admin | July 31, 2026
Many farmers choose organic fertilizers, including compost manure, rather than or in addition to chemical fertilizers. When made from locally available materials such as crop residues, animal waste and kitchen refuse, compost manure is an effective and affordable way to improve soil fertility.
Compost manure maintains and improves soil texture, reduces soil erosion, helps kill weeds and keeps moisture in the field. But despite these advantages, there are challenges to making and using compost manure.
In Malawi, these challenges are widespread. For example, farmers in Nkhotakota District on the shores of Lake Malawi used little compost manure because they perceived making compost as time-consuming and difficult because of a lack of materials.
Farmers may also hold misconceptions, for example that compost manure is not as effective as chemical fertilizer. But many agriculture experts and farmers who have used compost manure over long periods feel that its advantages far outweigh these challenges.
In this script, we hear how a radio campaign spearheaded by Farm Radio Trust changed the minds of some farmers in Nkhotakota District about compost manure. Farmers report on what they learned about compost manure, and the benefits and challenges they experienced.
The script is based on interviews with members of radio listening clubs involved in the radio campaign, a government agricultural officer, and a radio producer.
You could use this script as inspiration to research and develop a radio program on compost manure or other ways to promote soil fertility.
If you choose to use this script as inspiration for creating your own program, you might consider asking the following questions:
• Is compost manure used in your area? What challenges do farmers face in making and using it?
• What solutions have farmers created to meet these challenges?
• Is there evidence that compost manure has raised yields or had other benefits in your area?
Apart from speaking directly to farmers and other key players in the local agriculture sector, you could also use these questions as the basis of a phone-in or text-in program.
If you choose to produce this script on your station, you could use voice actors to represent the speakers. If so, please make sure to tell your audience at the beginning of the program that the voices are those of actors, not the original people involved in the interviews.
Estimated running time: 20 minutes, with intro and outro music.
Editor’s note: “Compost manure” is the name used in Malawi for a substance which may be called “composted manure” or simply “compost” in other locations.
https://scripts.farmradio.fm/radio-script/farmers-learn-about-compost-manure-on-the-radio-with-great-results/: Farmers learn about compost manure on the radio – with great results!