The Role of Community Radio in Climate Adaptation

This article was presented at the AfricaAdapt Climate Change Symposium in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in March 2011. It outlines how community radio can be used as a catalyst to improving food security in the face of the challenges brought about by climate change. There is a focus on a project conducted by Farm Radio International (FRI) and the African Farm Radio Research Initiative (AFRRI) in 2007 that was aimed at gathering implementing, evaluating, and sharing best practices, including ones derived from scientific research, for using radio-based communication strategies to enhance food security in Africa.

Malawi was one of the countries identified for the Project. In Malawi, the project worked with five radio stations. The article highlights the work done at one of the participating community radio stations, Dzimwe Community Radio.

In making their argument for community radio as a catalyst to improving food security for subsistence farmers in Malawi, the authors cite the following statistics from the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO):

• In 1997, UNESCO estimated that 170 million Africans owned a radio and that radio set ownership would increase on average by at least 4 per cent per year.
• Ownership was estimated at more than 200 million sets in 2002.
• Radio transmission networks reached approximately 60% of the population of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) in 2001.
• Household surveys between 2000 and 2006 revealed that 51% of rural households in SSA owned a radio.
• In a region where less than 3% of the rural population has fixed phone lines, where only 6% of rural households own a television, and where less than 1% of rural villages have access to public internet, radio remains the dominant medium for communication in rural African homes.

The partnership between Dzimwe Community Radio and AFRRI involved improving the quality of farm radio programming and providing technological advice in order to improve farming practices and achieve food security. It required capacity building in broadcast staff, securing adequate equipment, and increasing interaction between stakeholders (broadcasters, farmers, experts). The approach adopted was participatory and was intended to assist farmers to make informed decisions about adopting a specific improvement that has been selected by peers. It was based upon the best available information through an interactive process.

The article outlines both the process of the partnership, as well as the monitoring and evaluation and outcomes and effects that followed.