Farmers respond to changing rainfall patterns, learning opportunities and markets

    | March 11, 2013

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    Welcome to Farm Radio Weekly. This issue features stories from Zimbabwe, Kenya and the Comoros Islands.

    Farmers near Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, are responding to heavy rains by turning adversity into opportunity. They are digging reservoirs to capture and store water, to sustain them during the next dry spell.

    A woman in Kenya has learned how to manage her land to maximize its potential. She is earning a good living after diversifying her farm. She can now feed her cows well through the dry season, and use their dung for biogas and fertilizer.

    In our story from the Comoros Islands, farmers are switching from flowers to food, since the global economic downturn led to a drop in the demand for perfumes made from the ylang-ylang flowers that they normally sell.

    There is disturbing news from Zimbabwe, where authorities have stepped up their crackdown on independent news coverage. Mr. Zenzele Ndebele, the production manager at Radio Dialogue and a Farm Radio Weekly freelancer, has been arrested and charged with possession of smuggled radios. Our thoughts and hopes for a speedy and satisfactory outcome go to Zenzele.

    Keep broadcasting!

    The Farm Radio Weekly team