This week we extend a warm welcome to our newest subscribers: Augustin Bicaba, from a farmers’ organization in Burkina Faso; Guy Julien Makouezi from NG MESSACO in Congo-Brazzaville; Aro Leo from BBC World Service Trust in Nigeria; Alachu Davies from Voice of Teso and Joshua Kyesimira from The Kyesimira Foundation, both in Uganda; and Esther Mwangabula from the NGO, Mediae, in Tanzania. We invite all of our subscribers – old and new – to discuss this week’s news stories on the FRW website: http://weekly.farmradio.org/ [1].
There certainly is much news to discuss! Two of our stories look at a dilemma that many farmers face – which crops to focus on in order to secure the best livelihood for their families. Our correspondent Sawa Pius reports on a group of women farmers in eastern Uganda who boosted their earnings by meeting the local need for cooking oil. We also look at a report from Syfia Granda Lacs about Congolese women farmers who are choosing apiculture and fish farming over traditional farming, raising concerns about local food security.
We also wanted to inform you of some breaking news from Madagascar. The Financial Times reports that a South Korean company, Daewoo, has signed a deal with the Malagasy government to lease half of Madagascar’s arable land at no cost. At this time, we do not know what impact this will have on Madagascar’s farmers or local food security, but we will investigate further and bring you more information as it becomes available. If you have additional information about this news story, please e-mail FRW Editor Heather Miller at: hmiller@farmradio.org.
Finally, you won’t want to miss this week’s Radio News Flash for the story of Congolese radio reporters who assist survivors of rape by bringing their voices out of the shadows, or the Farm Radio Action section, to learn about Classic FM’s new initiatives to support Ghanaian farmers.
Happy reading!
-The Farm Radio Weekly Team