This issue of The Soul Beat contains programme experiences, strategic thinking documents, evaluations, and resources that highlight the use of radio to communicate to and from rural audiences about issues related to health, agriculture and farming, and human rights.
If you would like your organisation's communication work or research and resource documents to be featured on the Soul Beat Africa website and in The Soul Beat newsletters, please contact soulbeat@comminit.com
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PROGRAMME EXPERIENCES
1. Mali Shambani - Kenya
This interactive radio programme, initiated by FIT Resources-Kenya, is designed to increase access to farming information for smallholder farmers and fishing communities in Kenya. Launched in 2006, the radio programme, which in Kiswahili means "wealth in the farms", is broadcast throughout the country with information adapted to local languages, issues, and needs. Each programme also features a question and answer segment, where listeners can call (or SMS) the radio station and interact live with a featured panel of experts.
Contact Richard Isiaho fit@wananchi.com
2. Rural Women Reporting - Kenya, Sierra Leone, South Africa
The Rural Women Reporting radio workshop series was initiated by FAHAMU Networks for Social Justice and Community Media for Development (CMFD) Productions. The project was designed to increase rural women's access to media, build the capacity of rural women to create their own media, and create a space for rural women's voices, issues, and concerns to be heard. The project included a series of participatory workshops in which rural women developed radio programmes on issues that they identified as important to them.
Contact Deborah Walter info@cmfd.org OR Firoze Manji firoze@fahamu.org
3. Farm Radio Weekly - Africa
Initiated by Farm Radio International (FRI), Farm Radio Weekly (FRW) is a news and information service designed to help meet the information needs of small-scale farmers and farming families in Africa. Through a newsletter and a website, FRW seeks to provide rural radio organisations in sub-Saharan Africa with news and resources that they can use to create relevant programming for their listeners.
Contact Heather Miller hmiller@farmradio.org OR Nelly Bassily nbassily@farmradio.org
4. Pilika Pilika (Busy Busy) - Tanzania
Launched in 2004, this is a radio drama broadcast in Kiswahili in Tanzania. The drama aims to spread awareness about issues relating to sustainable rural livelihoods, such as home hygiene and community water management, gender issues, and local rights and responsibilities at the village level. Pilika Pilika, which means "busy, busy" in English, is set in the fictional Tanzanian village of Jitazame, a kind of crossroads village that has representatives of most local cultures.
Contact David Campbell mediae@africaonline.co.ke
5. Radio Bubusa - Democratic Republic of the Congo
Initiated by Sauti ya Mwanamke Kijijini (SAMWAKI), this is a community radio station in the Democratic Republic of Congo set up by and for rural women to improve their knowledge and practices around health and rights issues. Programming focuses on key issues such as discrimination, reproductive health, gender-based violence, HIV/AIDS, and agriculture. As part of the communication efforts, the organisers support and develop listener's clubs, who use solar powered radios to listen to the programmes.
Contact Adeline Nsimire samwakiasbl@yahoo.fr OR Aster Bashige gtzsante_kivu@yahoo.com
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Gender and Rural Employment - Call for Papers for a Technical Expert Workshop
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Labour Organization (ILO), and International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) are calling for papers for a technical expert workshop on "Gaps, trends and current research in gender dimensions of agricultural and rural employment: differentiated pathways out of poverty", which will be held in Rome in the week of March 30 to April 3 2009.
Deadline for submission is October 15 2008.
For more information about the call for papers, please e-mail info@fao-ilo.org
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EVALUATIONS
6. Learning for Livelihoods in Somalia: Initial Insights on Audience Patterns and Preferences
This evaluation report outlines key findings from research conducted during the first year of the BBC World Service Trust’s three-year livestock welfare education project in Somalia, "Barnaamijka Xoolaha" (The Livestock Programme), broadcast on the BBC Somali Service. The programme is designed to reach males and females, aged 15 and above, who are engaged both directly and indirectly in the production, marketing, and selling of livestock. The report suggests that Barnaamijka Xoolaha is an effective vehicle for delivering livestock education content in Somalia, and that the show offers a mix of topics that audiences find interesting and relevant.
7. Communicating with Radio: What Do We Know? Findings from a Review of Selected Rural Radio Effectiveness Evaluations
The main objective of this study was to discover, review, and analyse what has already been documented on links between radio-based communication strategies and rural development outcomes, particularly with regards to smallholder farming and food security outcomes in Africa. It also explores best radio practices, including optimal formats, schedules, production qualities, and station management. The study analysed 17 case studies from India, the Philippines, Tanzania, Mali, Malawi, Mozambique, Ghana, and South Africa to assess the effectiveness of rural radio. The report outlines key findings from these case studies, as well as five knowledge gaps in rural and farm radio effectiveness.
8. Andrew Lees Trust Impact Data of Projet Radio SIDA
Since 2003, the Andrew Lees Trust (ALT) has collaborated with the National HIV AIDS Awareness Committee of Madagascar (Commite Nationale Lutte contre le SIDA - CNLS) to deliver HIV information via radio to rural populations in southern Madagascar. ALT also distributed 2,000 radios for the CNLS across the Provinces of Toliara and Fianarantsoa, setting up dedicated listening groups to receive national broadcasts about HIV/AIDS as well as locally produced radio programmes on the subject. According to the organisers, explaining complex medical issues to an illiterate audience is challenging, particularly in this region where traditional beliefs attribute illnesses to spirit possession.
