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| Goodson Chisaleka, a vegetable farmer in Chatata village, Malawi |
For over 30 years, Farm Radio International has understood the importance of radio in giving access to information to millions of small-scale farmers. Radio is reliable, affordable and does not require literacy. It can reach remote areas, women and children. That is why our mission is to support broadcasters in developing countries to strengthen small-scale farming and rural communities.
UNESCO recently announced that World Radio Day will be celebrated for the first time on February 13, 2012. Farm Radio International is marking this day by releasing four stories specially written for Farm Radio Weekly. Each tells the story of a farmer who is never without a radio!
Our first story takes place in Malawi, where a vegetable farmer took advantage of advice he heard on Malawi Broadcasting Corporation. Goodson Chisaleka now makes a good living selling vegetables door-to-door in Malawi’s capital city of Lilongwe.
In the Republic of Congo, an indigenous woman’s life was transformed by listening to Biso na Biso radio station. Simone Botékéwas inspired by the story of indigenous women farmers who were growing their own cassava. Soon after, Simone started growing her own vegetables.
Our third story comes from Zambia, where a farmer took advantage not only of market prices broadcast on QFM, but of recommendations on which markets were best for selling her fully-grown pigs. Guided by the information she hears on QFM, she sells her pigs for a good profit.
When a local radio station in western Kenya interviewed a mushroom farmer and broadcast her contact information, the woman’s business took off. Farmers called her for information, visited her and invited her to their farms. Joan Kimokoti now runs a successful mushroom business and has trained more than 300 other farmers to grow mushrooms.
(Source : Farm Radio International's Farm Radio Blog)
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