In-station training transformative for broadcasters

*Above: Ghanaian farm broadcaster Victoria Dansoa Abankwa works with FRI trainer Stephen Appiagyei Donkor to help improve her broadcast skills.

Victoria Dansoa Abankwa, an extension agent who hosts a regular farm program in Cape Coast, Ghana, recently benefited from Farm Radio International’s in-station training at Central Radio. The result for her was “transformative” and a “revelation.”

 “It was the first experience I ever had in going to the field to meet our farmers,” she said. “What marveled me was to realize that farmers could tell their issues in the form of stories.”

Farm Radio International uses the “in-station training” model to enhance the skills of farm broadcasters rather than special courses or workshops. A qualified FRI broadcast trainer, with help from the production team, helps identify weaknesses in both individual broadcast skills and in the design of the farmer radio program. Trainers facilitate group training sessions, individual mentoring and over-the-shoulder coaching to address those weaknesses. One great advantage of this approach is all training is done in broadcasters’ local languages, which means much clearer explanations and understandings.

FRI has placed trainers in more than twenty African radio stations. This year our trainers have worked in Ghana, Ethiopia, Malawi, Tanzania, Burkina Faso and Uganda.

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