admin | August 28, 2017
Broadcasters at Kagadi Kibaale Community Radio (KKCR) in western Uganda are now able to produce even more farming programs, and get them done more quickly, thanks to the new Janet Atkins Memorial Production Studio.
The fully-equipped studio was built earlier this year to honour the memory of Janet Atkins, a tireless contributor to Farm Radio International and the wife of FRI founder, George Atkins.
Mugisa Allegro Unity is the head of KKCR’s agriculture desk. She says, “There is quality programming produced, and ample space where more than five people can be interviewed at a go.”
The station broadcasts 16 hours a day to a population of four million people, and has partnered with Farm Radio International on research and programming for more than 10 years.
Ms. Unity adds that the new studio helps her team save time and complete their recordings more easily.
She says having the additional studio has a positive impact on KKCR’s programming, allowing radio staff to produce a greater variety of shows than before. Programs produced in the Janet Atkins studio cover a variety of farming topics, including soil fertility, producing composted manure, and strategies to adapt to climate change.
Broadcasters at KKCR also use the studio to record sound bites for the news and to package advertisements.
Farm Radio International’s director of operations, Gizaw Shibru, visited the station for the official opening of the studio on Feb. 28, 2017. He read a letter from the Atkins family to KKCR. You can listen to him read from the letter here.
“May your studio help you to carry forward the vision that you share with Janet—strong, prosperous rural communities faithfully served by capable and dedicated radio broadcasters,” Mr. Shibru said on behalf of the family.
Janet Atkins died in April 2016, a few weeks before her 100th birthday.