Greetings!

    | October 11, 2010

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    As usual, we start by welcoming this week’s new subscribers: Fred Kanampiu from CIMMYT in Kenya; Pastor Job Mkama from the Tanzania Deliverance Church in Tanzania; Josue Yaneya from Radio communautaire du Noun in Cameroon; Gabriel Akeh from Ramat Polytechnic Maiduguri and Attahiru Ibrahim from the Nigerian Customs, both from Nigeria; Dieudonne Masumbuko from CIAT N2AFRICA/DRCONGO and Jipsy Muanga Matondo from Radio Bangu, both in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and finally, Vuvu Kua Nzambi from Chianga Instituto de Investigação Agronómic in Angola.

    This week’s Farm Radio Weekly is a special issue to mark World Food Day on October 16th. In 1979 the United Nations designated this day to raise awareness of the issues behind poverty and hunger. To mark the occasion, we asked writers across Africa to ask farmers, “How do you feel about World Food Day?” We received stories from Burkina Faso, Liberia, Rwanda, and Zambia. While reactions varied, there were common themes – farmers did not feel involved, were not aware of the day, or had other, more pressing concerns that they believed should be heard.

    As promised last week, the Action section features a summary of discussions from the recent Farm Radio Symposium in Malawi. Broadcasters, scientists, and academics, along with NGO and government staff gathered in Lilongwe in September to share ideas and experiences on using radio to address emerging issues in agricultural development.

    In the Radio Resource Bank you will find a link to a training manual. It looks at how to deal with rumours in journalism – knowing the difference between when a rumour provides a good lead, and when it should be ignored.

    Next week, we are taking a publishing break, but will be back in your inboxes on Tuesday 25th October.

    We hope you are inspired to produce programs related to World Food Day. If so, we’d love to hear about them. Send a summary of your show to farmradioweekly@farmradio.org. We would be happy to share it with our subscribers!

    Happy reading!

    -The Farm Radio Weekly Team