Most farmers in Tanzania still practice conventional agriculture. But the excessive use of chemical pesticides and artificial fertilizers has led to soil degradation, lower fertility and increasing food insecurity over the years. This is compounded by irregular rainfall, limited financial resources for farming communities and a lack of knowledge about sustainable farming methods or agroecological practices.
The overarching goal is to establish organic farming practices across all of Tanzania. This should increase the food security and independence of farmers and also contribute to healthier soils and more biodiversity.
In the next project phase, radio programmes will help raise awareness about sustainable farming methods among at least four million smallholder farmers, and at least 1.2 million of them are expected to actually apply agroecological practices by 2027. The project works directly with five selected radio stations, which together have a potential listenership of around 10 million people.
Project name:
Farm Radio International
Project budget in CHF :
This project is supported by SDC
The results of the first project phase are very promising. Not only were five radio stations professionally coached for three years and supported in creating hundreds of high-quality radio programmes about sustainable agriculture – over 80 groups of farmers were also given a GPS radio equipped with a recording device. The groups have been able to provide important inputs and comments to make the radio programmes even better and more efficient, and they can continue to do so . In a survey, over two million people stated that they had been made aware of agroecological farming methods.
One particularly effective element of the project are the so-called On-Air Dialogues (OADs), where listeners can ask questions and interact directly with the programme team. In addition, surveys are used regularly to assess behavioural change among listeners. Community Listening Groups – groups of farmers who meet to listen to and discuss the broadcasts together – are also a key part of the approach. They explore how the content can be applied to their own farming practices.
One of the biggest challenges remains that the vast majority of media continue to promote conventional agriculture. Despite limited broadcasting time, the goal is to achieve an even greater impact and involve farmers even more. An important aspect of this is the collaboration with five dedicated radio stations that are fully integrated into the programme. This should increase its reach and, in turn, increase the influence of radio programmes that cover agriculture in Tanzania. An additional aim is to develop a self-supporting business model for agroecology radio programmes together with the individual radio stations.
