Rebranding Radio Programming for Agriculture Extension and Advisory Services

The debate on ICT for agriculture is no longer about 'if' they can work for agricultural extension and advisory services but 'how' they can be integrated to ensure inclusivity of even the poorest of the poor. Countless development projects have tested the use of radio, mobile phones and even the internet in disseminating and facilitating the flow of agricultural information with varying degrees of success. The major observation that is common amongst these projects is that the choice of ICTs that could actually work for a specific audience is directly linked to socio-economic factors such as literacy, asset ownership, access to infrastructure such as mobile networks, and even age. The most common ICT that works for Malawi in as far as agricultural advisory services are concerned is radio. Radios are found to be owned by approximately 65% of the population. This wide radio ownership presents a great opportunity to a country that has a greatly strained extension force that has a ratio of 1 extension worker to 3000 farmers.

In the country, Farm Radio Trust has pioneered in the use of innovative radio based extension services by helping radio broadcasters to develop evidence-based, demand-driven agricultural  radio programs that are able to help farmers to improve their agricultural production and productivity. With support from Irish Aid and Farm Radio International, Farm Radio Trust is working with Nkhotakota Community Radio Station to rebrand their agricultural radio program, 'Phindu mu ulimi'  to better suit farmer needs and priorities.

Farm Radio Trust mentored the radio station to conduct an audience research in order to understand the challenges that farmers meet within the community and what they think they would want to learn in order to overcome these challenges. A workshop was then held in order to discuss the findings of the study with the study and develop key messages that will address the farmers information needs. Beyond the farmers, the meeting also brought together mainline extension workers from the agricultural district office and other organisations working on agricultural issues within the area. Various sentiments were made throughout the workshop.

"We found that farmers want a program that holistically addresses the diverse challenges in the farming endeavours. They are looking for daily information on weather forecasts, market trends, farming news items, and agricultural tips, compacted in weekly 'farmer magazine' radio programs. As a community radio, we now have a clear understanding of topics and issues to be broadcast in the program. ” (Edward Kuwacha, Programmes Manager, Nkhotakota Community Radio Station)

"This process repositions farmers from being mere 'research respondents'  to 'key partners' in agricultural transformation. Agricultural programs need to be rebranded in order to achieve effective ongoing farm radio advisory service that accounts and responds to the needs and priorities of farmers. This rebranding starts with listening to farmers needs and priorities and what they would want from a 'best' agricultural broadcast."  (Rex Chapota, Executive Director, Farm Radio Trust)

To achieve the major changes to the radio program, Farm Radio Trust together with Nkhotakota Community Radio Station have organized a series of trainings and mentorship programs in order to build the capacity of the radio station to effectively produce radio programs that meet farmers’ diverse needs.