We are a world leader in

Radio for rural development

We are a world leader in

Radio for rural development

farmer-interview

We are the only international non-profit organization focused on using radio to help African farming communities help themselves.

Why radio?
Learn more about our work

Our vision

Prosperous, just and vibrant rural African people and communities.

Our mission

We make radio a powerful force for good in rural Africa—one that shares knowledge, amplifies voices, and supports positive change.

Our story

It all got started on a bumpy bus ride in Zambia back in 1975. It was then that a Canadian broadcaster named George Atkins got a simple but powerful idea that would go on to improve the lives of millions of the world’s most vulnerable farmers.

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Our team

Our team consists of about 75 staff members with a wide range of expertise, a dedicated board of directors and several hard-working volunteers. The vast majority of our staff are locally-based in our country offices and their knowledge of regional contexts, issues and languages is central to our success.

Senior management

Leadership

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Kevin Perkins

Executive Director

Kevin Perkins, Executive Director

Kevin has been a leader in the field of international and community development for over 25 years and the executive director of Farm Radio International since 2006. Before that, he worked for the Canadian Physicians for Aid and Relief (CPAR) in Toronto, where he led their international programs. From 1997 to 2004, Kevin focused on his own neighbourhood in Toronto, establishing the ACCESS Riverdale Community Loan Fund and leading the Riverdale Community Development Corporation as its first executive director. He studied International Development at the University of Toronto and Voluntary Sector Management at York University’s Schulich School of Business.

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Gizaw Shibru

Director of Compliance and Human Resources

Gizaw Shibru, Director of Compliance and Human Resources

Gizaw has over 25 years of experience in community development and humanitarian relief in Africa, including 20 years as the director of Canadian Physicians for Aid & Relief (CPAR) Uganda. He has significant experience planning, implementing, and evaluating a wide range of projects and programs, including in relief, rehabilitation and rural development. Gizaw holds an undergraduate degree in civil engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee and a masters degree in engineering from Karlesruhe Institute of Technology.

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Ian Pringle

Director of Programs

Ian Pringle, Director of Programs

Specializing in community-based, outcome-oriented media, communication, and learning, Ian has 30 years of experience in program leadership, development and delivery — including 20 years in developing country contexts. He holds a MA in New Media in Society from the University of Leicester and a BA from McGill University. Formerly a special consultant with UNESCO and media education specialist at the Commonwealth of Learning, Ian has been the Director of Programs at Farm Radio since 2015.

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Blythe McKay

Director of Broadcaster Resources

Blythe McKay, Director of Broadcaster Resources

With 14 years of experience in radio for development, Blythe has been with Farm Radio International since 2005. Her department serves broadcasters with resources and training that help them create interactive radio programs for farmers. She has an MSc in Rural Extension Studies from the University of Guelph. In 2004, Blythe was awarded a research internship at IDRC to explore how radio programming could improve community participation in natural resource management in Ghana.

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Jean-Marie Niangoran

Director of Finance

Jean-Marie Niangoran, Director of Finance

Jean-Marie has worked in financial management and accounting for more than 15 years, serving organizations within both the international and Canadian non-profit sector as well as the private sector. He holds CPA and CMA accounting designations as well as an MBA from the University of Quebec in Montreal (UQÀM). Fully bilingual, Jean-Marie has a depth of experience across western, central and southern African countries.

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Andréa Bambara

Country Representative, Burkina Faso

Andréa Bambara, Country Representative, Burkina Faso

Andrea Bambara is the country representative for Burkina Faso. As a journalist and trainer, she counts decades of experience and expertise in many domains: communication for development training, project management, skills development, gender equality advocacy. Before coming to Farm Radio International, Andrea was a radio broadcaster herself, and made it her mission to amplify the voices of rural people — especially young women.

Benjamin Fiafor

Benjamin Fiafor

Country Representative, Ghana

Benjamin Fiafor, Country Representative, Ghana

Benjamin Kojo Fiafor is the Country Representative for Ghana with additional responsibility for anglophone West Africa. In the past 13 years, at Farm Radio International, Benjamin has implemented numerous Communication for Development projects focusing on improving livelihoods and food security.

