Molly Kamakune is a broadcaster at Voice of Tooro, serving the Tooro sub-region in Western Uganda. Since 2022, she has been at the forefront of the Platform Project, hosting and producing the station’s weekly farmers’ program, Obulimi N’obuliisa, which airs every Sunday from 4 to 5 pm.
Mrs. Kamakune plays a hands-on role in every step of the program. Alongside program producer Polite Musa and the Kabarole Hub members led by Hub Coordinator Sunday Simon Amooti, she helps develop content, prepare weekly runsheets, identify and interview subject matter experts, and promote the show on social media platforms like Facebook and X. The program covers agricultural topics directly relevant to local farmers, including maize, bananas, coffee, tomatoes, goat rearing, cattle farming, weather, and markets, with a strong focus on circular and regenerative agriculture as well as gender equality and inclusion.
For the Green Leaf Magazine programs, Mrs. Kamakune and her team collaborate with other district hubs during refresher trainings and workshops organized by Farm Radio International. Together, they create well-researched content that resonates with farmers in the areas they broadcast to. Each week, the team develops a runsheet guiding interviews with experts and farmers, incorporates audience responses from ULIZA polls, and encourages live phone-ins to make the program interactive. Women and youth participation is a priority. Voice of Tooro has a private studio line specifically for women, ensuring their voices are heard in news segments, live shows, and listener call-ins, while promotional efforts across other programs encourage all listeners to join the conversation.
Mrs. Kamakune has seen the tangible impact of her work on local communities. Farmers have adopted climate-smart practices like solar irrigation for off-season farming, while youth and women are increasingly taking up agriculture as a business. One success story is Medrin Kebirungi, who followed Green Leaf Magazine guidance on tomato farming and harvested a successful crop, even gifting a crate of tomatoes to Mrs. Kamakune in gratitude for the advice that led to her rich harvest.
Through her work, Mrs. Kamakune has learned the importance of “practicing what you preach.” Producing agricultural programming has enhanced her understanding of sustainable farming, climate-smart techniques, and the critical role of gender inclusion in agriculture. She now carefully considers the contributions of men, women, and youth in agricultural value chains and actively addresses gender inequalities in land access, purchase, inheritance, and hiring practices.
Mrs. Kamakune encourages other broadcasters to engage directly with agriculture to deepen their knowledge and better support listeners. She emphasizes the value of detailed content documents and runsheets, which make programs more informative, educational, and relevant for farmers who rely on them. For Mrs. Kamakune, the Platform Project and Green Leaf Magazine programs are more than just radio shows—they are a bridge between expert knowledge and practical farming solutions. She believes there is still so much to learn and share, and she is committed to helping farmers in the Tooro region cultivate not only crops but also sustainable, resilient practices that benefit their communities.