Enhancing Community Over the Airwaves

This study is an exploratory analysis of the role that a community radio station, Radio Ada, plays in fishers’ livelihoods and lives in Anyakpor, a fishing village in southeast Ghana. The researcher conducted in-depth interviews, Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) activities, semi-structured interviews, participant observation, and document analysis in an effort to:

• identify what types of information fishers need and value, with an eye to invesigating whether Radio Ada was providing information perceived by fishers as important to their livelihoods.
• explore the communication networks/media fishers rely on for receiving, exchanging, and generating information related to their livelihoods.
• assess fishers' perceptions of the role that community radio plays in their livelihoods and lives.

Chapter two of the study introduces the reader to the research context in Ghana by focusing on background information, including Ghana's socio-economic ranking and the role of fishing as an important livelihood for Ghanaians.

Chapter three contains a literature review of the evolution of development communication alongside development theories. It identifies two branches of development communication: diffusion communication (which is rooted in the modernisation paradigm) and participatory communication (which was developed as an alternative to modernisation). It also provides a review of the literature regarding the socio-political context within which community radio arose as well as a section on how radio for development has evolved in Sub-Saharan Africa, and in Ghana, specifically.

Chapter four explains how PRA methods with a Rapid Appraisal of Agricultural Systems (RAAKS) conceptual basis were used to situate Radio Ada’s place in fishers’ information and communication networks. Through a process of qualitative coding, data from semi-structured interviews, document analysis, and participant observation were used to create categories related to the role Radio Ada is playing in fishers’ lives and livelihoods.

Chapter five presents the findings from the PRA methods and qualitative coding, and chapter six summarises the study and offers conclusions
and recommendations both for Radio Ada and for future research. In brief, the study's findings reveal that fishers rely on Radio Ada alongside other media for livelihood information. Radio Ada is also enabling fishers to learn about their livelihoods from each other, providing them with useful information for their work; promoting culture, identity, and community; providing access to news; creating opportunities for voice/dialogue; and establishing a level of trust. Fishers indicated that in the future they would like to further integrate Radio Ada into their community.

To request a copy of the full 150-page paper, please contact Blythe McKay at bmckay@farmradio.org