Benjamin is a multi-faceted development expert with skills in program development, process facilitation, project management, advisory practice, and grants management. Altogether, Benjamin comes with 21 years experience in building agricultural development programs, strategic planning, providing leadership, program management and innovations.

Benjamin holds a Master of Arts in Development Studies from the University of Ghana., a degree in Organization and System Development from the Gestalt Center for Organizational and System Development, a  BA Honours in Political Science from the University of Ghana Legon and a Post Graduate Certificate in Livelihoods and Markets from the Coady Institute, Saint Francis Xavier University, Canada.

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Bernard Pelletier

Manager, Knowledge Management 

Bernard Pelletier, Manager, Knowledge Management

After nine years on our board of directors, Bernard became a Farm Radio staff member in June 2017 and now oversees all monitoring, evaluation, research and learning activities. From 2000 to 2016, Bernard was a research associate, lecturer and manager of agricultural and international development projects at McGill University, where he obtained his PhD in 2001 which involved extensive research on small-scale farming systems in Malawi.

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Brenda Jackson

Fundraising Manager

Brenda Jackson, Fundraising Manager

Brenda has been a proud member of the Farm Radio team since 2006. She manages our fundraising and public engagement efforts, with the goal of creating a model for excellence in donor relations. Brenda feels very fortunate to have had many conversations with Farm Radio’s founder, George Atkins, and to have met him while producing our 30th anniversary video. Prior to Farm Radio, Brenda worked in marketing and communications for more than 10 years.

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Caroline Montpetit

Regional Program Manager for West Africa and Gender Equality Advisor

Caroline Montpetit, Regional Program Manager for West Africa and Gender Equality Advisor

With 9 years’ experience in international development, Caroline oversees FRI’s programming in Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mali, Niger and Senegal and helps to integrate gender equality across our work.

Prior to joining FRI in 2013, Caroline worked internationally in community development and gender equality. She also coordinated international maternal and newborn health projects for the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada and conducted research on gender-based violence. Caroline holds an MA in Feminist and Gender Studies and a BA in International Development and Globalization from the University of Ottawa.

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Karen Hampson

Senior Program Development Manager

Karen Hampson, Senior Program Development Manager

Karen has over 20 years’ experience in international development, supporting farming communities on three continents. After two years in Ottawa and five years in Tanzania with Farm Radio, Karen is now based in Europe, where she supports organizational and program strategy and builds partnerships with international organisations and research centres to use radio and ICT-enabled approaches for reaching and engaging with farmers. Karen holds an MSc in Crop Science and a BSc in International Development.

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Mamadou Bengaly

Country Representative, Mali

Mamadou Bengaly, Country Representative, Mali

Mamadou holds a Master’s degree in Educational Psychology from the Ecole Normale Supérieure (ENSUP) in Bamako. Mamadou has always been engaged in local development through international and non governmental organizations like the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Save the Children Fund (SCF), SUCO (Solidarité Union Coopération), the EU (European Union), etc., as an employee or a consultant. He tested both traditional and participatory development approaches in the areas of natural and environmental resources, education, and food security. He is active in decentralization initiative implementation in Mali and is a fierce advocate for human rights. Mamadou has a great capacity for project management and implementation, and strong work experience in cross-cultural environments.

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Mark Leclair

Head of Stakeholder Engagement

Mark Leclair, Head of Stakeholder Engagement

Mark is a communication-for-development expert with more than a decade of professional experience in program development, design and evaluation, as well as project management and coordination. Having joined Farm Radio in 2008, Mark currently leads the Communications and Fundraising teams, and has also been responsible for the development of the Knowledge Management specialty team. His work focuses on building visibility for FRI’s work through research, publishing and digital communications. Mark has an MA in International Affairs from the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs (NPSIA) as well as an undergraduate degree in International Development and Globalization from the University of Ottawa.

