Issue #23

Over the past few weeks, we have been thrilled to watch the FRW subscription list grow to include more radio organizations, more organizations dedicated to small-scale farming and rural development, and more supporters. This week, we extend a special welcome to our newest subscribers: Ejobi Joseph, from the rural extension agency, Rohie Systems, in Uganda, and Benjamin Kudjoe Fiafor, from Farm Radio’s African Farm Radio Research Initiative in Ghana (AFRRI Ghana). We want as many people as possible to make use of this service, so please invite your colleagues to get their free subscription at: http://www.farmradio.org/english/partners/fr_weekly_subscribe.asp.

This week’s news stories offer a window on two phenomena that are changing the face of African agriculture – the rapid rise in food prices and the boom in cell phone use. In the first story, we look at how food price hikes are encouraging city dwellers to grow crops in any space that is available. In our second story, we hear about two services that allow farmers to “call-up” information on crops and livestock, via cell phones or conventional phones.

If you see trends like these happening in your area, why not take a moment to share your experience with other FRW community members by posting a comment on the FRW website (http://weekly.farmradio.org/)? Or e-mail FRW Editor Heather Miller to “pitch” a story idea. To pitch an idea, simply send a few sentences that describe your idea to hmiller@farmradio.org. If you’re interested in researching and writing the story yourself, Heather can work with you to prepare a story that fits the FRW style.Finally, you won’t want to miss this week’s Farm Radio Action section, where we share the story of a Farm Radio partner, Zimbabwe’s Radio Voice of the People. This organization has survived attacks and arrests, and overcome a maze of regulatory and technological blocks, to bring Zimbabweans an alternative to the state-run broadcaster.

Happy reading!

-The Farm Radio Weekly Team

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African Farm News in Review

1. Africa: Urban agriculture provides relief from high food prices (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, The Herald, New Era)

2. Africa: Dialling up farm info (Farm Radio Weekly, UN Integrated Regional Information Networks)

Upcoming Events

-United Kingdom-based internship, fellowship

Radio Resource Bank

-Canadian radio service provides international news

Farm Radio Action

-Radio Voice of the People overcomes repression to provide an alternative view

Farm Radio Script of the Week

-Garden on your rooftop

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Like any other farmer, Karim visits his vegetable plot every morning. He tends to his lettuce and other crops, irrigating them with water from a nearby stream. But there’s a busy road just metres from where Karim works the land, and power lines overhead. He’s one of a growing number of urban dwellers turning to agriculture in the wake of rising food prices.About 200 people farm alongside Karim. Any vegetables they don’t eat themselves are sold at a local market. Karim is proud to say that their produce feeds many people in Ghana’s capital city of Accra.

Mark Redwood is an expert in urban agriculture with Canada’s International Development Research Centre. He says there is a direct link between the rising cost of food and the number of people practicing urban agriculture. By growing crops on rooftops, in culverts, or under power lines, people stand a better chance of feeding their family, regardless of market prices.

In cities across Africa, people are increasingly seeking out small patches of land to grow their own food. Jessica Mbano lives with her family in Glen Norah, a densely populated suburb of Harare, Zimbabwe. She says she didn’t used to farm, but when food prices began to soar, she needed a way to feed her family. She now grows maize on a small plot near her home.

In southern Namibia, Ottilié Abrahams is part of a civil society organization that promotes backyard gardening. The organization has existed for more than 20 years, but interest in their programs has never been higher.

Ms. Abrahams insists that it doesn’t take a lot of land to improve family food security. A door-sized plot, about one metre by two metres, can be used to grow six or seven types of vegetables, such as cabbage, carrots, radishes, bush beans, and spring onions. These vegetables can be planted in rows just 15 centimetres apart.

She recommends fertilizing and watering crops with household waste. Organic kitchen scraps, dead leaves, and ash all make good compost. Vegetables can be watered with bath water or even dishwashing water. You can also collect rainwater to irrigate the garden, using a barrel or other container.

Urban farmers who produce a surplus also benefit from nearby markets. The rising cost of oil is a driving force behind high food prices. But those who sell their crops close to home avoid transportation costs and enjoy better profits.

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Are there spots on your tomatoes that you can’t identify? Are you puzzling over the best breed of dairy cow? If you live in Kenya, help is now just a phone call away.

The National Farmers Information Service, or NAFIS, is a new telephone system that offers guidance on crops and livestock. For example, a farmer planning a tomato patch can dial up recorded information on different tomato varieties and methods of starting seeds. A dairy farmer can listen to messages on disease treatment and learn when it’s necessary to contact a veterinarian.

Isaac Mulagoloi is Program Coordinator for the National Agriculture and Livestock Extension Program, which operates NAFIS. He says that agricultural extension workers can only contact about half of Kenya’s 4.5 million farmers in person. Through NAFIS, they hope to reach a much larger number – about four million.

