he returns home with 3,000 Malawi kwacha, which is approximately eighteen US dollars.

The people who laughed at him for carrying a radio everywhere have changed their tune. Now they admire what he’s achieved by following the advice of a farm radio program.

Farm Radio International’s Annual Report 2010/2011 is now available online. The following is the Executive Director’s Report.

The name Farm Radio International seems to capture the imagination. When people first hear about Farm Radio International, they often ask: “where can we find you on the radio dial?” or “how many listeners do you have?” Some wonder “do you distribute radios?” or even “do you set up new radio stations?”

These are all reasonable questions. But, in fact, since our foundation in 1979, Farm Radio International’s role has been to help broadcasters at existing radio stations improve the quality and effectiveness of their programs for small-scale farmers.

For most of the years since, we have provided this support in the form of radio scripts about farming and rural development issues and practices. The script service responded to the reality that most rural radio broadcasters in sub-Saharan Africa do not have access to the information they need – in the format they need – to create accurate, relevant, engaging programs for small-scale farmers.

Over the last year, we have made some exciting changes to our services. Our core mission remains the same, but we are working in a variety of new ways to achieve it.

Recognizing that radio stations need more than scripts to serve small-scale farmers and rural communities, we have enhanced our script service to a more comprehensive Resources for Broadcasters strategy. This includes our electronic news service, Farm Radio Weekly, and the development of an online social network. As before, our Resources for Broadcasters are available, free of charge, for any and all radio practitioners to use.

We have also added the new core strategies of Impact Programming and Training and Standards.

Impact Programming involves working directly with a select group of radio stations to plan and implement a radio strategy that aims to have a specific impact in a particular area. For example, Farm Radio International developed the Participatory Radio Campaign (PRC) methodology through the African Farm Radio Research Initiative (AFRRI), an initiative funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Over the past year, we established the capacity to implement PRCs beyond AFRRI, by opening offices in Ethiopia, Ghana, Mali, and Tanzania, and forming strategic partnerships in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Malawi, and Uganda.

We also launched a new Training and Standards service that helps radio station staff gain the skills they need to research, produce, and sustain high-quality rural radio programming. At the same time, Farm Radio International has become a leading expert in the integration of new communication technologies with radio, and is helping broadcasters take advantage of the opportunities offered by these developments.

Our expansion into these new areas would not have been possible without the remarkable support of our donors, volunteers, partners, dedicated and capable staff, and strong Board of Directors. In particular, I am indebted to Doug Ward, the President and Chair of the Board of Farm Radio International, for inspirational leadership grounded in deep and rich experience in radio and social justice.

Kevin Perkins, Executive Director

Read more of the Annual Report.

Yesterday, we sent out our December e-Newsletter.  Click here to read our latest updates.

Subscribe for free, click here.

Fatogomo Sanago interviewing a farmer at the market in Fana, Mali.

Wednesday is market day in the town of Fana, Mali. There’s a busy energy in the air as farmers, traders, and other villagers gather to buy, sell and talk. In the middle of it all is Fatogoma Sanago, program director at Radio Fanaka. He uses his digital audio recorder to capture the sounds of people bargaining and chickens clucking. Fatogoma uses these recordings, along with interviews and information about market prices, for his program Aw Ni Sugu, or “Thank you for being at the market.”

Farm Radio International has named Fatogoma the 2011 recipient of the George Atkins Communications Award. The award recognizes rural radio broadcasters for their outstanding contribution to food security and poverty reduction in low-income countries. Fatogoma is responsible for all programming on rural issues at Radio Fanaka. He is also a presenter.

Fatogoma began producing Aw Ni Sugu as part of Farm Radio International’s African Farm Radio Research Initiative. He says he loves hosting the program, which helps farmers connect to discuss market challenges and solutions. After each broadcast, he takes questions from listeners via phone calls and text messages. He is proud that this program has informed farmers about ways to earn more money at the market, for example, by vaccinating their chickens.

Fatogoma’s career in radio began in 1995, when he came to Fana to visit his grandmother. At the time, Fatogoma’s uncle worked for Radio Fanaka, and Fatogoma decided he wanted to learn everything about radio production. He accompanied radio hosts (and carried their bags) when they visited villages. In the studio, he followed technicians. One day, Fatogoma was hired as a technician’s assistant, and his career took off from there.

On hearing that he was the winner of the George Atkins Communications Award, Fatogoma said:

I am very happy to receive this prize. It gives me more strength to work more with farmers.

An article about Fatogoma Sanago’s George Atkins Communications Award win was featured in the Ontario Farmer: Broadcaster Brings Agricultural News to Rural Africa.

Nelly Bassily, Farm Radio International staff, at the launch of Barza, Novemeber 11, 2011.

On November 11, at the World University Service of Canada (WUSC) International Forum, Farm Radio International was proud to launch BARZA, an exciting new social networking site for African radio broadcasters. As more and more African broadcasters are using the Internet, the potential to connect these broadcasters online – to help them share scripts and other radio content with each other, and develop their broadcasting skills – has also grown. That is exactly what Barza does. “Barza” is a Congolese Swahili word that means ‘meeting under a tree’ – an apt name for this new social network.

