Sharing the results of our survey of broadcasting partners

| January 24, 2022

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Last year was a fantastic year for Farm Radio International and our radio network. We collaborated with hundreds of radio partners on dozens of different activities, including the Script+ Series (a short series of programs planned using Farm Radio International resources) in seven countries; an engaging online discussion on climate change; a Farmer program e-course in English and in French; the new This is How I … podcast; and many projects. We also introduced new learning modules, hosted many WhatsApp group discussions, and more. 

We asked for your feedback on these activities, and the response was overwhelming. We heard from 326 radio broadcasters from 211 stations in 18 countries. Thank you for sharing your feedback! This will help us decide what resources and services to expand, and which to improve. 

Overall, 73% of respondents indicated that they had used one of our resources in the past 2-3 months. Many people referenced Barza Wire, our various Scripts, particularly those related to COVID-19, and our discussion on climate change. We hope these, and all of our resources, are useful to your work. 

We asked respondents to rank our content resources, which include Barza Wire, interview and drama scripts, backgrounders, radio spots, and suggested interview questions (a new format for Farm Radio). Backgrounders and radio spots had the highest rankings, with suggested interview questions and drama scripts in third and fourth place, respectively. 

In 2021, we also produced more African language translations of our resources than ever before. Find them all here. We asked if these translations are useful, and 58% of you said they are useful or very useful. We are considering a list of additional languages for translation and hope to make more resources available in African languages in 2022. 

We also asked our radio partners to rank our training resources by usefulness. Training resources include Broadcaster how-to guides, discussions, self-guided learning modules, our Farmer program e-course, radio resources orientation workshop, and in-station training. The learning modules ranked highest among Anglophone respondents and the WhatsApp group discussions ranked highest amongst Francophone respondents. The climate change discussion and orientation workshops ranked second and third amongst Anglophone respondents, whereas the learning modules and in-station training ranked second and third amongst Francophone respondents. 

We know that many radio partners didn’t have an opportunity to participate in the Farmer program e-course, in-station training, or orientation workshop. Hopefully, there will be more opportunities in 2022, and in the meantime, our self-guided learning modules are also a great opportunity for learning and are available to anyone in our network. 

We also released several new learning modules in 2021, including three that share key elements of the Farmer program e-course (story-telling interviews, information interviews, program design) and an updated version of our VOICES standards. We asked how useful these learning modules are, and 59% of respondents said they are useful. Some of our partners said they didn’t know how to access the modules. To get started, go to: https://farmradiotraining.org/ 

Your username is your email address.

Your password is Farmradio8!

If you have trouble accessing the modules, send us an email at radio@farmradio.org.

You will earn a badge for each module you complete. If you complete five modules, including the VOICES module and gender equality module, you will receive a certificate. 

Finally, we asked “If you have a question / problem related to your radio broadcasting, how likely are you to turn to FRI for a solution? (For example, by asking in the WhatsApp / Telegram group, contacting an FRI staff person, or searching an FRI website).” We are happy to say that 92% of respondents said they are likely or very likely to turn to FRI for a solution. We hope you agree. We also hope that our services, resources, and activities in 2022 convince you that FRI is a reliable partner to help you improve the quantity and quality of your farmer-focused and development radio programming. 

We asked many more questions in the survey, and are continuing our analysis. The results of these questions will help us improve our project programming and Script+ Series, as well as other resources and services. Thank you to everyone who shared their feedback through the survey. 

We randomly selected five prize winners to receive $50 CA mobile credit. Congratulations to: 

  • Stella Mlotha, of Maziko Radio in Malawi
  • Abdulai Sualisu, of Dasuma Radio in Ghana
  • Maybin Augustine Katungulu, of YGFM Radio in Zambia
  • Komi Gnonoulglo, of Radio Citadelle Vogan in Togo
  • Bah Yves Beh, of Radio Cohesion FM Blolequin in Cote d’Ivoire

Photo: A woman participates in a listening group in Ethiopia.