Nathaniel Ofori

Nathaniel Ofori

Digital Innovation Manager

Nathaniel Ofori, Digital Innovation Manager

Nathaniel Ofori works as Farm Radio International's Digital Innovation Manager. Nat has experience in computer and telecommunication engineering.

Based in Accra Ghana, Nat innovates new technology solutions that can enhance power of radio to serve rural listeners in Africa and committed to the creative use of technology in facilitating the intersection of social change between individuals and communities at both the global and local levels.

Nat is a powerful force in the workplace and uses his positive attitude and tireless energy to encourage others to work hard and succeed.

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Pape Kane

Country Representative, Senegal

Pape Kane, Country Representative, Senegal

Pape Kane joined FRI in May 2019 as the Head of Country programs, and later as Country Representative. Before, he spent 10 years in natural resource management and sustainable development. He has held major roles in international NGO management, program or project management, and communication, in Senegal, Mali, Togo, and at a regional level in West Africa. He also led national offices and projects in countries like Morocco.

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Rex Chapota

Strategic Opportunities Advisor & Regional Program Manager for East and Southern Africa

Rex Chapota, Strategic Opportunities Advisor & Regional Program Manager for East and Southern Africa

Rex was the founding executive director of Farm Radio Trust in Malawi from 2010 until he joined our team in 2018. With two decades’ experience in rural development projects, he is passionate about the potential of radio and other technologies to bring about real change for Africa’s farmers. Rex holds an MSc in Rural Development from the University of London and a BSc and Diploma in Agriculture from the University of Malawi. Rex actively contributes to the Civil Society Network in Agriculture, the Malawi Forum for Agricultural Advisory Services, Girl Effect and Heifer International.

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Stephen Ecaat

Country Representative, Uganda

Stephen Ecaat, Country Representative, Uganda

Stephen Ecaat is an agricultural development expert skilled in crop agronomy, participatory agricultural research, program management, rural development, agricultural technology development and dissemination. He has more than 14 year’s experience in building agricultural development programs, strategic planning, leadership, program management and innovations.

Stephen holds a Master of Science International Agricultural Development from the Tokyo University of Agriculture, and a Bachelor of Science in Bio-Sciences from Makerere University in Uganda. At Farm Radio International, Stephen has been engaged in communication for development programs focusing on improving livelihoods and food security. Radio is Stephen’s favourite asset. Using it to reach farmers with research results is what, as he puts it, “rocks my world.”

Sylvie Harrison

Sylvie Harrison

Manager, Radio Craft

Sylvie Harrison, Manager, Radio Craft

Sylvie joined the Farm Radio staff in 2014 after spending a year volunteering for us in Ghana. Now head of her team, Sylvie works to systematize radio program designs, radio craft training, radio program monitoring and evaluation for quality improvement. She also develops training materials and tools to help broadcasters grow professionally. Sylvie holds a BA in English literature and a teaching degree from Laurentian University and has worked in both private and public broadcasting.

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Zelalem Nega

Country Representative, Ethiopia

Zelalem Nega, Country Representative, Ethiopia

Zelelam Nega’s career has spanned more than 20 years of public service, working for several government agencies and NGOs. He has considerable experience in leading teams, planning and implementing programs, monitoring and evaluating projects and conducting research.

Zelalem has been working with Farm Radio as Ethiopia’s Head of Programs for the past eight years and more recently as Country Representative, Zelalem’s work has helped Farm Radio and its many partners to reach millions of Ethiopian farmers using Farm Radio’s proven interactive radio approaches. In addition to a Law degree from Addis Ababa University, Zelalem has a master's degree in Agricultural Economics from Haramaya University in Harar.

