March 2021

Radio Communautaire Salama: Grand Prize Winner of the 2021 Liz Hughes Award

When you tune into Radio Communautaire Salama in Butembo, DRC, on Saturday afternoons, you hear broadcasters tackle the serious issue of sexual and gender-based violence. It’s an issue that is important to listeners but, according to the production team, often overlooked. Station manager Jeremie Kyaswekera says, “Our programs pass the mic to those the press forgets.” The program is called Tupiganishe Ujeuri Dhidi Ya Wanawake, which means “Fighting violence against

Positioning of African Farmers Organizations in the context of the AFCFTA

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement was signed by 44 African Union Member States at the historic summit of the African Union (AU) held in Kigali in March 2018. Thereafter, the number of signatories rapidly increased to 54 of the 55 AU Member States, representing a remarkable degree of consensus across the continent. Since then, ratification by 24 AU Member States resulted in the Agreement entering into force

Agile communication and community engagement for COVID-19 resilience: The next phase 

As we come into our second full year of the COVID-19 pandemic, a second wave, new strains, vaccine fear, and vaccine scarcity mean that sub-Saharan Africa is facing new challenges. How can the international community work with local actors to reach remote rural African communities using agile communication and community engagement to create COVID-19 resilience? At Farm Radio International, our work is guided by audiences and experts. That’s why our

ROPPA statement on local storage in West Africa

Cereals are an important crop, and pests, moulds, and disease can affect farmers’ harvests and the quantity and quality of food available. Agricultural losses from plant pests can be more than 37%. Aflatoxin can reduce the quality of harvested cereals. Pests like fall armyworm can damage crops. ECOWAS is working on a strategy to address food security storage, and as part of this effort, the Réseau des Organisations Paysannes et

A young Ghanaian woman earning a living from shea products

Rita Adibamoli is a 24-year-old Ghanaian woman from Kasena Nankana Abarjawe district of Ghana who has made a good livelihood from soap-making with shea product. In Kasena Nankana Baobab Cooperative Union (KANBAOCU), FAO’s Forest and Farm Facility (FFF) initiative funded a training for young people to develop skills in making soap from shea and to encourage entrepreneurship. This is how Rita gained the knowledge and interest to use soap making