In addition to sharing radio scripts, broadcasters can share radio programs, access resources for their shows for farmers, participate in discussion groups, and participate in on-line training activities.

As Doug Ward (Chair of the Board for Farm Radio International) put it:

in the 1980’s and 1990’s Farm Radio International provided a one-way ‘top down’ service, sending radio scripts out to broadcasters for them to use in their programs. With the launch of Barza, we now offer opportunities for peer-to-peer sharing across a large network of broadcasters. It’s an exciting new era.

We would like to thank the International Development Research Center as well as the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) for supporting this initiative. We would also like to thank Digital4Good, a web development company based in Cape Town, South Africa, who worked with the Farm Radio International team to develop Barza.

Farm Radio Weekly (FRW) is Farm Radio International’s weekly electronic news bulletin. It prides itself on making the farmer’s voice and perspective heard. To mark Work AIDS Day, Farm Radio Weekly brings three inspiring new stories, written especially for Farm Radio Weekly. The common theme is living healthily.

From Kenya, we hear how Robert Amakobe started up a pioneering men’s support group. Find out how, through growing vegetables, they have overcome stigma and become well-known for assisting others in their community.  Read more.

James Ndlovu from Zimbabwe was diagnosed HIV positive five years ago. After counseling, he decided that one way to improve his situation was through hard work on his farm. Read how his life has changed since his diagnosis. Read more.

In Malawi, John Chaoneka decided to learn more about herbal medicines and the nutritional benefits of fruit and vegetables. He tested positive for HIV in 2010 and now runs a clinic from his house, supplying hundreds of people with treatments to help boost immunity. Read more.

FRW will feature three more original stories to mark World AIDS Day on December 13, 2011.

Subscribe to FRW for free: click here.

Farm Radio International would like to especially thank the Canadian Auto Workers – Social Justice Fund for their support of Farm Radio Weekly’s African Service Bureaus that allow us to feature original and unique stories from the perspective of the African smallholder farmer.

The fall edition of Farm Radio International’s supporter newsletter, Network News is now available online.  To read it, click here.

A women's listening club

Small-scale farmers in Nigeria, particularly female farmers, are highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. In 2007, a project was initiated by the African Radio Drama Association (ARDA) in partnership with Farm Radio International and the University of Guelph with support from the Climate Change Adaptation in Africa Program supported by IDRC and the Department for International Development (U.K.). The project developed a special radio drama aimed at raising awareness and providing information to small-scale farmers in northern Nigeria about climate change adaptation. The 26-episode drama started airing weekly on several radio stations in April 2010 and broadcast to an estimated 20 million listeners in four northern Nigerian states targeted by the project – Borno, Kano, Kaduna, and Katsina.

Using the ”edutainment” approach of combining entertainment with educational messages about climate change adaptation, the radio drama features Ribadu, a Fulani herdsman who weaves an intriguing storyline based on the lives of ordinary women and men who seek to balance life with livelihood amidst unpredictable weather patterns. The program was produced in two languages, Hausa and Fulfulde, and aired by nine radio stations with two additional stations expressing their interest in carrying the program for free. The storyline features numerous farming improvements such as rainwater harvesting, preventing soil erosion and managing crop pests and diseases. Each episode highlights the ways in which northern Nigerian farmers develop coping strategies to adapt to and mitigate the impact of climate change on their livelihoods.

The project was a complex undertaking with dramatic events behind the production scene itself. Tragically, over the course of the project, ARDA faced the deaths of a wonderful scriptwriter and a supportive broadcaster. There were delays caused by painstaking adjustments of the technical content to fit local farming conditions and to ensure that the uncertainty of climatic variability in northern Nigeria was taken into account. As well, the project involved an iterative process of data collection and analysis to inform pre-broadcast (baseline) and ex-poste (end-line) surveys of 3,000 farmers.

As the Hausa proverb, “In Kidi ya Chanza”, that gave this radio drama its name suggests:  “when the drumbeats change, the dancers have to change their steps.”

Just how effective can a radio drama be in educating farmers to help them adapt to climate change?

• The evaluation work of the radio drama found that:

• 78% of respondents were familiar with the radio drama

• 84% of female and 68% of male listeners stated the program increased their awareness of climate change adaptation

• The vast majority (92.8%!) of respondents who gained awareness from the program reported that they took action

Radio Listening Clubs reinforced listener engagement with the storylines, ensuring that each episode was eagerly awaited. The evaluation found that the groups also encouraged individual farmers to take action on their farms to mitigate the effects of climate change.

TO READ the full script of the drama, click here.

By Dr. Helen Hambly Odame, University of Guelph

Farm Radio International Board member

Farm Radio International wishes to express its sincere thanks to ARDA and its partners for the opportunity to work together on such an innovative project.