The context
Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa and has a strong agricultural tradition, with over 70 per cent of Nigerians participating in farming. Staple crops like potatoes and cassava play an important role for food security and farmers’ livelihoods. Yet though Nigeria is the seventh-largest producer of Irish potatoes in Africa, farmers often use inefficient farming methods, which result in low yields. There is also a gender gap in agricultural productivity for certain crops, due to inequalities in access to land, capital, technology and extension services. It is critical to increase Nigerian farmers’ knowledge of good agricultural practices.
Our approach
This project builds on the previous two phases to consolidate and deepen outcomes of radio programming on four value chains: maize, rice, cassava and Irish potato. Farm Radio International will support nine radio stations — many of whom participated in previous phases — in planning and airing 20 weeks of gender-responsive programming to strengthen good agricultural practices among women and men farmers. The stations are located in eight Nigerian states: Plateau, Kano, Kaduna, Benue, Nassarawa, Cross River, Ogun and Oyo. Phase three will focus on increasing women’s participation and on ensuring radio programs’ sustainability by collaborating with government ministries and assisting stations with acquiring sponsors.
Our goals
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Radio stations
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People reached
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Farmers uptake good agricultural practicesGender equality
Our team will review previous phases’ gender strategies and assessments and implement new strategies to strengthen the participation of and responsiveness to women. We will collaborate with gender equality and women’s rights organizations on radio program design, including on developing radio dramas that address gender issues. We will also work to boost women’s participation in radio programs, including through a “women ambassadors” segment, which profiles top women listeners. The aim is equality in listenership between men and women and increased knowledge and uptake of good agricultural practices among all genders.
🔈 A radio clip from this project
The Radio Enabling Green Innovation at Scale (REGIS) project is financed by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) on behalf of the German Government.
Project snapshot
- Duration: 12 months, 2022-2023
- Budget: $388,148 CAD
- Radio stations: 9
- Languages: Hausa, Yoruba and Pidgin
Radio stations
- Joy FM
- Brothers FM
- FRCN Kaduna
- Nasarawa Broadcasting Service
- Amuludum FM
- Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State (BCOS)
- Paramount FM
- Plateau Radio and Television
- Freedom FM
“After applying the herbicides to my maize farm as explained by the expert, it was clear that I have been using the wrong approach to clear the weeds. The farm is now free of weeds and the maize grows faster, and there aren't defects that might prevent better yields this time.”
Salihu Muhammad Salihu,
Maize farmer, Kaduna State
Project goals
The third phase of the “Radio enabling green innovation at scale in Nigeria” project has three objectives:
- Strengthen gender-responsive agricultural radio programming
- Consolidate and deepen outcomes of radio programming on four value chains
- Strengthen sustainability of agricultural radio programming as a permanent service for women and men smallholder farmers
Expected outcomes:
- Over 7.2 million agricultural smallholders have access to an effective farm radio advisory service on good agricultural practices and farm management for maize, rice, cassava and Irish potato production in the target states
- 3 million active listeners (who listen to at least a third of campaign episodes on maize, rice, cassava and Irish potato production) in the target states
- 2.5 million smallholder farmers significantly enhance their knowledge of the value chain
- 1.8 million smallholder farmers uptake good agricultural practices
