Issue #83

We are excited to welcome many new subscribers to the FRW community this week. From Cameroon, we welcome Colince Nguelo, an environmental engineer; from Côte d’Ivoire, Jean Jacques Anon of Plantation Anon; from Chad, Jean Saingaral Yok of the NGO Association Betsaleel-Tchad; from Democratic Republic of the Congo, Vangu Sahel, a radio project consultant; from Ghana, Asuo Dzibordi of the Ministry of Agriculture, and Richard Ovulley of Radio Afram Plains; from Kenya, Joseph Wambugu, a farmer; from Malawi, Rhoda Zulu of the Story Workshop; and from Nigeria, Moh’d Dahiru Aminu, a geologist.

In this week’s news, we continue to look at the issue of fertilizer subsidies. Government subsidization of fertilizer can contribute to improvements in food security. But subsidy systems have also come under criticism for failing to serve some of the farmers who need it most. This week’s first news story looks at some problems with fertilizer subsides. The FRW staff extends a special thank you to our summer volunteer, Yamina Tsalamlal, for her work in preparing these reports on fertilizer subsidies.

In other news, we learn about a non-chemical storage technique being promoted in Nigeria, and about how the military is disrupting farming land rights in part of Ghana. Look for some interesting opportunities in our Upcoming Events and Radio Resource Bank sections. And if you’re considering entering Farm Radio International’s Scriptwriting Competition on Smallholder Farmer Innovation, be sure to scroll down to the Farm Radio Action section to learn about some exciting awards, which have just been announced.

Happy reading!

-The Farm Radio Weekly Team

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African Farm News in Review

1. Africa: Fertilizer subsidies don’t always reach those in need (Various Sources)

2. Nigeria: Triple bagging an alternative to ‘killer beans’ (Daily Trust)

3. Ghana: Farmers risk stray bullets to continue work (The Chronicle)

Upcoming Events

-October 16, 2009 – Deadline to apply for the International Association of Women in Radio & Television awards

Radio Resource Bank

-Can Tru Love Withstand the Test? – A radio drama on HIV prevention

Farm Radio Action

-Awards announced for Farm Radio script competition

Farm Radio Script of the Week

-Storing cowpea seeds for a season and a reason

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In both Malawi and Ghana, governments subsidize fertilizer for farmers. They provide coupons, which farmers can use to purchase fertilizer at below-market cost. These programs are designed to support farmers to produce food. But they don’t always reach those most in need. For example, a Malawian woman living with HIV may not receive a coupon because of her status. And a small-scale farmer in Ghana may be passed over in favour of a farmer with more land.

Malawi’s fertilizer subsidy system has gained international attention. Its success in improving the country’s food security has inspired other African governments to try fertilizer subsidies. But the Malawian system is not without problems.

Members of the Coalition of Women Living with HIV/AIDS charge that they have been discriminated against. Agricultural extension workers are responsible for distributing fertilizer coupons in Malawi. Before they distribute the coupons, they consult village heads. According to the women’s coalition, village heads singled out individuals who are HIV positive. The group says that people living with HIV do not receive coupons because the village heads believe they are “less productive.”

In response to these kinds of criticisms, Malawi’s President promised in 2005 that each individual living with HIV and AIDS would receive two coupons in the next year. This did not happen. Now the women’s coalition is calling on the government to reserve coupons for people living with HIV and AIDS, and to put community-based organizations in charge of distributing them.

In other countries where fertilizer subsidies are provided, there have been similar charges of discrimination. There are also accusations of corruption and mismanagement.

Ephraim Nkonya is an agricultural economist who has studied subsidy systems for the International Food Policy Research Institute. He has said that the “rich” and the “well-connected” farmers often end up with the subsidies. There is evidence that poorer farmers with less land are less likely to get vouchers than those with larger plots.

