Weather Wise

The project chose to work specifically with radio stations (10 in total), as they are better able to reach the most vulnerable rural communities and those in hard-to-reach areas whose livelihoods are most affected by extreme weather and climate change. In addition, audience research conducted to inform the programming revealed a lack of trust in, and understanding of, scientific approaches to predict weather. People preferred to rely on indigenous beliefs that are becoming less accurate with more erratic weather. Radio was, therefore, also chosen because it is a channel that audiences trust and can access, in addition to being able to communicate in local languages.

Radio programmes were mostly features, magazine programmes, and radio drama public service announcements (PSAs). Many programmes featured voices and experiences of fisherfolk, farmers, and pastoralists, as well as expert advice from climate scientists, technical experts, and county extension officers. Topics in 2020, for example, included ways that farmers, fisherfolk, and pastoralists could adapt to the impact of the June, July, and August season, dealing with floods in Lake Victoria and the effects of climate change on milk production.

Weather Wise included the following main activities:

• Training and mentoring: Journalists were trained and mentored to produce accurate, timely, relevant, and practical weather and climate-focused radio content in local languages and across a range of formats (e.g., factual and drama). In order to ensure that journalists better meet the information and communication needs of their audiences, training included supporting them to conduct their own audience research, as well as in-house and remote training on topics such as appropriate formats, story packaging, and how to increase audience engagement. Training also included setting up radio listener groups to increase listenership and gather audience feedback for future programming.
• Encouraging collaboration and partnerships
  • The project held workshops to bring together journalists and climate scientists to forge new partnerships and networks, encouraging the co-production of high-quality climate media content. These workshops enabled local radio producers to communicate accurate technical information from weather and climate experts to their audiences in ways that are useful. It also supported experts to learn ways to break down technical information in a way that people impacted by climate change can understand and that is focused on their decision-making needs.
  • In order to encourage regular interactions - not just between journalists and scientists but also involving audiences - the project organised Climate Cafés. These events provided an opportunity for communities to meet informally to talk about climate issues relevant to them and what they can do together locally. The Climate Cafés convened a range of stakeholders - including climate scientists, experts, fishermen, farmers, pastoralists, local meteorological agencies, and media - in the form of an open conversation about the seasonal forecasts and what they mean for practical decision-making.

Climate Change

Context: According to BBC Media Action: "With vulnerabilities to weather extremes rising across East Africa, access to practical and timely climate and weather information is critical when it comes to making important decisions about agriculture and livelihoods – such as when to plant crops, where to take cattle for water, and whether or not it's a safe day to go fishing."

Results and impact of the project: BBC Media Action's Research and Learning team conducted monitoring and evaluative research with audiences, journalists, and climate scientists/sector experts using methods including radio call-in programmes, listening groups facilitated by journalists, case studies, and in-depth interviews. The findings show that as of September 2020, Weather Wise has:

• Supported local media partners to collectively produce over 500 radio programmes and 12 weather and climate-focused PSAs.
• Trained 80 journalists and scientists/technical experts, with 12 journalists across partner stations receiving remote mentoring.

In addition:

• Audiences reported increased access to climate and weather information, in a language and format they could understand.
• Audiences also reported improved knowledge of weather and climate-related issues. They liked that weather forecasts were followed by advice from experts on how to respond to such information.
• Audiences reported increased usage of weather and climate information in their everyday lives, which enabled them to mitigate the impact of weather changes on their livelihoods.
• Journalists reported improved knowledge and understanding of weather and climate issues and improved editorial and production skills to develop weather and climate content.
• Journalists and climate scientists/sector experts reported working with each other and improved capacity to effectively communicate on weather and climate information to audiences.

Audience feedback included the recommendation that the programmes be translated into more local languages and that technical terms be further simplified and communicated in local languages in addition to Kiswahili, particularly among pastoralist communities. These insights were shared with radio partners, and a number diversified their broadcast languages. Feedback also revealed that some local radio stations, such as Maata Radio in Turkana, do not reach certain communities, which means they have not received early warning for extreme weather events such as floods and drought. To address this and increase reach, BBC Media Action has engaged two additional radio stations in the area.