Final project report: Her Farm Radio in Ethiopia, Malawi, Tanzania and Uganda

This project is made possible by the generous support of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). The contents of this report are the responsibility of Farm Radio International and do not necessarily reflect the views of IFAD.

In partnership with 13 radio stations in Ethiopia, Malawi, Tanzania and Uganda, the Her Farm Radio project worked toward the inclusion of women in rural radio programs about agriculture. Farm Radio International’s ‘Her Voice on Air’ approach, designed and developed specifically for this project, involves training for both radio broadcasters, and women in rural communities where those radio stations air. Broadcasters were trained to incorporate a gender-sensitive approach in their programming to address the information needs of women through interactive radio programming. This includes practical information on farming practices that are tailored for the crops grown in each area, but also the facilitation of discussions around topics such as gender based violence and family planning. Women, forming community listening groups, were also given training on how to contribute to and use the available radio programs to their benefit. They learned and practiced how to call in to radio shows live and how to use their mobile phones to record and contribute content for inclusion in rural radio programs. Her Farm Radio successfully aided radio stations in addressing the information needs of women, soliciting and sharing women’s perspectives and experiences as content in radio programs, and fostering a sense of empowerment and self-confidence in the women involved. With the confidence to discuss and explain their farming practices, and by being the main channel of information regarding the new practices they learned from the radio shows, women noticed an increased respect for their ability to educate others on farming practices. In some communities, women and men noticed that Her Farm Radio had the effect of influencing gender roles in agricultural practices.

Overall highlights, detailed in Table 1 below, are as follows:
● We partnered with 13 radio stations whose broadcasts reach over 8.1 million listeners
● 49 days of training for the rural radio production teams at 13 radio stations
● Facilitated the formation of 134 community listening groups with a total of 2,314 members and equipped them with smartphones and wind-up radios
● Provided 4,113 person days of training on the use of radios and smartphones to listening group member
● Facilitated the production and broadcast of 262 episodes of farm radio programs containing content directly generated by women in community listening groups