Interactive Radio for Ecologically Sustainable Agricultural Practices (IRESAP) Project

In Phase 1, FRI worked with five partner stations (Radio Sauti Ya Injili, Radio Habari Njema, Standard FM, Mwangaza FM and Utume FM) to broadcast radio programmes on numerous topics related to ecologically sustainable agriculture practices. The project assisted in the research, design, production, and evaluation of two series of radio programmes (a different programme for each station that was adapted to the needs of the area) of 16 weeks every year for three years, following the seasonal calendar of the northern and central regions in Tanzania. These radio programmes made use of FRI's information and communication technology (ICT)-enhanced participatory radio campaign approach, which allows farmers to interact with broadcasters, ask questions, and offer feedback on their needs and experiences. This approach is facilitated by Uliza (a Swahili word meaning "to ask"), a digital suite of services developed by FRI that combines radio, mobile phones, and interactive voice response (IVR) systems to enable listeners to communicate and exchange information with their radio station quickly, easily, and free of charge. Using Uliza, for example, farmers are able to answer knowledge questions and ask their own questions to experts about the topic of the week.

The project also curated and shared a collection of training resources and radio scripts for its broadcasting partners on crops including cabbage, beans, millet, potatoes, and sorghum. Termed  Script+, this approach involves the provision of radio resources on a topic (including, for example, background information, sample scripts, and questions for radio hosts) and the training of radio stations on how to use these resources to develop radio programmes. For IRESAP, broadcasters either used existing radio resources developed by FRI on topics relevant to the project or developed new content packages together with experts on agroecology based on identified needs of farmers.

The project also set up community listeners' groups that are made up of and led by members of the community who meet regularly to listen to a radio programme. Group members discuss, debate, provide feedback, and take action on issues that are relevant to them by involving everyone in the discussion.

In the first phase, the project co-created content for a print magazine, Mkulima Mbunifu, that focuses on ecological farming. The magazine, which is distributed monthly to farmer groups in Tanzania and Kenya, is reportedly the only magazine in Swahili for ecological farming in East Africa.

The second phase scaled up the project to include 15 radio stations, using the same interactive radio approach to further increase, deepen, and sustain the uptake and implementation of agroecology. In this phase, the project is working with five radio stations on impact programming on agroecology as well as supporting an additional 10 radio stations through FRI's Script+ approach (described above). In addition, the project is supporting five radio stations in developing a sustainable business model so their radio programmes on agroecology can continue beyond the end of the project.

In addition to informative radio programmes, stations will broadcast interactive On Air Dialogues to bring farmers' perspectives to national advocacy and policy discussions, with the objective to positively influence the policy environment for agroecology. On Air Dialogues use radio and mobile-phone-based polling (part of the Uliza suite of interactive digital tools) to gather thousands of small-scale farmers' and other rural people's perspectives on issues that affect them. They are used as an advocacy tool, as they have the ability to bring rural voices into national and global conversations about issues like food security, nutrition, health, and climate change.

As women in Tanzania often have limited access to capital, land, and extension and advisory services, the project has focused on women across both phases.

In Phase 1 the focus was on:

• Providing content resources to broadcasters on how to engage women in radio programmes, how to serve women farmers, and how to address gender equality on air;
• Offering gender equality training for broadcasters;
• Supporting local stakeholders in understanding issues of gender equality and how to support women broadcasters; and
• Using gender-responsive design of radio programmes and gender-specific radio episodes.

In Phase 2, this focus was expanded to include:

• Increasing women's access to and control over radios and mobile phones and opportunities to engage with radio programming;
• Building rural women's skills and confidence in using ICTs to actively participate in radio programmes;
• Running women-only community listening groups so women have a safe space to discuss their experiences, issues, and questions related to agroecology;
• Involving women and youth organisations and gender experts to ensure that radio content reflects the needs, interests, and contributions of women; and
• Further building the capacity of both women and men broadcasters to produce and present gender-responsive agroecology programmes.

One way IRESAP ensures a gender-responsive programme is through FRI's Her Voice on Air approach. This approach supports radio stations in addressing the information needs of women, sharing women's perspectives and experiences in radio programmes, and fostering a sense of empowerment among the women involved. Her Voice on Air makes use of a technique called beep2vox (part of FRI's Uliza suite of interactive digital services), which allows women to share their views by calling their radio station and leaving a missed call or "beep" free of charge. An IVR system calls them back and gives them the opportunity to record a message, which broadcasters can download and edit for their radio programmes. Women in community listening groups received training on story-telling, using a cell phone, beep2vox - and are then equipped with a phone.

IRESAP also works to engage government and civil society stakeholders, including agroecology organisations, who can participate in content advisory panels (offering subject matter guidance on the content of the radio programmes), provide funding, and collaborate in creating awareness of the need agroecology to ensure food security and climate change resilience in Tanzania.

Background and context to the project:

As explained on the FRI website, "Rich in fertile land, water resources, agricultural entrepreneurs and access to international markets through its major sea ports, Tanzania's agricultural sector has great potential. It provides 26.9% of the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and employs 80% of the country's labour force. With the population projected to rise from 59 million in 2020 to 137 million by 2050, and with the impact of climate change on food supply, there is a need to adopt techniques and approaches to increase the efficiency and sustainability of food production in Tanzania. Sustainable agriculture practices can contribute to food security and the environment by maintaining soil quality, reducing soil degradation and erosion, saving water and increasing biodiversity. At the same time, as urban populations grow, the continued use of unsustainable practices can threaten environmental sustainability, leading to poor health outcomes for humans, animals and plants. Appropriate, accessible and effective responses are necessary to support farmers and increase their yields in an ecologically sustainable manner."

FRI further explains the concept of agroecology and the need to provide clarity as well as conduct advocacy around this term. "Conventional agricultural approaches, which rely heavily on chemical fertilizers and pesticides, may achieve short-term increases in yields, but they damage the environment over the long term. Agroecology applies ecological principles to farming, sustainably managing natural resources and seeking a balance between human needs and the environment. Though this concept brings hope for food security and climate adaptation in Tanzania, there can be confusion about the different sustainable agriculture terms, and farmers have limited access to information about agroecology. There is also a lack of comprehensive policies about agroecology and coordination between different organisations promoting agroecology in Tanzania. There is a need for information sharing and collaboration between like-minded organisations to advance the agroecology movement in Tanzania."

Results of Phase 1:
Phase 1 of IRESAP had the following results:

• The radio programmes broadcast for the project had a potential listenership of 3,836,772 farmers. Of these, 49% (1,880,018) actually listened to the programme.
• 80 community listening groups met regularly to listen to episodes and submit feedback, which included 1,140 members (619 women, 521 men).
• 74,325 mobile-phone-based interactions occurred between listeners and their radio station, including 77% by men and 23% by women.
• Strategies to increase women's participation led to an increase of about 20% in women's participation.
• 330,525 SMS (short messaging service, or text) messages were sent to farmers as episode reminders and promotion of subscription to the Mkulima Mbunifu magazine.

According to an endline evaluation of 768 farming households (442 men and 326 women):

• Farmers' average knowledge score on questions about agroecology increased from 20% in the baseline evaluation to 62% in the endline evaluation.
• 87.4% of respondents were knowledgeable about measures to prevent soil erosion, including 91.7% of listeners and 83.5% of non-listeners.
• 38% of respondents, including 55% of listeners, have been practising crop diversification, including crop rotation, intercropping, growing green manure, growing wind breaks, and interplanting trees and crops.