For this farmer, radio is key to learning new things
Rebecca Adakule Adokoma may be 60 years old, but that hasn’t stopped her from learning new things — especially with radio by her side.
A regular listener of the farm radio programs on URA Radio, Rebecca takes what she learns over the airwaves and applies it to her rice and maize farm in Dubila in the Upper East Region of northern Ghana.
“The world is becoming technologized, so I’ve been following the program to learn about the new technologies,” she says. Knowledge about composting and post-harvest storage are among Rebecca’s key takeaways when it comes to new farming practices.
“I didn’t know what to do with the dung. I would just leave it or clean it away,” she says. “Now people come help with the compost. We know how to use it.”
Composting and not burning her fields have helped make Rebecca’s soil more fertile. This year she was able to produce seven to eight bags of rice per acre, rather than the three to four she was able to grow before. She also has taken to storing her rice in bags on top of some wood, away from moisture.
As a female farmer and widow, Rebecca said it hasn’t always been easy. She has no one to help on her farm and needs to pay men in her community to do some of the most demanding farming tasks.
Still, Rebecca encourages other women to farm and listen to the program. “I think that women farmers and other farmers should be a part of the show so that we also will hear about its benefits.”
The radio programs on rice and maize that Rebecca is listening to are part of the Ghana Agriculture Technology Transfer project, made possible with the support of Feed the Future, the US government’s global hunger and food security initiative.
