Date Posted: June 30th, 2008
Warm greetings to all!
This week, we return to the subject of climate change and how it affects farmers. As the daily work and livelihood of farmers relies on weather and climate, farmers are among those most immediately affected by climate change.
This week’s news stories examine how farmers in different parts of the continent – southern Benin and western Zimbabwe – are coping with dramatic changes to the conditions in which they work. Farmers in both countries note that rainfall patterns are becoming more unpredictable. And rains that arrive quickly following periods of drought can destroy food crops and wash away land.
But we promise that both stories provide hope in the midst of these harsh conditions. Farmers in southern Benin are working to track climate and weather changes and understand the new agricultural cycle. Farmers in western Zimbabwe are learning new techniques to preserve water and produce food during periods of drought.
We have a poll on our website that asks, “Which issues related to agriculture and climate change interest your listeners the most?” Why not take a moment now and answer the poll by clicking on one of the answer buttons on the left-hand side of the page at: http://farmradio.org/english/weekly/.
And remember, for more on this subject, stay tuned for Farm Radio International’s next script package, where the winners of the CTA-Farm Radio script competition on African Farmers’ Adaptations to Climate Change will be published.
On a personal note, Farm Radio International was fortunate to receive two visitors from African partner stations in our Ottawa, Canada office, last week. We thank Bestway Zottor from the Tongu Community Multimedia Network in Ghanafor stopping by, and Joseph Sekiku, from FADECO FM in Tanzania, for sharing the story of his community radio station with our staff and donors. We would also like to welcome our newest African FRW subscribers, Brian Nyambe from the Mkushi Ministry of Africulture and Cooperatives in Zambia, Jacques Randriarimalala from the NGO RFA in Madagascar, and Gbamele Koffi Edouard from the organization AJSM in Ivory Coast.
Happy reading!
-The Farm Radio Weekly Team
