Rural Communication Services

Farm Radio's COVID-19 response

As with everyone on the planet, COVID-19 has our full attention. Staying home, flattening the curve, saving lives, navigating the devastating economic consequences … We are all in this together. If you are like me, your radio has been on this morning, bringing you the latest information, sharing reliable advice and relevant stories, keeping us connected at a time of social distancing. Hopefully, your radio station has not been spreading

Nyinabwenge show: Amplifying the voices of women for action

Fifty-year-old Ruth Kasimba lives in Butimba village in Kikuube district, a few kilometres from where Uganda’s proposed oil refinery will be constructed in oil-rich Hoima district in western Uganda Like any other rural woman, Ms. Kasimba collects firewood for cooking. It is exercise she describes as physically exhausting but also mentally draining. As a peasant farmer who grows different types of crops for food and sale, Ms. Kasimba could not

Farmers' Voice Radio resources enable African smallholders to access knowledge they need to succeed

On Thursday 13th February 2020, the Lorna Young Foundation (LYF) will launch its FARMERS’ VOICE RADIO initiative. In solidarity with World Radio Day, the LYF will unveil both its new Farmers’ Voice Radio brand and its website. The website has been designed to give away, for FREE, the LYF’s Farmers’ Voice Radio methodology and resources, so that the world’s poorest smallholder farmers—who are in desperate need of information, learning and

Radio Sauti ya Mkaaji and "Vision 20-20"

Modeste Shabani Bin Sweni was born in Kibango, in the chiefdom of Kawange, Kasondo territory in DRC. At the time of his birth, the village had no school, no health centre, no electricity, no communication, and no local radio station. His parents and other villagers survived on fishing and farming. To attend school, he went to live with an uncle 50 kilometres away. During the period of political tension in

Esoko: A platform for more than just market advice

Farmers need a platform where they can get the necessary information and advice on good farming practices. Such a platform will build the capacity of farmers. Given that capacity building and independence of stakeholders is a core aspect of Communication for Development, the platform is a vital need. To meet this need : Esoko. Esoko is a platform that provides agronomic advice, nutrition advice, market price information, weather information, and

Radio Baré-Bakem on spotlight at the 2019 Moungo Festival

This Proximity Radio station accompanied all the activities of the first edition of the Moungo Festival held from 16 to 20 April 2019. Also called “The Voice of Diversity”, this community station located in the Baré-Bakem subdivision, Moungo division in the Littoral region in Cameroon, obtained its broadcast permit in 2002 under the Memorandum of Understanding between the Cameroon Ministry of Communication, UNDP and the National Governance Programme. It has

Communication at the core of the UN Decade of Family Farming

As the United Nations launches the Decade of Family Farming, a spotlight is drawn to the role of family farmers in feeding themselves and their communities, stewarding environmental protection, and shepherding rural development. Rural people cannot do this work alone or unsupported, and communication is a unifying force – from radio and mobile phones, to mobile applications, websites, videos, and more. For the past few months we have been collecting

Celebrating 40 years of radio excellence

The story goes like this. In 1975 George Atkins, then a farm radio broadcaster with CBC, was travelling down a rural road in Zambia. The group he was with included a number of African broadcasters, there as part of a workshop for farm broadcasters George was working on. George, ever curious, asked about their latest radio shows. One of the broadcasters on the bus with him, a man named Abdul

radio_Farm Radio International

How information flows from those with knowledge to those who seek knowledge is important — particularly for those communicators who seek to make transferring knowledge easier. For journalists and radio broadcasters, it can be difficult to access information – or the people who hold knowledge – to share with your listening audience. Fabian Oswald has investigated how information flow through agricultural radio programs in local languages is structured and whether

Using the Talking Book to amplify and widen the reach of extension education in underserved, rural communities

Learning positive agricultural techniques and health practices can reduce poverty, malnutrition, and diseases in developing countries. For millions of rural people, low literacy and remoteness are barriers to information access. Extension services are limited because of poorly maintained roads. When materials are available, people can’t read. Local dialects are another barrier. Literacy Bridge Ghana uses a low-cost, battery-operated audio computer, called the Talking Book, to bring life-changing knowledge to marginalized