Country offices

burkina

Burkina Faso

B.P. 3440, Ouagadougou 01, Burkina Faso

[email protected]

ethiopia

Ethiopia

PO Box 19084, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

[email protected]

ghana

Ghana

c/o WUSC-Ghana
PO Box AH 1265, Achimota-Accra, Ghana

[email protected]

kenya

Kenya

c/o Kenya Community Media Network of​ Shalom House
Off Ngong Road, St. Daniel Comboni Rd, Wing C, 1st Floor, PO Box 2641 - 00100, Nairobi, Kenya

[email protected]

mali

Mali

Road 270, Door 172, PO Box E84, Niamokoro Cité UNICEF, Bamako, Mali,

[email protected]

mozambique

Mozambique

c/o NCBA CLUSA
Av. Eduardo Mondlane, Edifício Girassol N0.326*, 3º Andar-314-Nampula, Mozambique

[email protected]

nigeria

Nigeria

c/o Institute for Media and Society
3 Emina Crescent, Off Toyin Street, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria

[email protected]

senegal

Senegal

c/o CECI
Boulevard du sud, Point E, B.P. 6112 11524, Dakar Etoile, République du Sénégal

[email protected]

tanzania

Tanzania

PO Box 16604, Arusha, Tanzania

[email protected]

uganda

Uganda

Canon Road, Katutu Close, Ntinda, Kampala, PO Box 40142

[email protected]

Board of directors

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John van Mossel

Chair

John van Mossel, Board Chair

John has worked for over 35 years in international development and environmental programs. He has considerable Africa experience, and has 20 years focused on sustainable development and climate change programs. Currently, he is a senior consultant for ICF where he managed a five-year climate change adaptation project in Nigeria and has since been a team member on several large program evaluations. As a private consultant, John has also worked with several clients including CARE, Canadian Food Grains Bank-CFGB, Cooperative Development Foundation (Canada), CUSO International, OXFAM Quebec, LTS (UK), ESSA Inc., Rwanda Environment Management Agency, Conservation International (Guyana), IISD, Greenpeace International, Greenpeace Africa, the Canadian Coalition for Climate Change and Development-C4D, among others. Prior to 1999, John worked for CUSO for 18 years, including more than 6 years in southern Africa as the Country Field Officer (Botswana) and as a Regional Program Coordinator based in Zambia. He has a Bachelor of Environmental Studies (Waterloo) and a Master of Arts in Public Administration (Innovation, Science and Environment) (Carleton).

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Jean Christie

Vice-Chair

Jean Christie, Vice-Chair

Jean has worked with civil society organizations for over four decades, in Canada and internationally. Except for a short foray into the domestic not-for-profit sector in Canada, her paid work has been international in scope. She served as the Executive Director of Inter Pares in the 1980s, the Director of International Liaison for the Rural Advancement Foundation International (now the ETC group) in the 1990s, and as Executive Director of the Voluntary Sector Forum in the early 2000s. Since then, she has been engaged as a consultant by a wide variety of civil society organizations. She has a special interest in the relationship between organized citizens and their governments, and in the role of civil society organizations in government and multilateral policy processes.

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Heather Meek

Treasurer

Heather Meek, Member-at-Large

Heather is a management consultant for PwC in Ottawa and specializes in business and operations transformation for government, corporate, and not-for-profit organizations. In addition to over 15 years of management consulting experience, Heather owned and developed a rapidly growing retail franchising business from 2008 to 2015. She has a family farming background and has had a lifelong involvement in the agriculture and agri-food industry. Heather holds a B.Sc. (Agriculture) and an M.Sc. (Agricultural Economics) from the University of Guelph.

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Morag Humble

Member-at-Large

Morag Humble, Member-at-Large

Morag has been working in international development for over 25 years, focused primarily on gender and women’s health issues. She is a senior project manager and gender team co-lead at Agriteam Canada. She has managed or contributed as a technical advisor to projects in Pakistan, Ukraine, Ethiopia, Nigeria, and Tanzania. From 1999 to 2001 she was field director for a health and population project in Bangladesh, and from 2011 to 2014 she was a health and HIV/AIDS technical advisor at the Canadian Cooperation Office in Mozambique. She served for many years on the Board of Directors of Action Canada for Population and Development and Canadians for Choice, stepping down after the successful merger of those two organizations with the Canadian Federation for Sexual Health. She has a BA (University of Alberta) and MA (Carleton) in Political Science, and a Master’s of Public Health from Harvard University.

