Rural Radio in Agricultural Extension

Abstract

Radio is a powerful communication tool. Experience with rural radio has shown the potential for agriculturalextension to benefit from both the reach and the relevance that local broadcasting can achieve by using participatory communication approaches. The importance of sharing information locally and opening up wider information networks for farmers is explored with reference to the specific example of vernacular radio programmes based on research on soil and water conservation. This paper describes this specific experience in the context of rural radio as a tool for agricultural extension and rural development, with reference to the dramatically changing technology environment that is currently influencing information and communication processes worldwide. The implications for policy makers of harnessing rural radio to improve agricultural extension are also discussed.

Excerpt from the Section entitled Community participation and empowerment

The strength of rural radio as an extension tool is widely regarded to lie in its ability to reach illiterate farmers and provide them with information relating to all aspects of agricultural production in a language they understand. This does not mean simply reading technical information over the airwaves in locallanguages, but understanding the way farmers themselves discuss their problems in the communityand providing relevant information in the local agro-ecological and cultural context.

Excerpt from the Section entitled Radio and extension in the wider development context

Radio stations set up in rural areas have a predominantly agricultural clientele. Whether those who run them are pursuing the development objectives of the station's funder or simply aiming to entertain, they are awarethat agricultural issues are very high on their listeners' priorities. However, agricultural extension systems have only shifted to more participatory approaches relatively recently and so much of their early efforts used the top-down technical scientific information approach which tended to ignore the diversity of both localagricultural problems and the farmers' existing knowledge and skills. Other social development sectors,such as health and education, have been more effective, using rural radio to communicate messages to a targetcommunity or a specific demographic group. In many areas radio stations have become highly valued forinteracting with specific disadvantaged groups and for handling complex social problems. Youth radio, forexample, has emerged as a powerful tool for international organisations promoting the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, encouraging children to participate in and produce programmes on issues that are important to them.

Excerpt from the Conclusion Implications for Development: Policy Issues

Rural radio has developed over the years into a well-established tool for both community empowermentand improving the information and communication capacity of remote rural populations. Thedevelopmental potential of rural radio is recognised by international organisations, NGOs and governmentsalike through a wide array of sectoral foci. Efforts to improve the transfer of knowledge for agriculturaldevelopment have been concentrated for some time on improving the information interface betweenresearchers, extension agents and farmers. The experience of the vernacular radio programmes on soil and water conservation described above illustrates the type of interaction which can be achieved with farmersliving in remote rural communities through the use of carefully designed content. In an era of rapidlydeveloping information and communication technologies rural radio is a powerful mechanism for linking old and new technologies, providing information resources cheaply to those who need them most to improve their livelihoods, whilst at the same time strengthening existing resources of knowledge, enterprise and cultural identity.