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 built 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 supported 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 were located in eight Nigerian states: Plateau, Kano, Kaduna, Benue, Nassarawa, Cross River, Ogun and Oyo. Phase three focused on increasing women’s participation and on ensuring radio programs’ sustainability by collaborating with government ministries and assisting stations with acquiring sponsors.
Results
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Radio stations
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People reached
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Weeks of radio programmingReach of radio programs:
- The nine radio stations had a combined potential reach of 11,666,285 listeners.
- 10,077,075 people listened to at least one episode about maize, rice, cassava or Irish potato, which exceeded our target of 7.2 million listeners.
- 58.5% of listeners were men and 41.5% were women.
- The radio programs had 3,194,432 active listeners, who listened to at least one-third of episodes.
- The listenership rate (number of potential listeners who listened to at least one episode) was high across programs about all four value chains.
- Maize: 86.6% listenership rate
- Rice: 86.6% listenership rate
- Cassava: 89.4% listenership rate
- Irish potato: 79.2% listenership rate
Sample results by value chain:
Radio programs supported both communities with GIZ-led farming schools and communities that GIZ schools were unable to reach. In our baseline, midline and endline evaluations, we compared scores from radio program listeners and non-listeners — both those who had access to GIZ-led farming schools and those without a GIZ school in their community. In the majority of cases, farmers who listened to the radio programs obtained higher knowledge scores than non-listeners.
- Maize
- In our endline evaluation, 54% of listeners with access to a GIZ school followed the recommendation of applying urea five to six weeks after planting, compared to 38.2% of non-listeners with access to a GIZ school.
- In the same endline evaluation, 47.5% of listeners not trained by GIZ followed the recommendation about urea application, compared to 41.4% of non-listeners not trained by GIZ.
- Rice
- In our endline evaluation, 71.4% of GIZ-trained listeners weeded for the first time two to three weeks after planting, as recommended on the radio programs, compared to 40% of GIZ-trained non-listeners.
- In the same endline evaluation, 50% of listeners not trained by GIZ weeded two to three weeks after planting, compared to 28.3% of non-listeners not trained by GIZ.
- Cassava
- In our endline evaluation, 85.3% of listeners with access to a GIZ school used an improved cassava variety, compared to 70.9% of non-listeners with access to a GIZ school.
- In the same endline evaluation, 67.4% of listeners without access to a GIZ school used an improved variety, versus 33.3% of non-listeners without access to a GIZ school.
- Irish potato
- In our midline evaluation, 90% of GIZ-trained listeners knew that the ideal time for harvesting potatoes is when it’s dry, compared to 0% of GIZ-trained non-listeners.*
- In the same midline evaluation, 89.9% of listeners not trained by GIZ knew the ideal time for harvesting potatoes, versus 82.4% of non-listeners not trained by GIZ.
*There were very few GIZ-trained non-listeners.
🔈 A radio clip from this project
The Radio Enabling Green Innovation at Scale (REGIS) project was 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
Gender equality
Our team reviewed previous phases’ gender strategies and assessments and implemented new strategies to strengthen the participation of and responsiveness to women. We collaborated with gender equality and women’s rights organizations on radio program design, including on developing radio dramas that addressed gender issues. We also worked to boost women’s participation in radio programs, including through a “women ambassadors” segment, which profiled top women listeners. The aim was equality in listenership between men and women and increased knowledge and uptake of good agricultural practices among all genders. In the end, 41.5% of listeners were women.
