Ascroft, Joseph R. (author), Chege, Fred Wa (author), Roling, Niels G. (author), and Agriculture University, Wageningen, Netherlands; University of Iowa; Michigan State University
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
1976-04
Published:
USA
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 37 Document Number: B04008
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Document Number: C17068
Notes:
Pages 49-52 in Wilbur Schramm and Daniel Lerner (eds.), Communication and change: the last ten years - and the next. University Press of Hawaii, Honolulu. 372 pages.
15 pages., via online journal, Radio is the most widely used medium for disseminating information to rural audiences across Africa. Even in very poor communities, radio penetration is vast; it is estimated there are over 800 million radios in Sub-Saharan Africa. The paper summarizes evidence on food insecurity in Sub-Saharan Africa and strategies to provide information on innovative agricultural practices to smallholder farmers. The research in this paper is then discussed within the context of research on information and communication technologies (ICTS) for development. Next, the paper presents the ICT-enhanced participatory radio campaign approach and ICT innovations introduced by Farm Radio International, a Canadian nongovernmental organization. The paper analyzes two participatory radio campaigns that use both listening groups and ICTs to engage African farmers. Research on these radio campaigns in six African countries is reported to examine how the participatory approach impacted listenership, knowledge and initial adoption of agricultural techniques and practices presented in the radio campaigns. The authors conclude that the findings of research on these projects could be highly relevant for increasing awareness and adoption of agricultural practices in Sub-Saharan Africa. They also appear promising for other development sectors and for other developing regions