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Caitlynn (Lynn) Reesor

Member-at-Large

Caitlynn (Lynn) Reesor, Member-at-Large

Caitlynn lives in Edmonton, Alberta, where she works as the writer, host and producer of a popular agriculture radio show called Call of the Land. It is broadcast by 27 radio stations across Alberta. Prior to taking the helm at Call of the Land, Caitlynn was the writer, host and producer of The Agri-business Report, a one-hour daily radio program broadcast by CFCW. Caitlynn is strongly connected to and respected within the agriculture and agricultural communication field in Canada. She has been recognized with a number of awards and is frequently invited to make presentations, emcee events and give media interviews.

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Gulzar Samji

Member-at-Large

Gulzar Shamji, Member-at-Large

Gulzar is an independent consultant on international development, the empowerment of women and children, alleviating ultra-poverty, and the environment. She has worked with all levels of government and provided training to visiting government and non-government delegations including those from Indonesia, China, and India. She was appointed as an NGO representative on Canada’s delegation to the UN Preparatory Meetings for the 4th World Conference on Women. She has also served as a member of the Human Rights Tribunal for the Government of Canada. Gulzar is currently the vice president of the Women’s World Summit Foundation, an international organization whose focus is empowering rural women and preventing violence against women and children. She has a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture from Makerere University in Uganda and a post-graduate diploma in Animal Physiology and Biochemistry from the Food and Agricultural Organization of United Nations Faculty at Royal Agricultural and Veterinary University in Denmark.

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Jacqueline Toupin

Member-at-Large

Jacqueline Toupin, Member-at-Large

Jacqueline has 30 years of experience as a communicator, journalist and broadcaster dedicated to issues of development; rural and hinterland regions; peace and conflict; human rights; and health, in particular women’s and children’s health. She has a wealth of experience in radio and TV production (on air, writing, technical operation and producer) as well as radio training, including with First Nation communities in Canada’s north. She also spent three years in Mozambique training journalists at Radio Mozambique, and trained local broadcasters in East Timor during the United Nations’ UNTAET mission. She also brings expertise in communications and web-based social media development, having worked on media and advocacy work for the World Health Organization in Geneva. Jacqueline is fluently bilingual in English and French and can converse in Portuguese and Spanish.

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Pierre Kadet

Member-at-Large

Pierre Kadet, Member-at-Large

Pierre is a food security and nutrition specialist with over 15 years of academic, humanitarian assistance, and development aid experience in sub-Saharan Africa, and Latin and Central America. He is currently Mennonite Economic Development Associates’ (MEDA) Senior Regional Director for the West Africa, Middle East and North Africa regions. Pierre has worked previously with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the Norwegian Refugee Council, Action Against Hunger, CARE Canada, and as an independent consultant. Pierre holds a PhD in Physical Geography and Rural Planning from Montpellier University in France.

Eshete Hailu

Eshete Hailu

Member-at-Large

Eshete Hailu, Member-at-Large

Eshete Hailu has worked in the field of evaluation and accountability for several years. He is currently working for Health Canada as policy manager. He has previously worked in evaluation roles with Health Canada, the Canada Border Services Agency and as evaluation consultant with the Canadian International Development Agency and has also worked with the International Development Research Center, War Child Canada, and the Group of 78. Eshete received his B.A. in Economics from Asmara University, his M.A. in Economics from the University of Guelph and a Post Graduate Diploma in International Development and Cooperation from the University of Ottawa.

Jared Klassen

Jared Klassen

Member-at-Large

Jared Klassen, Member-at-Large

Jared Klassen has worked on global food security for the past decade, supporting and building coalitions for effective policy change. Previously, Jared worked for the Canadian Foodgrains Bank, Mennonite Central Committee, and a number of coalitions of international charities. Jared’s overseas experience has focused on agriculture and food security, community-based health programs, and local business development in places such as Southern Africa, India, and Latin America.

