www.farmradio.org

PresentersKaren HampsonSheila Huggins-RaoFRI

www.farmradio.org

Radio?

FRI approach:integrate nutrition with existing agricultural programs and interventions

www.farmradio.org3

1) Working directly with nutritional specialists to develop radio programs

2) Supporting broadcasters to produce radio programs that focus specifically on nutritional health

3) Combining face-to-face activities to broaden understanding of nutritious crops, and how to prepare and serve them to their families

4) Target both men and women in the programs that will help to inform decisions on what to grow, eat and consume for the household.

www.farmradio.org4

Two recent project examples: 1. Using radio mini-drama to contribute to increasing knowledge and consumption of Orange Sweet Potato in Uganda

2. Promoting the Production and Consumption of Sweet Potato in Ghana, Uganda, Tanzania, Burkina Faso through participatory radio campaigns (PRCs).

www.farmradio.org5

Designed to contribute to nutrition outcomes in four key areas:

• Increasing in overall nutritional knowledge

• Diversifying approaches to preparing newly introduced crops (OFSP)

• Linking nutrition with broader development interventions

• Increasing usage and demand for nutritious crops

www.farmradio.org6

Approaches used• Audience research – vital for understanding knowledge gaps,

planning broadcast times, selecting partner radio stations, baseline/endline, strategy comparisons, controls

• ICTs for immediate audience feedback and increased interaction (SMS, voice, beep-to-vote etc)

• Close partnerships with CIP, HarvestPlus & other country-level OFSP partners to ensure messaging is consistent, accurate &locally relevant - (e.g. Advisory groups, comments on scripts and technical questions, input at Program Design Events, feedback on programs, sharing technical resources)

• Broadcaster training in interactive radio and OSP

• Monitoring and outcome evaluations

www.farmradio.org7

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

All Most Morethan half

Half Less thanhalf

Few None

Portion of PRC Episodes Heard by Respondents

Relationship between portion of PRCs Heard and Score on Knowledge Quiz from 2010 Survey

0-20% on quiz

40% on quiz

60% on quiz

80% plus on quiz

My Children – radio drama

• Thirty episodes, each 2-4 minutes long, repeated • Each episode focused on one key message or piece

of information• Focused on production & nutritional aspects of OSP

• Listeners participate through free SMS polls and quizzes at the end of each episode

• Listeners can call & listen to previous episodes for 55ugx p/min

www.farmradio.org8

Designed to help small-scale farmers, particularly female farmers, increase production of nutritious food in the context of a changing climate.

OFSP promotion ( Uganda, Tanzania, Ghana, Burkina Faso)

• 4 countries, 15 radio stations, 42 campaigns broadcasted in total (2012-2015)

• Topics included: nutritional knowledge regarding young children & mothers, production, consumption & sales

• Household survey baseline and endline conducted • Combination of PRCs & mini dramas used in selected

stations ( Tanzania, Ghana, Uganda) using varying degrees of both

www.farmradio.org9

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

All Most Morethan half

Half Less thanhalf

Few None

Portion of PRC Episodes Heard by Respondents

Relationship between portion of PRCs Heard and Score on Knowledge Quiz from 2010 Survey

0-20% on quiz

40% on quiz

60% on quiz

80% plus on quiz

Outcomes - drama

- Farmers have gained knowledge on nutrition content of OSP & its use, Vitamin A & effects of Vitamin A deficiency

- Positive change in attitude to OSP, in turn leading to high demand for OSP vines

- Vines are now moving around Uganda & being shared by farmers.

- Women want to join groups so as to obtain OSP vines- Children ask for OSP, attracted to its colour & taste- Those who have vines say they have started to change their

lives, others are still accessing vines and plan to grow.

www.farmradio.org10

Emerging Outcomes – OFSP project

• Increase in nutritional knowledge, resulting from regularly listening to the programs.

• Increase in demand for planting material • Diversification of preparation methods for household

consumption (yogurt, chapatis, bread,etc.)• Higher prices for sales in OFSP than other varieties

(Ghana)• Demand for vines and products (roots, flours, processed

foods in non-traditional growing areas & urban centres) evidenced through beep-to-vine study (Tanzania)

www.farmradio.org11

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

All Most Morethan half

Half Less thanhalf

Few None

Portion of PRC Episodes Heard by Respondents

Relationship between portion of PRCs Heard and Score on Knowledge Quiz from 2010 Survey

0-20% on quiz

40% on quiz

60% on quiz

80% plus on quiz

Opportunities

• Interactive radio (accurate, entertaining, demand-led) is an efficient means for scaling up knowledge & usage of OSP –shown by increase in demand for vines in Uganda and Ghana, increased consumption.

• Programs on general nutrition are worthwhile, previous to specific content (eg OFSP)

• Approach is cost effective – cents per listener

• Potential to increase both supply and demand of OSP and products in urban centres through radio promotion

• Interactive radio for nutrition – what is most effective approach for remote target groups? More work needed

www.farmradio.org

Sharing knowledge, giving voice.

@farmradio

facebook.com/farmradio

gplus.to/farmradio

khampson@farmradio.org