Farm Radio Weekly

Issue #15

Hello to All!

As many of you know, World Water Day is coming up this Saturday, March 22. Specially designated days like this can be an opportunity to explore what an issue means to the communities in your broadcast area. In this case, what challenges do people face in accessing safe drinking water for their families, and sufficient water for their crops and livestock? What are individuals or community groups doing to improve their access to the water they need?

In this edition of FRW, we offer a variety of resources that may help you to mark World Water Day. Our first news story and our Script of the Week both look at innovative methods of rainwater collection. In the Radio Resource Bank, you will find links to additional scripts and audio files about rainwater harvesting, and other topics related to water. We even have information on a contest for journalists in developing countries who investigate water, sanitation, and hygiene issues in their communities!

We also include two news stories that examine how market forces influence farmers’ decisions about what to grow. In one story we meet Ugandan farmers who started growing Artemisia annua – a plant used to make anti-malaria drugs – and who now face uncertainty as the drug company to which they sell has slowed its purchasing. We also have a story that features Kenyan farmers who have chosen to grow crops for export instead of staple grains – a choice that is raising concerns about food security. As always, we invite you to visit the FRW website (http://farmradio.org/english/weekly/) to discuss these topics with others in the FRW community!

Finally, we would like to send our greetings to all those who will celebrate Easter this coming weekend. Happy Easter!

And happy reading!

-The Farm Radio Weekly Team

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