Mr. Mulagoloi explained that the system was started with information on four of Kenya’s highest value agricultural products – tomatoes, French beans, dairy, and chicken. Extension workers wrote key messages about each product, ranging from when and how to plant and weed, through produce storage and marketing. An automated speech program was used to record the messages in English and Kiswahili.

Over time, NAFIS will expand to include information on more locally-produced crops, and recordings in local languages.

NAFIS may be the latest example of agricultural information service available over the phone line, but it’s not the only one. In Cameroon, for example, a service called Allô Ingénieur offers a direct link from a farmer on her cell phone in the field to an expert in an office lined with books.

Marie Martine Yobol is Director of Allô Ingénieur, a program operated by the Swiss NGO, Service d’appui aux Initiatives Locales de Développement. She says many callers are interested in trying new farming techniques, but lack the resources to research their options.

A common question is whether corn seeds from the July harvest can be sown in August. Ms. Yobol is glad that people ask because: no, these seeds need a longer time to dry and will not sprout if planted in August.

On a more positive note, Allô Ingénieur can often confirm that a farmer with an innovative idea is on the right track. The service is also there with advice on how to prevent animal diseases such as avian flu, or how to salvage a crop that has been hit by a plant disease.

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In February 2007, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) noted in a press release that, for the first time in history, the world’s urban population exceeded the rural population. The FAO observed that urban agriculture will be an important source of food for city dwellers as urban areas continue to swell. In fact, an estimated 800,000 people practice urban agriculture, producing about 15 per cent of the world’s food.

Two groups of people – those who do not grow their own food and farmers unable to produce enough food for their families – have felt the recent food price hike most acutely. In the past few months, African cities have been hotbeds of civil society action, with protesters demanding affordable food. And it seems that fears of food security have re-invigorated interest in urban agriculture.

Your listeners may appreciate more information on how to produce food in an urban area, or other locations where arable land is unavailable or very limited.

-The Canadian NGO Alternatives provides details on several soil-less gardening techniques: http://rooftopgardens.ca/?q=image/tid/66.
-Many techniques for producing maximum yields in a small area are described in the Wikipedia entry on biointensive agriculture: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biointensive.
-The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research provides an online course about urban agriculture: http://www.cipotato.org/urbanharvest/news_events/global/online_course.htm.

The following Farm Radio International scripts describe some innovative approaches to growing food in cities, and offer advice on how to limit the absorption of toxic chemicals in urban crops:

-“Garden on your rooftop” (Package 39, Script 2, April 1996)
-“Grow vegetable vines in small spaces” (Package 39, Script 1, April 1996)
-“Gardening in tires” (Package 41, Script 5, July 1996)
-“Reduce lead in city gardens” (Package 41, Script 2, July 1996)

You may also wish to review this FRW story about women in Gugulethu Township, South Africa, who improved their families’ health with vegetables grown in community gardens:
-“Community gardens help women pensioners maintain their independence” (FRW Issue 11, February 2008):

Finally, here are some ideas for a call-in/text-in show to further explore this issue. This will be especially relevant if you broadcast to an urban area, but may also interest rural audiences who must make the best use of small plots:

-Have any members of your audience started growing food (or growing more food) in response to rising food prices? What materials did they use to get started? What difficulties did they face and how did they overcome them?
-Have members of your audience grown food in an urban area, or a very small plot in a rural area, for some time? How much food do they produce and what impact does this have on their family’s food security? What materials do they use? Which crops grow best with the space and resources they have available? What tips or innovations can they share?

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With the boom in cell phone availability and use, rural communities can seem less remote than they used to be. Cell phones are making it easier for farmers to connect with other people, organizations, and the Internet. Some services, such as the ones described in this story, are specifically designed to support farmers with access to new technology. The National Farmers Information Service and Allô Ingénieur are voice-based, and can be accessed with traditional phones, as well as cell phones. But Internet access through cell phones and short message service (SMS), also known as text-messaging, are opening new avenues. Farmers are using these services to access weather reports, market prices, and other up-to the-minute information.

Note: If you broadcast in Kenya or Cameroon, you’ll want to mention the phone number of the service available in your country. Kenya’s National Farmers Information Service can be reached at: 020 4762347. Cameroon’s Allô Ingénieur can be reached at: 941 41 41.

Here are some other reports on how information and communication technologies (ICTs) are changing the way that farmers do business:

-“Question and Answer Service,” published in LEISA Magazine, describes a service of The Technical Centre for Agriculture and Rural Cooperation (CTA) that connects farmers with agricultural experts by any ICT available, from post to internet.
-“Cell phones help farmers and traders do business more efficiently” (FRW Issue 7, January 2008), describes SMS services that connect farmers and traders.
-“ICTs: Upwardly mobile,” from Spore, a CTA publication, discusses access to market and weather information, as well as banking, through cell phones.
-“How ICT can make a difference in agricultural livelihoods,” published by The International Institute for Communication and Development, talks about opportunities and challenges for using ICT to support farmers.

