Last fall, I visited the village of Omotol in the Seroti District of north-eastern Uganda. This is one community that has been reached by a special program that was broadcast by the Voice of Teso radio station in Seroti with Farm Radio International’s assistance (as part of the African Farm Radio Research Initiative, AFRRI) on the topic of disease resistant cassava. Cassava is an essential food crop that meets the basic food needs of most households in this area, and is also a very important cash crop sold to markets. The varieties of cassava that have been planted in the past in this area are very susceptible to two diseases: mosaic and brown streak. These diseases are spreading rapidly, and pose a serious threat to food security in Uganda and elsewhere.

Alasso Rose in cassava field

In this community I met two women – Asege Winnie Odaret and Alasso Rose. These women are leaders of a community organization called the Dakabela Rural Women Development Association. Together, the women who make up his group have purchased land – one hectare at a time – by farming and marketing cassava. Their early success in cassava production has helped them establish an orange orchard, a beekeeping operation, and a piggery. These enterprises have improved food security and generated income for members of the association, their families, and their whole community.

A year ago, they were getting very worried about the cassava diseases they were hearing about. There were reports that farmers were losing their entire cassava farms to brown streak and mosaic. They also knew that there were some new varieties of cassava that could resist these diseases and thrive in their gardens.

“We knew that these disease-resistant varieties had been developed, but we didn’t know how to get the planting materials or how to cultivate and grow them.”

Asege Winnie Odaret

Asege Winnie Odaret (left) in akena cassava field

The radio program on Voice of Teso (which broadcasts to 8 million people and which 80% are small-scale farmers) answered their needs perfectly. By running a half-hour program every Wednesday, featuring discussions with farmers and extension workers, special call-in shows, music and poems about cassava varieties, and other entertaining features, Winnie and Rose and the other members of their group learned how to save their cassava farms by planting the disease-resistant akena cassava. What they loved about the program was that they could hear their own voices and the voices of other farmers on the program.

“We feel that we own this program as our own. We always made sure we were ready to hear the show when it was on. Even our children made sure we knew it was time for the program to start. They would say mom, mom, come, it is time for our program to start.”

The farmers of Omotol were not alone. Our evaluation of this program revealed that over 80% of farmers in the communities reached by the program had started planting akena. Uganda’s national agricultural extension service was overwhelmed by the demand for akena, and scrambled to meet the need for planting materials. We checked in a community that wasn’t reached by Voice of Teso’s program, and found that only 45% even heard of the akena variety.

We are receiving many more life-changing stories coming out of AFFRI that we will share with you in the upcoming weeks. Stay tuned…..

Kevin Perkins

- Executive Director of Farm Radio International

It is with deep sadness that we announce the death of founder George Atkins, in his 93rd year, on November 30, 2009.

George Atkins listened to farmers. And his best advice to broadcasters was just that: listen to the farmers. George learned from farmers. In fact, we don’t think George ever met a farmer from whom he didn’t learn something.

George was a well known CBC farm broadcaster in the fifties, sixties and seventies. Always an advocate for farming and the family farmer, he signed off his radio reports with “Serving agriculture, the basic industry, this is George Atkins.”

In 1979, following retirement from the CBC, George created Developing Countries Farm Radio Network (since renamed Farm Radio International), the world’s only organization dedicated to supporting small farmers and their families through the use of radio – the one medium they all use. Since then he has sustained that organization with his leadership, vision and boundless energy.

Our thoughts are with his wife Janet, their four daughters and their families, as they come to terms with the loss of a loving husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather.

At Farm Radio International, we will miss his regular encouragement, good humour and sense of celebration. We are strengthened by the example of his persistence, and we will honour that memory in our work every day.

In the video posted below,  Atkins tells us the story of how he founded Farm Radio International following a bus trip in Zambia in 1975. Hundreds of millions of people around the world now receive appropriate, timely and relevant information through Farm Radio International’s network, all because of a little idea that came from George.

If you have a memory or reflection to share, please post a comment by clicking the “Comment” button below and leave a reply.  We will be sure the family receives all or your messages.

If you are interested in supporting the work that George started you can click here.

From its earliest days, Farm Radio International has endeavoured to provide small-scale farmers with information about practical, low-cost, sustainable solutions to their daily needs.  Through radio scripts and other services, we have shared information about, for example, techniques for enhancing soil fertility, protecting crops from pests, and improving family and community health.  But it must be said: some things are more important to small-scale farmers than how they prepare compost or the seeds they plant.  Topping the list is the need for secure access to land.  If farmers can be dispossessed of the land they till at any time, they are forever vulnerable to poverty and hunger.  And, with this threat hanging over them, what incentive is there to conserve the soil through tree-planting or terracing?

The recent food crisis has led to an increase in the acquisition of agricultural land in Africa by foreign governments or private companies seeking to ensure food security for their people, or simply to make a profit.  Some say that this is nothing less than a second “Scramble for Africa”- a rush for the best African farmland, threatening the return of a kind of colonialism. Others counter that foreign interest in agricultural lands could generate income and employment for rural communities, if only local farmers and farming communities had more influence on the purchase or lease of their farmland. But that is currently not the case. The recent trend of “land grabbing” is causing small-scale farmers and rural communities to lose access to land and locally-produced food.

Is there a role for radio in helping farmers address the issue of land tenure?  We think there is.  Recently, we launched a new series of stories in Farm Radio Weekly on the topic of “land-grabbing”.  We have recruited African reporters to interview farmers that are being threatened by land grabs, and finding out what they are doing about it.  We are finding stories of farmers finding ways to have more influence over these transactions and to protect their access to land.  As always, we are ensuring the principle of journalistic balance in our articles, but we are also remaining true to our mandate to be “on the side of the farmer”.  I invite you to check these articles out (and all other Farm Radio Weekly stories, for that matter) by going to http://weekly.farmradio.org/.

