Audio postcard: From maize to petrol

Gerald Bigirwa recently achieved a lifelong dream: he bought his first car.

The white Toyota is parked on the streets of Imara Village, in Uganda’s Mugarama sub-county — a place where you don’t usually see vehicles.

So how did Gerald reach his dream? Maize.

He’s an avid listener of Kagadi Kibaali Community Radio (KKCR), and one program in particular.

Each week, KKCR broadcasts a new episode in a series discussing quality protein maize (QPM). The station partners with Farm Radio International to produce the weekly program.

This series encouraged Gerald to begin growing the new variety of maize. Ultimately, it was his hard work and Gerald benefited from the lessons learned on the radio program.

“[I] heard people share experiences about how QPM is good, how it is helping to share its economic values,” Gerald said of the early episodes.

Needless to say, he doesn’t plan to stop cultivating QPM any time soon. From maize to petrol, it’s a dream come true.

About the author  

Megan Stacey is a reporter who spent the fall of 2014 working for Farm Radio in Kampala, Uganda, as part of an internship through the Centre for Media and Transitional Societies. She recently graduated from Carleton University with a Bachelor of Journalism. Megan is currently working for a small daily paper and a communications start-up focused on sharing stories and innovations from developing communities.