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VOTE IN THE COMMUNITY RADIO POLL:
What is required most to strengthen the role of community radio in Africa?
- a strong African representative body
- more funding
- more capacity building
- more networking
- more information sharing
- more government support
- more community involvement
To vote and send comments go to
http://www.comminit.com/en/africa/community-radio and see the Top Right side
of the page.
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STRATEGIC THINKING
9. Report of the Sensitisation Workshop on Rural Radio for Policy and Decision Makers in East and Southern Africa
by Frowin Paul Nyoni and Nyangi Hamis Lucas
This workshop report, published by the Food and Agriculture Organization, shares information from a workshop held April 26-29 2005 in Malawi to sensitise policy and decision makers on the status of rural radio and its practitioners in East and Southern Africa. The workshop included participants from Burundi, Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia. According to the report, at the end of the workshop, participants unanimously recommended that national governments should formulate national communication for development policies that recognise rural radio as an important development tool. They also recommended that the Southern Africa Development Community Centre of Communication for Development should expand its operations and facilitate the development of an accredited and accepted rural radio curriculum.
10. Communicating Agricultural Research in Africa: The New Role of Rural Radio
by Helen Hambly Odame
This paper addresses the role of rural radio in Africa and explores how researchers can improve communication with farmers via radio. It also discusses research relationships among civil society where media is an influential but often underestimated institutional partner. The report concludes that radio is the most important medium for communicating with the rural populations of developing countries. It suggests that communication should move beyond the “technology triangle” of research-extension-farmer linkages, whereby information is selectively released and controlled, towards a learning-centred approach for knowledge sharing in which radio has an important role to play.
11. Rural Radio and the Promotion of People-Centred Development in Africa
by Linje Manyozo
This document explores the nature and levels of villagers’ participation in facilitated dialogues on local development using radio as a rural information and communication technology (ICT). Focusing on two models of Radio Listening Clubs (RLCs) organised by the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation's (MBC) Development Broadcasting Unit (DBU) and Dzimwe Community Radio, the discussion establishes how rural radio broadcasting shapes local discourses on local development planning, implementation, and evaluation.
12. The Economics of Rural Radio in Africa: An Introductory Study into the Costs and Revenues
by Christopher Yordy
This report, published by Farm Radio International (FRI), examines the economics of radio in order to determine the costs involved in developing and sustaining farm broadcasting. One of the objectives of the study was to identify the levels of investment required for radio and related information and communication technologies (ICTs) to provide sustainable, effective contributions to smallholder farmers' agriculture and food security needs. The aim of the study was also to help ensure that the African Farm Radio Research Initiative (AFFRI) explores and develops radio-based communication strategies for farmers that can be continually offered by rural radio stations with appropriate and sustainable levels of public or donor investment.
13. Formats, Partnerships, and Content: Optimising the Components of an HIV and AIDS Media Campaign in Angola
This report highlights the findings of a survey that was conducted to assess the impact of Mo Kamba (My Mate), a radio call-in and discussion programme with complementary public service announcements, dealing with a wide range of issues around HIV and AIDS. According to the report, Mo Kamba enjoys high reach among rural populations where prevalence of HIV and AIDS is highest in Angola. It shows that audiences and media consumption patterns are fragmented and varied across the population. For example, the PSAs have higher reach among urban populations than the long format programme, Mo Kamba.
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Looking for more information about radio?
Visit the Soul Beat Africa Community Radio Themesite here http://www.comminit.com/en/africa/community-radio
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MATERIALS
14. Manual Temático Grupo Editorial de Agricultura (Editorial Group Production of Agriculture)
by Faruco Sadique
This manual, published as part of the "Strengthening Democracy and Governance through Development of the Media in Mozambique" project, was designed to assist editorial groups in producing programmes on agriculture for community radio. The programming aimed to provide information and create a forum for farmers to share their experiences and ideas. The manual is designed to be a step-by-step tool to guide editorial groups to identify and respond to the needs of farming communities.
15. Improving Educational Quality Through Interactive Radio Instruction: A Toolkit for Policymakers and Planners
by Stephen Anzalone and Andrea Bosch
This guide, published by the World Bank, is designed for African policymakers, education planners, and pedagogical specialists who may be considering the feasibility of using interactive radio instruction (IRI) in their education systems. According to the World Bank, studies of the IRI experience in more than two dozen countries during the past 25 years have shown that the use of IRI has led to significant and consistent improvements in school achievement and has helped overcome equity gaps between urban and rural children and between boys and girls.
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For related previous issues of The Soul Beat see:
The Soul Beat 98 - Radio for Social Change in Africa
The Soul Beat 83 - Communication for Food Security and Agricultural Development in Africa
Click here to view archived editions of The Soul Beat Newsletter.
