Rural Communication Services

Meet Djénèbou Traoré: 2024 George Atkins Communication Award winner
Rural Communication Services

Before she became a radio host, Djénèbou Traoré loved listening to Radio Benbakan in Sanankoroba, Mali. She had a passion for radio. Then, in 2006, she decided to get behind the microphone herself. Recently, Mrs. Traoré was recognized for her broadcasting excellence by receiving the George Atkins Communication Award. She is one of three winners for 2024. The George Atkins Communication Award annually honours individual radio broadcasters for their exceptional

Radio Kénédougou: Spotlighting women’s reproductive rights and gender relations
Rural Communication Services

Since 1992, Radio Kénédougou has been a driving force for rural development in Mali’s Sikasso region. With a strong commitment to gender equality, it serves over 400,000 residents within 100 km of the station. The station’s program Ladamou Blon is the runner-up for the 2024 Liz Hughes Award for Her Farm Radio. This award recognizes exceptional radio programs that serve women listeners. The programs are celebrated for advancing gender equality, whether

I learned it on the radio
Rural Communication Services

How FAO is training Somali farmers through the ether It’s been nearly 130 years since Italian inventor Guglielmo Marconi generated the first radio transmission on the Isle of Wight off the coast of England. And yet, despite the amazing digital innovations that have revolutionized global communications since that historic broadcast, radio continues to be one of the most popular forms of media in the world. This is certainly the case

World Radio Day 2024: Empowering communities through rural radio initiatives in Africa
Rural Communication Services

YenKasa Africa celebrates World Radio Day (13 February) with its Rural Radio initiative for sustainable agriculture and rural development. The theme for this year is “Radio: A century of information, entertainment, and education”.  The Rural Radio Initiative of YenKasa Africa 2023 was conducted in a participatory approach. Community and associative media, development institutions, and farmers’ organizations actively participated in radio programming from program conception, theme definition, and selection of interviewees

Improving Ghanaian women farmers’ access to agricultural advisory services
Rural Communication Services

When Linda Aduwaa thinks back to last year, one thing stands out: how women in her community were treated. Linda has been farming rice and maize for the past 15 years. The mother of five says that only a year ago, men refused to help with household chores. Women couldn’t own their own land independently of men. They weren’t even able to attend agricultural advisory meetings about improving farming practices

FAO and YenKasa Africa participatory video training in agri-food systems and digital environments
Rural Communication Services

In November 2023, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) joined hands with several organizations to host a groundbreaking 5-day virtual training workshop on participatory video for Africa in November 2023. This event, attended by over 30 participants from different farmers’ organizations, academia, and advocacy groups, marked a significant step toward harnessing the potential of PV as a tool for sustainable development. Most of the participants came from countries with

Seeds and storage: How radio reduced post-harvest loss of potatoes in Nigeria
Rural Communication Services

Bitrus Gomas used to regularly lose nearly half his produce. The 51-year-old potato farmer lives in Pankshin Local Government Area in Plateau State in central Nigeria. He is married with four children. Mr. Gomas is not alone. In Nigeria, up to 40 per cent of stored potato seeds are lost within the first three months of storage due to inadequate storage conditions. Post-harvest loss (the loss of crops between harvest and

Ten success factors for rural digital transformation in Africa
Rural Communication Services

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)’s Digital Villages Initiative (DVI) aims to turn 1,000 villages globally into hubs where digitally-enabled farm and non-farm services are provided, such as e-commerce, farmer advisory services leveraging satellite information and digital financial inclusion activities. In Africa, nine countries are involved so far. Scoping assessment studies and early service delivery have identified 10 success factors for rural digital transformation in Africa. Implementers of the DVI

Farm Radio International Uganda’s “Platform” project transforming agricultural extension services across the country
Rural Communication Services

Once a week, Green Leaf Radio Magazine’s catchy theme song plays on radios across Uganda. As more listeners pour in every week, they are greeted by a number of segments including news and weather, but most importantly tips on how to improve their farming practices. To say that farming in Uganda is vital to the average citizen’s economic security is an understatement : 88 per cent of Ugandan households are involved in the

Sharing farmers' stories on World Food Day - and every day
Rural Communication Services

Farm Radio International has been sharing stories about the experiences and expertise of small-scale farmers since our founding in May 1979. To further put a spotlight on farmers, we created an online news publication – Barza Wire – in 2007. Last year, we celebrated our 600th issue. Find Barza Wire at: https://wire.farmradio.fm/ Each edition of Barza Wire includes stories about the innovations and experiences of small-scale farmers. Most of these