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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Despite the well-documented advantages of agricultural innovations, there are significant hurdles for farmers to adopt them, such as: lack of information reaching remote farmers, ineffective national extension service, and input supply systems that do not respond to men and women farmers’ needs. This denies millions of smallholder farmers the opportunity to learn and apply improved and efficient agronomic practices that improve productivity and household food security. These were some of
Millions of smallholder farmers in remote areas do not have access to information that will help them with their farming needs. They are thus denied the opportunity to learn and apply improved and efficient agronomic practices that improve productivity and household food security. The Canadian International Food Security Research Fund (CIFSRF), funded by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and Global Affairs Canada, designed a program to increase collaboration between
The peace and quiet of 200 villages in Northern Ghana was shattered in May and June this year with the arrival of CABI-sponsored village-based video screenings. CABI (Centre for Agriculture and Biosciences International) is an international not-for-profit organization that improves people’s lives worldwide by providing information and applying scientific expertise to solve problems in agriculture and the environment. “We wanted to explore new and innovative ways of getting information to
