"The African Farm Radio Research Initiative (AFRRI) was a 42-month action research project implemented by Farm Radio International (FRI) in partnership with World University Service of Canada (WUSC), and with the support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. An estimated 40 million farmers in five
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different countries were served by the AFRRI partnership with 25 radio stations. Farmers engaged in the design and development of farm radio programming were almost 50 per cent more likely to take up agricultural practices deemed to improve their food security than passive listeners. Those in what AFRRI deemed "active listening communities" (ALCs) were 10 times more likely to adopt the practice than those farmers who had no access to the farm radio programs. Farmers demonstrated increased knowledge of agriculture innovations as a result of listening to AFRRI radio programs, with up to 96% of some radio listeners scoring at least 60% on a follow-up knowledge quiz about the promoted farm practices [.] Farmers participate in selecting the focus – or topic – of the radio campaign, choose the time of broadcast, and are intimately engaged in the ongoing development of the farm radio programming over a set number of weeks; including as central agents of the knowledge-sharing process. Lively and entertaining formats are designed to attract listeners. [.] This report presents and discusses the key findings from an in-depth evaluation of 15 round-two Participatory Radio Campaigns (PRCs) – three PRCs in each of the five countries involved in AFRRI. AFRRI examined a mix of radio stations – community, associative, commercial, and state. Tools used for this evaluation included 4,500 household surveys (300 per radio station) in 90 communities, farm visits and field measurements, key informant interviews, and collection of secondary data (from other sources, such as national agricultural extension services)." (Executive summary, page 5)
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"In today’s climate in the media industry, reporters are expected to cover a broad range of issues. They no longer have the luxury of concentrating on a small piece of a larger puzzle, and at times, they may feel as if they need a better understanding of the background information before moving fo
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rward. Covering eight different topics, this book is not intended to provide reporters with in-depth information on any single topic. It is, instead, intended to provide the necessary building blocks on a variety of themes, and to assist journalists in seeing each story they tackle through a variety of ‘lenses’. This book is also based on a belief that a holistic approach to reporting is important in today’s media industry. The links between the economic recession, poverty, food insecurity, water issues, rural issues, xenophobia, gender issues and children’s issues cannot be emphasised enough." (Introduction)
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