The health and survival of women during pregnancy and childbirth is an important issue throughout the world, but particularly for rural families in resource-poor countries.  The 5th Millennium Development Goal adopted by the world in the year 2000 is to improve maternal health by reducing the incidence of maternal mortality by 75%, and by achieving universal access to reproductive health services.  Tragically, this MDG remains elusive, particularly the target of reducing maternal mortality rates in sub-Saharan Africa, where a woman’s risk of dying from treatable or preventable complications of pregnancy and childbirth over the course of her lifetime is 1 in 22, compared to 1 in 7,300 in countries like Canada.

In 2007, long-time Farm Radio International supporter Anne Burnett offered us a way to address the challenge of maternal health by producing radio scripts on the topic. We readily agreed, and made contact with Family Health International (www.fhi.org) – an organization that specializes in maternal health – to help us understand the most important messages that radio can provide to prevent maternal death.   We learned that two factors are critical to help save expectant mothers’ lives.  One is that the couple make advance arrangements to give birth in a health facility with a skilled attendant.  A second is that both partners – mother and father – be involved in making plans and preparations for the birth.

To help illustrate these messages, we asked one of our freelance scriptwriters – Lazarus Lazer in Tanzania – to identify a couple that was planning to have a child and interview them regularly throughout the course of the pregnancy as they make plans and preparations for the birth of their child.  The result is a very stirring series of “reality radio” scripts. The series chronicles the story of a Maasai couple as they decide to have a child, adjust to pregnancy and the prospects of parenthood, and make plans for the birth of their child.  The first installment in the series appeared recently in Farm Radio Weekly: http://weekly.farmradio.org/2009/05/18/let%e2%80%99s-talk-about-it-a-young-couple-plans-pregnancy-and-childbirth/.  One new episode will be released each week until the series is complete.  We’re excited about this new approach to radio scripts – bringing real-life, personal testimonies of ordinary villagers making decisions, trying new approaches, and overcoming challenges.

   

from left to right: Rex Chapota of Malawi, Modibo Coulibaly of Mali, Doug Ward, President of the Board of Farm Radio, & Charlie (the language interpreter)

Last month, it was my great pleasure to travel to Mali to meet with most of the team implementing the African Farm Radio Research Initiative (AFRRI).  The whole Africa-based group of staff gathered in Bamako to review progress and plan future activities. The team includes Rex Chapota of Malawi, Ben Fiafor of Ghana, Margaret Kingamkomo of Tanzania, Emily Arayo of Uganda, Modibo Coulibaly of Mali, Martine Ngobo (the Senior Research Manager), and Gizaw Shibru (the Program Director).  Also in attendance was Bart Sullivan, our ICT guy and the lone (but not lonely!) Canadian on the team, and Doug Ward, President of the Board of Farm Radio, (and past Vice President of CBC English Radio – his experience in radio has greatly enriched AFRRI). During our time in Mali, we had an opportunity to visit Radio Fanaka, one of the stations participating in AFRRI.  

We travelled to two communities that have been listening to Radio Fanaka’s programs about composting and on new methods of processing Shea Butter. It was remarkable to see first hand how popular and important these programs have been to famers. Throughout the week, what really stood out for me was that farm radio works best when it engages listeners in discussions, dialogue and debate, and when it continually seeks direct feedback from farmers.   When local farmers can be heard on the airwaves, describing what they have done, the challenges they have faced, the solutions they have found, and the questions they have, the radio programs that result are more popular and effective.      

In one sense, it is not surprising – most people love to hear themselves on the radio or see themselves on TV – something Andy Warhol once said springs to mind . . .  But it also reveals that farmers have enormous respect for each other: they trust that, if similar farmers in another village tried something and it worked, it will probably work for them too.   This is a lesson that we can apply to all of our work, including our scripts, Farm Radio Weekly stories, and broadcaster training programs. By highlighting the ideas, innovations, and most of all the stories of ordinary farmers, radio programs can help them to create better lives for themselves and their families.  Whether you’re a donor, partner, staff member, volunteer, or a quiet cheerleader – thanks for being part of it!   Until next time, Kevin

Welcome to Farm Radio Live – the blog of Farm Radio International!  We have created this blog to keep the Farm Radio community – including our supporters, partners, and anyone with an interest in farm radio in Africa – up-to-date with our activities, accomplishments, discoveries, plans and ideas.

Kevin Perkins with the rest of the AFRRI field staff planting a mango tree in Bamako, Mali

I will be offering a new post every 2 weeks, telling you what I’ve been up to and what’s going on at Farm Radio International.  We will have regular posts about our program activities from our partners and staff, news from and about the Circle of Producers, updates on how we are using new communication technology to enhance the effectiveness of radio, and special guest posts from a variety of people involved in farm radio.  The blog will also bring you audio and video clips from African radio programs, photographs, and local stories, giving you a real experience of what farm radio sounds and looks like.

We hope you’ll participate in this blog – not only as a reader, but also as a contributor, by posting your own comments, stories and observations.  If you sign up for the RSS feed by clicking here, you’ll be sent brief email updates whenever there is a new post on the blog, allowing you to follow the stories and updates that are of greatest interest to you.

In 2009, we are proud to be celebrating the 30^th anniversary of Farm Radio International.  The Farm Radio Live blog will be bringing you stories from our earliest partners and donors, and reflecting on how the organization has evolved and grown – and how it has stayed true to its founding vision – over the last 30 years.

Until next time . . .

Kevin Perkins

(Executive Director of Farm Radio International)