Traditional Core Program: Scripts and Voices
Farmers in North America and Europe make decisions every day based on information that they get from newspapers, market services, the internet, and commercial and government extension services. They can readily access this information and use it for their benefit. In contrast, farmers in low-income countries have little if any formal education and have limited access to current and relevant information. Without this access, they make decisions based on outdated or incorrect information – thus exacerbating their already difficult situations.
Radio programs are the best way to counter declining agriculture extension services and limited education opportunities in rural areas. Radio is a trusted source of information. It is the most cost-effective, accessible communication technology for developing countries, reaching more people than any other mass medium – people who are isolated by illiteracy, distance, conflict, and poverty. It is easily adapted to local language and culture. Farmers can listen to radio in the privacy of their home, in a language with which they are comfortable. It requires no special skill. A survey of farmers in West Africa revealed that radio is the most welcome source of outside information.
Our core program has two main streams. One develops content for radio programs that are relevant to smallholder farmers. The second helps build our partners' skills and knowledge for providing farmers with better communication services.
In the first stream, Farm Radio International researches and writes radio scripts. Topics we cover include crop production, environment management, farm and household management, food safety, nutrition, HIV/AIDS and agriculture, children on farms, farm safety, youth in rural areas, farm income, women farmers, and more.
We send these scripts, free of charge, in English and French, to our partners in sub-Saharan Africa, where they are adapted to local conditions, translated into hundreds of languages, and broadcast to a potential audience of several hundred million people. These scripts are also available on our website (and Voices also) and are sent out electronically to our partners in Africa and to other organizations and individuals around the world that support small-scale agriculture and rural development.
Our primary beneficiaries are smallholder farmers, small plot gardeners and farm labourers – especially women, who provide about 75% of the labour for agriculture in developing countries, and are often excluded from traditional agricultural extension services. Other beneficiaries are their families, and in particular their children, who benefit from better nutrition as a result of improved food production and processing, and better education as a result of improved household income.
In the second stream, we provide services that develop the skills of rural radio broadcasters so that they can meet the needs of farmers. These services include the promotion of training resources and opportunities offered by other organizations, and the publication of guidelines, tips, and information about African farming issues. Our materials help broadcasters and their directors/managers understand farmers' problems and concerns and produce programs that provide reliable, practical information based on scientific research, as well as traditional knowledge. We also publish examples of "best practices" of our partners so that radio practitioners across Africa can learn from each other. Our approach to script development also builds skills: "on-the-job" coaching, mentoring and feedback to African writers as they develop scripts for Farm Radio International increase their skills in "writing for the ear".