You may wish to research a story about how farmers in your area are using cell phones or other ICTs. Start by talking to farmers you know, leaders of farmers’ organizations, or extension officers. Once you have identified an interesting new technology or service that is popular in your area, identify and interview a few farmers who use it regularly. Here are some questions to ask:

-How did they hear about this new technology/service?
-How did they get set up and trained to use it?
-How much does it cost them to use it?
-In general, how is the technology/service most useful to them as farmers?
-Can they describe a specific instance when the new technology/service helped them (for example, by giving them information on how to treat a disease, providing them with a timely weather forecast, or connecting them with a trader)?
-Has this service helped them to save time or money, or to earn more money?
-Have they had any technical difficulties? If so, what have they learned about dealing with them?
-What tips would they offer to other farmers on how to use the technology/service effectively?

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1) SciDev.Net Science Journalism Award
All English-speaking journalists with an interest in science reporting and its impact on decision makers in developing countries are invited to apply. The winner will receive a six-month internship placement with SciDev.Net, consisting of three months based in SciDev.Net’s office in London, England, and three months travelling and working on behalf of SciDev.Net in one or more developing countries. The deadline for applying is June 20, 2008.
For more information, visit: http://www.scidev.net/en/announcements/idrc-scidev-net-science-journalism-award-2008.html.

2) One World Fellowship Scheme
The One World Fellowship Scheme is aimed at senior radio and television broadcasters from developing countries, and brings a group of senior broadcasters to the United Kingdom for a two-week period every year. During this time they meet various people from the British media sector – from program makers and journalists to regulators and government officials – to learn about the media scene in the UK, and to share their own perspective on the role of the media in their countries and around the world.
Details on how to apply for the 2008 One World Fellowship Scheme will appear in mid-July 2008 on this website: http://www.owbt.org/pages/Fellowships/fellowship_apply.html

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 Radio Canada International (RCI) is a radio service that produces and shares international and Canadian news in English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Russian, Portuguese, and Ukrainian. It carries programming aimed at connecting new immigrants to Canada and Canada to the world. Over many years, RCI has forged cooperative relationships with partner radio stations around the world. Its programs and reports can be heard on over 400 stations in 60 countries. The organization provides this description of what it can offer its partners:

1) On Compact Disc:
-Canada à la carte: a monthly collection of reports and/or interviews on a variety of topics. You can incorporate these 4- to 10-minute items into your own programming at your convenience. Produced monthly.
-Reports and interviews targeting your market.
-English-language courses for children, using Canadian legends and nursery rhymes.

2) MP3 audio files:
-Daily and weekly programs available in MP3 format via Internet on our Audio Bank.
-Canada à la carte (each month).

3) Daily programs can be received via satellite:
-In Europe, in North Africa, and in the Middle East on the Eutelsat Hotbird-6 satellite, channels RCI1, RCI2, and RCI3.
-In Africa, on the Atlantic Bird 3 satellite.

4) Daily programs can be received via the World Radio Network (WRN) where the service is available.

To request more information from RCI, fill out the form and e-mail it to: rcipart@radio-canada.ca. You can also visit the RCI website at: http://www.rciviva.ca/.

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Imagine waking up one morning to find that your radio station has been bombed. Or being arrested and beaten by police just for interviewing a member of the opposition party. Imagine having to move your station’s headquarters to a neighbouring country, only to have your radio signal deliberately jammed. Farm Radio partner Radio Voice of the People (VOP), its journalists and trustees, have endured all of this and more, to provide an alternative source of news and information to the people of Zimbabwe.The two attached reports tell the tale of Radio VOP, a broadcaster that refuses to be silenced. In an article published by World Radio TV Handbook (read the report by clicking here), Radio VOP Chairperson David Masunda describes his station’s mission: “As the name implies, VOP was formed to give a voice to the voiceless marginalised, the rural and urban communities whose interests are not being catered for by the government media, the voices of opposition political parties, those “banned” from the government-owned media, the civic society and the ordinary Zimbabwean whose story is not being told.”

The second article was published by the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (read the report by clicking here) , and quotes a former Radio VOP journalist who helped keep the alternative station on the airwaves following a bombing in 2002: “We always lived in terrible fear. After the bombing we were left homeless as a station and started operating from street corners, city restaurants and motor cars because no one was prepared to offer us office space for fear of being bombed. Everywhere we went we felt we were being followed by the dreaded state security agents but we made sure that we produced a powerful programme every day without fail.” You are sure to be inspired by the tenacity and courage of Radio VOP!

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Some of your urban listeners may be interested in starting a personal or community garden, but not know where to begin. This script provides details on how to start a rooftop garden – designing it so it will not be too heavy for the roof, choosing crops that work best in shallow gardens, and watering and fertilizing to get the best yield. The techniques described in the script can be used to grow food on other concrete slabs, such as a driveway, sidewalk, or a section of a parking lot.

This script can also be found online at:
http://farmradio.org/english/radio-scripts/39-2script_en.asp.

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