Radio
A farmer’s best friend
Radio
A farmer’s best friend
People are often surprised to learn that radio is a powerful tool in international development. In rural Africa, where we work, people depend on it as their primary source of information. That’s why we’ve used radio to help farmers help themselves for nearly 40 years. And now we combine it with newer technologies like mobile phones to make it more powerful than ever before.
Radio is ...
Widespread
Although it is more than 100 years old, radio is still the world’s most popular mass medium, reaching billions of people each year. It can be found practically everywhere — even in the most remote villages of Africa.
Accessible
Broadcast in local languages that everyone can understand, radio reaches everyone — men and women, young and old — whether or not they can read or write.
Convenient
Plentiful and portable, radio reaches people where they live and work, and even while they travel. What is more, it enables them to multitask, tuning in while they cook dinner, do housework or tend to their garden.
Inexpensive
Affordable for listeners and broadcasters, radio is a cost-effective way to share important information with a large audience.
Nimble
Radio is immediate, capable of delivering information quickly — which is especially useful in emergency situations.
Interactive
Combined with devices like mobile phones, radio is now a two-way communication tool that allows listeners to ask questions, provide feedback and amplify their voices over the airwaves.
Most importantly ... Radio really works!
With everything resting on the ground beneath their feet, farmers are understandably resistant to change. And yet, up to 40% of farmers who learn about a new practice through a radio program supported by Farm Radio International end up applying it on their farm. And it costs only about 50 cents to provide one of these programs to a farming family.
Did you know?
At least 75% of households in developing countries have access to a radio.
Source: EFA Global Monitoring Report (2012)
93% of Tanzanians, 92% of Kenyans, and 90% of Mozambicans own radios.
Source: Radio and Development in Africa (2008)
Community radio in sub-Saharan Africa grew by nearly 1,400% between 2000 and 2006.
Source: African Media Development Initiative (2006)
More than half of the world’s population is not yet connected to the internet.
Source: The State of Broadband (2017)
We estimate that our radio partners alone reach more than 100 million listeners.
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