In Ghana, there have been reports that the subsidy system limits access by lower-income farmers. Caesar Kale is the Deputy Upper West Regional Minister. He charges that “middlemen” designated to distribute coupons have been selling them for a fee. As a result, only 10 per cent of the coupons intended for his region were actually used.

A final concern is that fertilizer coupons may not be distributed in time to be useful. Tanzania subsidizes fertilizer in an effort to help farmers improve yields. But a 2007 study showed that fertilizer coupons arrived late in all regions. Farmers could not purchase fertilizer in time to use it effectively.

Many people who study fertilizer subsidies say it’s time for what they call “smart” subsidies. They suggest that changes are needed to ensure that subsidies reach those most in need. Suggestions include removing middlemen from the system and allowing for more community-based distribution.

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Last April, Nigerians turned to stored beans to get through the dry season. Sadly, some people became sick as a result. Some stored beans had been treated with toxic pesticides. Pesticides can be used to repel insects and protect stored food. But the wrong kind of pesticide can be harmful to people. The tainted beans were responsible for hundreds of reported illnesses. There were even reports of death.

Now it is time for farmers to harvest beans – such as cowpeas – again. And a new, chemical-free method for storing beans is being promoted.
Tahirou Abdoulaye works for the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture. He recently demonstrated the triple-bagging storage method in Nigeria’s Kano state. Mr. Abdoulaye says this method eliminates the need for storage chemicals.

First, the beans are sealed inside a high-density polyethylene plastic bag. Then, a second high-density polyethylene plastic bag is sealed around the first. Finally, the sealed beans are placed within a woven or nylon sack. The beans are then ready to be stored.

The triple-bagging system does not allow air to penetrate. This keeps away bruchids – small beetles that can destroy stored beans. Mr. Abdoulaye said that they high-density polyethylene plastic bags will be available from agro-dealers across Nigeria.

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 A group of peasant farmers are putting their lives at risk by tending their crops in Apremdo, western Ghana. They have been warned against the danger of stray bullets, but can’t afford to stop farming. Their fields are located next to a military camp. Although they have been warned to stay away, the farmers feel they must work to survive.

On September 26, the farmers received a letter warning them of danger. The infantry unit was planning a training exercise using live ammunition. They were warned to stay off their farms for a month. Two days later, the military exercise began. The farmers refused to leave.

The farmers have called on their chief to request the military commander to stop the exercise. Meanwhile, the chairman of the regional security council has asked farmers to comply with the order and stay away from their fields. The farmers say they cannot do this. They have perishable crops that must be tended.

Farm Radio Weekly is interested in learning whether the situation of farmers being displaced by military exercises (or other government-operated or government-sponsored activities) is a common problem in sub-Saharan Africa. If this type of displacement has happened in your area, please let us know by posting a comment on the FRW website (http://weekly.farmradio.org/) or write to us at farmradioweekly@farmradio.org.

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In last week’s FRW, we looked at how fertilizer subsidies have helped to dramatically improve Malawi’s food security situation, and how Malawi’s example has inspired several other African nations to consider fertilizer subsidies. However, as we saw in this week’s story, individual subsidy programs have been criticized on many fronts.

If your government operates a fertilizer subsidy program, you may wish to research a news story on the impact it has had on local farmers. Here are some questions to consider:

-How does the subsidy program work? For example, what is the mechanism used to allow farmers to purchase fertilizer at a subsidized rate?
-Who is eligible to receive the fertilizer subsidy? Are any farmers excluded from the program, either intentionally, for political reasons, or because some other problem impedes their access? Do men and women have equal access? Is subsidized fertilizer available to farmers without secure land tenure?
-Was enough subsidized fertilizer available to meet the needs of local farmers?
-Did access to subsidized fertilizer result in better yields for local farmers? What other factors affected yields this year?

