In the News
Media Release
December 5, 2007
Canadian Charity Uses Radio to Help African Farmers Hit by Climate Changes
Ottawa, Ontario, December 5, 2007 – As world leaders gather in Bali for climate change talks, Developing Countries Farm Radio Network (DCFRN), a Canadian charity, is leading two new initiatives that help African radio stations to reach farmers with important information about adapting to climate change.
“These exciting new initiatives will directly reach the small-scale farmers who will be most effected by climate change”, says Kevin Perkins, Executive Director of DCFRN. “Far from the deliberations at Bali, these farmers are on the front lines of climate change, experiencing the effects right now, and radio can reach them where they live with the information they need.”
Smallholder farmers in Africa are already experiencing the impact of climate change. Weather patterns are changing, extreme weather events becoming more common, and ancient calendars for planting, weeding and harvesting are no longer valid. The threat of food shortages, crop failures, and growing deserts are real and immediate.
While African farmers are adapting and developing some coping strategies on their own, they need new information about farming methods that minimize the negative impact of climate change. A major challenge is providing such information to large numbers of people at low cost.
Radio broadcasts can help address this challenge because they are spoken-word, often in local languages, building on Africa’s oral culture and therefore not constrained by illiteracy. The technology for broadcasting and receiving broadcasts are widely available and affordable. Information can be delivered to farmers’ homes at a cost of pennies per program.
One DCFRN initiative is a Radio Scriptwriting Competition. African radio stations are invited to research and write unique scripts about climate change adaptation strategies. To assist writers with their assignments, a climate change resource kit and a unique guide to scriptwriting have been prepared and distributed. An international panel of judges will evaluate the script entries, and 15 will be selected for publication and wide distribution to hundreds of radio stations across the continent. Once broadcast, information in the scripts will reach millions of African farmers at a cost of pennies per listener.
The second DCFRN initiative is a climate-change themed radio drama. Working with the African Radio Drama Association of Nigeria and Canada’s University of Guelph a 26-episode radio soap opera is being produced, presenting engaging information about climate change adaptation. Designed to be both educational and entertaining, the radio drama will allow listeners to learn what climate change will mean for them, and what they can do about it. The drama will hit Nigeria’s airwaves in the summer of 2008.
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About DCFRN
Founded in 1979, DCFRN (www.farmradio.org) is a Canadian charity with the mission of supporting broadcasters to strengthen small-scale farming and rural communities in Africa. DCFRN researches and produces radio scripts on rural development issues and distributes them to some 300 radio broadcasters who interpret and use the scripts to provide their listeners with practical information about farming, land management, health and other issues. DCFRN also provides training opportunities, facilitating networking among and between broadcasters.
For more information contact: Kevin Perkins, Executive Director, Developing Countries Farm Radio Network
kperkins@farmradio.org
