Case Study 6: Kenya - Tembea Na Majira (Move with the Times)

Tembea Na Majira (Move with the Times) is a weekly radio soap opera, broadcast nationally in Kenya in Kiswahili. It was the brainchild of David Campbell, one of the founders of Mediae, who wanted to do an "Archers for Kenya" and attracted the talents of Agricultural Information Centre (AIC) staff who wanted to get away from the dry, boring advice programs produced by the Ministry of Agriculture. At the same time, the newly semi-privatized Kenyan Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) was looking for more entertaining programs, in order to attract advertisers. It was piloted as a Kimeru language version in 1993, in order to assess the most effective way of communicating with a rural audience, then turned into a Kiswahili version in 1996 to reach a much wider audience. The Kimeru program continued until 1998, while the Kiswahili programs are still on air.

The soap is 15 minutes long and set in a rural agricultural zone. Originally the content was purely agricultural, but it has now expanded. Current topics include milk production and marketing, domestic violence, child sex abuse, political corruption, and how parents can support schools. In the past, topics have included malaria, female genital mutilation, biological control of agricultural pests and HIV/AIDS. The HIV/AIDS storyline ran for two or three years, sponsored by Plan International. It promoted prevention through faithfulness - or "zero grazing" - and condom-use, and community and family care for HIV-positive members. Trusted characters helped to dispel erroneous beliefs, such as mosquitoes carrying the HIV virus.

Management: The project is managed in Nairobi by Mediae, including liaison with the commercial sponsors. Some of the management and creative aspects are dealt with from the UK. On a day-to-day basis, Mediae works with AIC staff to produce the soap and magazine. The overall producer is a Kenyan.

Staffing: The team includes 12 actors playing permanent characters, three scriptwriters, and two producers. Scriptwriters and producers were trained by the BBC and consultants from soaps like The Archers. On-the-job and refresher training still takes place, particularly in script-writing and studio production. The project had some problems around corruption and nepotism. At one stage, the whole acting team plus a leading scriptwriter were sacked for suspected corruption, and there has been pressure on occasion by producers wanting to create new characters, as jobs for their relatives.

Writing and Production: Overall story-lining takes place once a year, facilitated by a Mediae advisor who travels from the UK for this purpose. The team first meets with donors to brainstorm and fine-tune the messages. Then scriptwriters and producers work out how the messages can be woven into the storyline and which characters will carry them. Characters are introduced and developed for both dramatic and educational functions. Most scriptwriters are from farming backgrounds, and are therefore well grounded in their subject matter.

A broad sketch-out is produced, which the client approves. Then, the team does a more detailed synopsis in preparation for the regular four to five-week actual production cycle, including synopsis, script writing and correcting, studio recordings and broadcasts. Five episodes are made in one batch. The recordings are made in commercial studios in Nairobi. At present there is a push to improve the general sound and production quality of the show to meet BBC World Service standards.

Balancing sponsorship with a good and educational storyline is often difficult when, for example, some element from the story has to be dropped to make room for a new funder. Some sponsors' subject matter is very difficult to render on a radio soap opera. The project team found that technical information, such as how to do accounts, lent itself better to the magazine program and to accompanying illustrated leaflets.

Formative Research: In-depth Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA)-style qualitative research was done initially in villages in the Meru region and then in five districts for the Kiswahili version. Questions ranged from numbers of households who owned radios to the nature of women's problems and desired program content. Findings ground the soap in reality. Formative research also led to using a variety of dialects, thus ensuring that all the major ethnic groups were represented in the drama.

Monitoring and Audience Feedback: The project had a system of audience feedback sessions in the field every six weeks. Examples of listener feedback have included use of the word "condom," listeners preferred "sweet-wrapper" or "gumboot." Some listeners said that the style of the magazine program was too jumpy, in the way it moved from topic to topic. Broadcasts have been adjusted accordingly.

Supporting Activities: The soap is accompanied by a magazine program called Sikizia Ueruvuke (Listen and Be Enlightened), which provides factual information about social and agricultural issues covered in the soap. The magazine is also 15 minutes long and includes interviews with farmers and ordinary people in the rural areas, a Tip of the Week, listeners' letters and competitions. Plenty of songs and music keep the program lively. It backed up the HIV/AIDS storyline with interviews with health professionals - including some from Plan International - and featured real HIV-positive men and women on the show.

Sustainability: The project emphasized sustainability from the start. The plan was to strengthen the AIC as an institution, first within the Ministry of Agriculture and then as a private company, but this has not been possible for many complicated reasons. Thus, the radio soap/magazine is a self-sustaining product, as it is funded almost completely through local sources, but it is still firmly a Mediae project and not an indigenous Kenyan organization.

Over the years, the project has become a private enterprise. Mediae sees the soap opera as a product, whose profits pays staff and finances other Mediae projects. For example, Cadbury's is mentioned before and after each show, and it has product placement during the show. The company also uses characters and educational themes from the soap on its advertising posters, billboards and leaflets. Advertisements for cocoa include cartoon-strip style warnings to children and parents about abusers and sugar-daddies. Commercial sponsors do not influence the content or style of the messages and are comfortable being associated with sensitive issues like child sex abuse. They feel it enhances their image as a socially responsible company. This commercial partnership is still partly supported by DFID through its Business Challenge Fund, which encourages business and NGOs to work together. It has worked because Nairobi is one of Africa's cultural and commercial centers and because Kenya has a relatively good consumer base, thereby making advertising possible.