Chinazom Chidolue

Chinazom Chidolue

Member-at-Large

Chinazom Chidolue, Member-at-Large

Chinazom is a Wealth Management Associate at RBC PH&N Investment Counsel in Toronto. Prior to joining the investment management industry, she worked as a public accountant in the audit group of PricewaterhouseCoopers Toronto, where she performed financial statement audits for leading multinational firms in the media, beverage, financial services, and technology sectors. Chinazom was born and raised in Nigeria. She has worked in her family’s large-scale agriculture business in the eastern part of Nigeria.

Chinazom holds a Bachelor of Commerce in Accounting and is a graduate of the Chartered Professional Accountants (CPA) of Ontario.

Jo-Anne Bund

Jo-Anne Bund

Member-at-Large

Jo-Anne Bund, Member-at-Large

Jo-Anne is a lawyer based in Calgary, Alberta. She has served as general counsel and corporate secretary in the private sector and as senior legal counsel with the Alberta Securities Commission. She has experience with legal matters related to governance, human resources, corporate finance and boards. Prior to commencing her legal career, Jo-Anne obtained a Bachelor of Arts in International Development from the University of Toronto, during which time she volunteered with the United Nations Environment Program in Kenya and a Kenyan environmental non-governmental organization. Jo-Anne also previously worked as the administrator in the Ontario office of Canada World Youth and, many years ago, was a participant in a CWY exchange with Somalia. Jo-Anne holds a Bachelor of Law degree from the University of Calgary.

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Mark Elliott

Member-at-Large

Mark Elliott, Member-at-Large

Mark is the co-founder of Venture Accelerator Partners.  He has spent over 20 years working on sales and marketing with large enterprises, small medium business, and nonprofits. At VA Partners Mark and the team have worked with over 150 growing organizations since the company’s founding in 2006.  Mark has a Bachelor of Business Administration from Wilfrid Laurier University and was the valedictorian of his graduating class. He is also one of the grandchildren of Farm Radio International founder, Dr. George Atkins. In the past, to support Farm Radio International, Mark organized a yearly curling tournament in Toronto and explored corporate fundraising. 

Nora Young

Nora Young

Member-at-Large

Nora Young, Member-at-Large

Nora Young is the host and the creator of Spark, CBC’s national radio show and podcast about technology and culture. She was the founding host of the CBC Radio show, Definitely not the Opera, where she often focused on new media and technology.

As a journalist, author, and speaker, Nora explores how new technology shapes the way we understand ourselves and the world around us. She has a particular interest in how new digital technologies can flatten hierarchies, spread ideas, and foster more sustainable environments. Her book, The Virtual Self, on the explosion of data about our behaviours, opinions, and actions, is published by McClelland and Stewart. She is an avid hobby podcaster and radio fan, though her favourite technology is her bicycle.

Annual Report 2019-20
We strive to be accountable to the donors and funding partners who make our work possible by making the most of all funds received and reporting transparently and holistically on our results each year.
Annual reports
Financials

Our progress

We have consistently earned Charity Intelligence’s highest rating of four stars.

What we're learning

We know that no matter how much we achieve, we've always got space to learn and improve.  Sometimes these lessons come from what has worked well in a project — and sometimes they come from what hasn't!

Farm Radio named Top 2 International Charity in Canada: Maclean’s magazine

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Martin Mhina

Broadcaster Martin Mhina on the challenges of preparing and hosting a quality farmer program

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Accountability and Policies

Farm Radio International is committed to maintaining a high standard of ethics in our work. As such we have developed a series of policies for our staff as they conduct their duties and responsibilities:

Please contact us if you have any questions.

Frequently asked questions

Do you want to know more about who we are, how we work, or how to support us?

If you’ve got questions, we’ve got answers.

Contact us

1-888-773-7717 (toll free) or 613-761-3650

1404 Scott Street, Ottawa, Ontario K1Y 4M8, Canada

General inquiries: [email protected]
Partnership inquiries: [email protected]
Media inquiries: [email protected]

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