Radio is the oldest but a preferable and friendly mass medium to use in reaching out to people as a communicator. Predominantly in countries like Ethiopia, where most of the people could not afford to buy modern electronic media, and are illiterate to read newspapers and unable to operate digital media, radio becomes the finest option.
Ethiopia’s media landscape shows radio transmission service has not yet covered the entire country. Documents indicate that while there are more than 70 different languages within the country, the number of languages that are used as a medium in radio channels do not exceed eight.
These factors raise doubts about the essence of providing contents that could be locally relevant and useful to the agrarian and pastoral communities. To narrow this gap and develop participatory communication, the establishment of community radio in different parts of the country is of paramount importance.
Community radio is a radio service offering a third model of radio broadcasting in addition to commercial and public broadcasting. Community stations serve geographic communities and communities of interest. They broadcast content that is popular and relevant to a local and specific audience which is often overlooked by commercial or mass-media broadcasters.
Community radio stations are operated, owned, and influenced by the communities they serve. They are generally nonprofit and provide a mechanism for enabling individuals, groups, and communities to tell their own stories, to share experiences and, in a media-rich world, to become creators and contributors of media.
Thus, the utilization of community radio in participatory and interactive platform among the diverse nations of Ethiopia plays a vital role in reaching out to rural communities. Involving farmers in radio programs with the participatory approach is more than verbal learning in stepping up the rural communities’ cognition in areas of health, sanitation, hygiene, and diet.
These days, the government of Ethiopia is working closely with universities, developmental partners, and NGOs to setting directions and layout the requirements to meet the operation of community radio. This will also serve as an effective means to tackle challenges that may crop up now and then in the development process.
Samson Ehetu (Ph.D.), Ethiopia’s Representative in Farm Radio International (FRI) says FRI provides radio content resources and skills training to support rural radio broadcasters in creating programs that better serve their listeners.
The Canada based NGO also pioneers innovative digital solutions using mobile phone technology and develops engaging new radio approaches to make radio more entertaining, effective and interactive than ever before. Moreover, FRI implements targeted development projects that get results, improving the lives of tens of millions of people through the power of radio.
Ethiopia has become home to some of FRI’s most popular programs since the organization started operation in the country running sixteen projects focusing on diverse topics such as production and agronomic practices of staple crops and vegetables, marketing, cooking maize and conservation agriculture. One of the successful programs was that the country has responded to urgent situations: the 2016-17 drought and the invasive Fall Army worm.
Community radio needs a range of knowledge partners such as agricultural research institutions, government extension officers and farmers’ organizations to identify priority issues, gather useful information and monitor radio programs for quality and accuracy.
Radio, the world’s most popular mass medium, is especially important in rural Ethiopia where people rely on it for information. As it is practically available to everyone and broadcasts in local languages, radio has the power to transform lives and whole communities for the better and, combined with digital technologies; it is more powerful than ever.
Hence, it is imperative to invest a lot in community radio to see the hard work of rural farming families lead to prosperity and food security for themselves, their communities, and their countries.
The Ethiopian Herald September 19, 2019
BY LAKACHEW ATINAFU
