Soul Beat Africa
African development action with informed and engaged societies
Soul Beat Africa
After nearly 28 years, The Communication Initiative (The CI) Global is entering a new chapter. Following a period of transition, the global website has been transferred to the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in South Africa, where it will be administered by the Social and Behaviour Change Communication Division. Wits' commitment to social change and justice makes it a trusted steward for The CI's legacy and future.
 
Co-founder Victoria Martin is pleased to see this work continue under Wits' leadership. Victoria knows that co-founder Warren Feek (1953–2024) would have felt deep pride in The CI Global's Africa-led direction.
 
We honour the team and partners who sustained The CI for decades. Meanwhile, La Iniciativa de Comunicación (CILA) continues independently at cila.comminitcila.com and is linked with The CI Global site.
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Impact Data - Soul City: Anti-Smoking Strategy

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Date
Methodologies
These series of longitudinal evaluations are designed to assess both the individual and social contexts impacting attitudes and behaviour. A number of research techniques were used to gather in-depth detail and to ascertain exposure to Soul City and the impact of the campaign. These techniques included surveys (200 respondents each from 4 sites), focus groups, and in-depth interviews. The latter involved discussions with key role players in each of the communities, including health workers; representatives of political, civic, youth and women's organisations; teachers; representatives of community police forums; local government councillors; and traditional healers. A baseline study was conducted in August 1997, prior to Soul City III, followed by a post-production evaluation in November 1997.
Knowledge Shifts
95% of people who had been exposed to the Soul City campaign had increased knowledge about the negative effects of smoking on health. New knowlege was predominantly around the issue of passive smoking and its effects on children and unborn babies. Knowledge of smoking that was based on messages in Soul City II was sustained into the 3rd series; respondents who watched Soul City were more knowledgeable about the effects of smoking on health.
Practices
Although qualitative feedback indicated that a number of people had been inspired to give up or cut down on smoking because of Soul City, surveys showed that there was no significant change in smoking habits over a 3-month period. Given the addictive nature of tobacco, this finding is not surprising. 24% of those surveyed said they smoked every day regardless of the ill effects on their health. Soul City recognises that changing attitudes/practices is a process and thus, concluded that its anti-smoking strategy was a success.
Attitudes
Smoking perceptions changed; the most popular was, "It is not cool to smoke". In the evaluation of Soul City II, 74% of respondents were anti-smoking. This figure rose to 78% in the evaluation of Soul City III, reflecting an important gain for Soul City's anti-smoking campaign, which is consistent with the overall findings that Soul City's impact continues to grow. The evaluation also reinforced the observation that future anti-smoking messages need to be geared toward men, who continue to hold more favourable attitudes towards smoking.
Increased Discussion of Development Issues
The entertainment value of the Soul City programmes is such that people will often watch them/listen to them in a social setting that encourages dialogue around the highlighted smoking issue. "Over half of those who accessed Soul City discussed it afterwards with friends, family or at school."
Access
61% of all respondents were exposed to the Soul City media. The television programme was extremely popular and reached nearly 2 million people every week: 57% of TV viewers saw Soul City TV. In addition, 41% of radio listeners heard Soul City radio and 37% of newspapers readers saw the Soul City booklets.
Source
Soul City Series Two and Series Three Evaluations.