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Food storage is an important, ongoing issue in all farming communities. If food is stored improperly, it may be damaged or destroyed by pests or by exposure to the elements. However, sometimes the effort to protect stored food with pesticides can result in food poisoning. An estimates 200,000 to 3000,000 people die each year from acute pesticide poisoning. Millions more suffer illnesses from direct exposure to pesticides. Media reports of tainted beans raised the Nigerian public’s awareness of the issue last year.

If you wish to explore this issue further, here are some guides to reducing health risks associated with pesticide use:
-“Preventing health risks from the use of pesticides in agriculture” (posted on the World Health Organization website)
-“Risks and consequences of the misuse of pesticides in the treatment of stored products” (posted on the UN Food and Agriculture Organization website)

As this week’s news story demonstrates, there are effective ways to protect stored food without using pesticides. For radio spots on pesticide safety and scripts on organic alternatives to food-storage pesticides, please see the following:
-“Protect your health and the community from agricultural pesticides and fertilizers” (Package 83, Script 4, March 2008)
-“Powder of little pepper protects stored rice” (Package 81, Script 2, August 2007)
-“A local plant prevents pest damage to stored seeds” (Package 81, Script 1, August 2007)
-”Protect stored grain from beetle damage” (Package 72, Script 7, September 2004)

For more information on the triple-bagging storage technique discussed in this week’s news story, scroll down to the Script of the Week.

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The International Association of Women in Radio & Television (IAWRT) invites women producers, directors, and writers to submit radio or television documentaries to its annual competition. The documentaries must be created by women and deal with women’s themes. The competition is open to radio and television stations as well as independent producers/directors and program-makers. The documentary must have been broadcast or screened at a competitive festival, between November 2007 and October 1, 2009. Radio documentaries should be 15-60 minutes in length. They must be submitted in English, or if not in English, accompanied by an English transcript.

Winners of the radio and television categories will be presented with their award at the IAWRT conference, to be held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, from November 17- 21, 2009. For more information, visit the IAWRT website at: http://www.iawrt.org/home. Questions may be directed to Gerd Inger Polden at: gerd.inger.polden@nrk.no.

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The African Broadcast Media Partnership Against HIV/AIDS (ABMP) has created an “edudrama” targeted at African youth. In short episodes, this radio drama features typical circumstances that young people encounter as they negotiate relationships and the social and economic pressures of early adulthood. Twenty-eight episodes have been posted online so far. According to the ABMP website, the series will continue with two new episodes each month through May 2010. The drama is available in English, French, Portuguese, and Arabic (not all episodes available in all languages). The audio files can be found online at: http://itbeginswithyou.org/ads/edudrama.html.

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Farm Radio International has some great news about the Scriptwriting Competition on Smallholder Farmer Innovation! Thanks to the support of a number of organizations, we are pleased to announce the following awards:

-Each of the 15 winners will receive an Olympus LS-10 audio recorder. These prizes are generously sponsored by Inter Press Service (IPS) Africa and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

-One lucky winner of the scriptwriting competition will have the opportunity to travel to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Rome for a 3-5 day training visit in 2010. This award is generously sponsored by FAO. The FAO will also sponsor the audio production of four of the winning entries.

-The World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC) is sponsoring an award for the best entry by a community radio broadcaster. The winner will have the opportunity to participate in the AMARC 10 conference, to be held in Argentina in 2010.

For more information on the Scriptwriting Competition on Smallholder Farmer Innovation, please visit: http://scriptcompetition.farmradio.org/. We can’t wait to receive your entries for the competition! Remember, the deadline is November 1.

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Our news story from Nigeria talks about the promotion of the triple-bagging technique for storing cowpeas. Triple-bagging works because it creates an airtight seal. Bruchids – the most important pest for cowpea farmers to manage – cannot survive without oxygen, so airtight storage keeps cowpeas safe. This script, published by Farm Radio International in 2006, describes the triple-bagging method in detail. It also provides information on storing cowpeas in airtight metal drums.

This script can also be found online at:http://farmradio.org/english/radio-scripts/79-8script_en.asp.

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