RURAL RADIO IN AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION: THE EXAMPLE OF

VERNACULAR RADIO PROGRAMMES ON SOIL AND WATER

CONSERVATION IN N. GHANARobert Chapman, Roger Blench, Gordana Kranjac-Berisavljevic’

and A.B.T. Zakariah

Week 4 Lecture NotesCSE 590F

Contents

• Background• Case Study• Conclusions

Radio in the developing world

• Rich history in developing world– Experiments began in 1940s– Rural radio in 1960s (centrally managed)– Community radio in late 1980s

• Established benefits in many domains– Health, education, politics, entertainment

• Cheap, widely available

Difficulties with community radio projects

• Requires donor or government subsidies• Media often tightly controlled by government– Licenses can be difficult or impossible to obtain

• Administration of station can get bogged down in local politics– Choice of language, staffing, location, etc

Community Audio Tower System (CATS)

• ‘narrowcasting’ technology - karaoke equipment and an amplifier with microphones in a studio linked to a metallic tower with all-weather loudspeakers.

• Works well in dense rural areas– Receivers not needed

• Cost is about $2000• Case studies demonstrate effectiveness

Discussion

• What are the strengths and weaknesses of radio as a means of sharing information?

• What are the strengths and weaknesses of radio in terms of scalability?

• How can other ICTs be combined with radio to make it better?

Major Trends in Agricultural Extension in the Developing World

• Shift to a more advisory and facilitation-based approach (Roling, 1995).– Requires understanding of community perspective

• Innovations in communication to improve the points of interaction between research, extension and farmer to encourage a greater sharing of information. – Replace one-way technology transfer approach– Requires ICT improvements

Discussion

• Is radio a good choice for addressing these two challenges of agricultural extension?

Experience with rural radio and agricultural extension

• Can generally demonstrate good results• Cost can be relatively high– $1000/person for multimedia rural radio campaign in

SE Asia, – $0.07/person for comparable mass media campaign– Room for improvement with partnerships

• Creating content requires greater effort– Local language– Hearing voice of friends and neighbors– Dramas, music, other entertaining formats– Must appeal to men and women

Discussion

• What lessons can we learn from these experience with rural radio?

• Can we achieve similar results with other technologies?

• Is it cost effective?• How can partnerships improve cost and

effectiveness?

Ghana case study

• Set up rural radio stations covering 18 rural villages, 6 local languages, combined population of 90,000

• Programming centered around a drama centered around agricultural themes, followed by discussion

• 3 surveys– One before program to asses knowledge and attitudes– One after to assess comprehension– One at harvest to assess compliance

Results• For the most part farmers were already following the

advice of the radio program• About 75% of participants understood the content very

well• All of the farmers remembered that burning was bad

– Belief was reinforced, not influenced by radio• 61% did not cut trees on their farms, 31% did

– 94% said radio influenced their decision• Farmers enjoyed the program

– Especially drama and discussions• Generally improved understanding of agricultural principles

Discussion

• Was this a well-conducted study?• How could it have been improved?

Conclusions

• Need policies that make rural radio easier to implement

• “Rural radio should represent the sort of legitimate low-cost, high-impact expenditure that governments and donors continue to support.”

• Potential for improvement when combined with other ICTs

• Good approach for agricultural extension, but many challenges to implementing it well

Discussion

• Any other conclusions?