This report, published on the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation website, explores an African Farm Radio Research Initiative investigation into ways of combining radio with information and communication technologies (ICT’s) to gather content and share information among farming communities throughout rural Africa. The report indicates that half of Africa’s population is dependent on agriculture for their livelihoods; therefore, there is a growing demand for information about all aspects of farming. Although farmers often share information among themselves via formal networks such as cooperatives or associations, exchanges of information and resources are often limited to the immediate area, and important questions may remain unanswered. In addition, the lack of information may hinder their productivity and land maintenance.

For many African farmers, the only source of information outside the community is radio. Local radio also gives farmers a voice, enabling them to share their knowledge and experiences, and to acquire practical information that they can use to improve their livelihoods. The report mentions that the growth in number of radio stations in Africa (more than 300 stations in Mali, 120 in Ghana, and over 150 in Uganda) and new information technologies has provided many possibilities for developing more interactive, two-way radio communication for farmers instead of one way radio.

The project is investigating two main questions: how and in what ways is radio most effective in enabling smallholder farmers to improve their livelihoods, and how can new technologies such as mobile phones and MP3 players increase the value of radio as an interactive communication tool? AFRRI works with radio stations in Ghana, Malawi, Mali, Tanzania, and Uganda to strengthen their programming for farmers. One component of the initiative involves working with the stations to test new technologies in the production of entertaining, informative and interactive programmes, in collaboration with listening groups. In Malawi in 2008, for example, AFRRI organised a training workshop on story-based agricultural programming, where staff from each of the stations were able to learn about community research methodologies, develop programme outlines and recording techniques, and learn about how to elicit and make use of feedback from listeners.

As part of the workshop, AFRRI distributed recordable MP3 players to the participants for use during the training and in their future programme making. With these MP3 players, the programme makers were able to collect stories as recording and store the audio files for broadcast. The experience of Dzimwe Community Radio Station in Monkey Bay, in eastern Malawi, illustrates the advantages of using this type of technology.

In Karagwe, in north-western Tanzania, the Family Alliance for Development and Cooperation (FADECO) community radio station is investigating ways to make use of available ICTs both for generating content and for obtaining feedback from listeners. Farmers living farther away can send SMS (short message service) messages to the FADECO station’s mobile phone number using specific codes in the text. Due to the costs involved, the station does not call or text individual listeners with answers but may print out the messages and email them to an expert, and address them in a later radio programme to the benefit of the entire community.

According to the article, farmers are already reaping the benefits of the programmes produced using these technologies and new techniques, and of having more interactive contact with the radio stations. In Soroti, Uganda, for example, the Voice of Teso radio station broadcast a series of programmes on a new variety of cassava. Farmers in the area had not grown cassava for many years because of the high labour intensity and low yields, but after listening to the series more farmers were prepared to try out the new variety.

In Tanzania, after the Tanzania Broadcasting Corporation aired a series of programmes on collective marketing, increasing numbers of farmers are now forming and organising their own local cooperatives. Many farmers have reported that the information in the series enabled them to focus on generating income from the sale of their crops while minimising the costs of marketing and transportation.

The project has found out that while there is no shortage of new technologies that could improve the interactivity of radio in Africa, the main challenge for any development project is the management of the technologies at the radio stations, and how broadcasters apply them to reach the listening groups. The article concludes that through the project, radio broadcasters have been able to work more closely with farming communities than ever before, creating a firm foundation for using innovative and relevant technologies in order to reach even wider audiences and to hear more farmers’ voices on the airwaves.

ICT Update website on October 28 2009.