Radio enabling green innovations at scale (phase two)

Building on phase one to promote good agricultural practices for four value chains in eight Nigerian states

Credit: Pascal Mweruka

Radio enabling green innovations at scale (phase two)

Building on phase one to promote good agricultural practices for four value chains in eight Nigerian states

The context

In Nigeria, approximately 40 per cent of land is used to grow crops. However, low awareness of Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) can limit yields and negatively impact farmers’ livelihoods. Though Nigeria has an established tradition of extension services, funding pressures have limited the number of extension officers available to disseminate agricultural information to farmers. In 2021, Nigeria ranked lowest among 15 African countries for the number of farmers served by one extension officer. The ongoing conflict and insecurity in northern Nigeria has also disrupted extension services and worsened food security in the region.

Our approach

In collaboration with the Green Innovation Centers for the Agriculture and Food Sector program, implemented by GIZ, the first phase of the Radio Enabling Green Innovations at Scale (REGIS) project worked with radio stations and other partners to research, design, deliver and evaluate quality interactive radio series for women and men small-scale farmers. Overall, the project aimed to increase knowledge and uptake of good agricultural and business practices and, by extension, farmers’ productivity.

The second phase of this project expanded the scope after a successful pilot with PRTV radio station in Plateau State in 2019-2020. We worked with radio stations in eight Nigerian states on programming about four value chains: Irish potato, maize, rice and cassava. We surpassed our targets for several indicators, working with 10 radio stations, which each produced 41 weeks of content.

Given the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we completed most training for radio stations online. To ensure that stations could continue delivering high-quality programs to farmers beyond the end of the project, we supported stations with program sustainability and seeking sponsors.

Results

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Radio stations
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Listeners
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Community Listening Groups

Here are some highlighted results from this project :

  • The 10 participating radio stations had a combined potential reach of 68.8 million listeners.
  • 6.7 million people listened to at least one episode about Irish potato, maize, rice or cassava.
  • The radio programs had over 1 million active listeners, who listened to at least one-third of episodes.
  • The stations broadcast 41 weeks of programming (453 episodes in total).
  • 156 Community Listening Groups were formed (of the 2,286 members, 713 were women.)
  • Radio programs supported both communities with GIZ-led farming schools and communities that GIZ schools were unable to reach.
    • Knowledge scores about good agricultural practices in potato growing
      • In communities where there were both farm schools and radio programs, knowledge scores about good agricultural practices in potato farming rose from 54% to 73%. This can be compared to knowledge rates of 52% in communities where there were only farm schools.
      • In communities with only radio programs accessible, knowledge about potato agricultural practices grew from 47% to 73%.
    • Uptake of good agricultural practices for cassava
      • In communities with both farming schools and radio programs, uptake of properly spaced planting rose from 42% to 56%. In communities with only radio programs, uptake rose from 32% to 70%.
      • In communities with schools and without radio programs, the number of farmers planting in rows rose from 42% to 59%.

Gender equality

For this project, we performed a gender assessment and delivered training about gender to participating broadcasters. We also partnered with gender-focused organizations and gender experts and included radio dramas addressing gender issues in some episodes. We used several strategies to boost women’s participation in programs, including consulting women during our formative research and design of radio programs and running women-only phone lines and Community Listening Groups.

GIZ-logo-en

The Radio Enabling Green Innovation at Scale (REGIS) project is financed by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) on behalf of the German Government.

Location

Project snapshot

  • Duration: 20 months, 2020-2022
  • Budget: $1,205,190 CAD
  • Radio stations: 10
  • Languages: Hausa, Pidgin, Yoruba

Radio stations

  • Liberty FM
  • Nasarawa Broadcasting Service (NBS)
  • Harvest FM
  • Freedom FM
  • Radio Nigeria, FRCN
  • Paramount FM
  • Amuludun FM
  • BCOS
  • EBBC Salt FM
  • PRTV
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“The [Farm Radio International] program has changed our concept of agro programs which were hitherto just discussions, to a more robust magazine program with segments that are related to rice farming. The program has enabled us to establish a face-to-face or interface with practical farmers, by so doing building a stronger bond between the radio team and farmers.”

Rabo Oshagu
Producer, Nasarawa Broadcasting Service