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Tanzanian journalist benefits from Canadian capacity building efforts
ARUSHA, Tanzania – The radio speaker cackles with static as Rotlinde Achimpota turns the dial, before stopping at 93 FM ̶ Mambo Jambo Radio, affectionately known to its listeners as MJ. The voice of a young broadcaster is heard reporting live from a bongo flava concert. This speaks volumes about the message this energetic radio…
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Tanzania: Small-scale farmers speak up for better market access
Digging her hands into the soil, Juliana Amadeus pulls up a fistful of onions with green, leafy stems. As the wind picks up, the onions’ pungent aroma wafts across the one acre farm. Ms. Amadeus drops the onions on to a large pile. Another woman picks up the onions and, one-by-one, hacks off the roots…
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Radio Boda-boda goes the extra mile to serve listeners
Rural radio broadcasts reach some of the most remote areas of sub-Saharan Africa. However, when FRI Tanzania staff visited the farming village of Engare Nairobi west of Mount Kilimanjaro, it became clear that people there were unable to receive a radio signal. Without access to radio, Engare Nairobi’s farmers were missing out on critical agricultural information.…
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Beep4Weather: Forecast and Farming advice available on-demand in Tanzania
With weather patterns shifting due to climate change, farmers need weather-related information they can count on. Luckily, their mobile phones can help them get it. “Utabiri wa hali ya hewa” (Swahili for “Beep for Weather”) is a radio and mobile phone service for farmers that was recently developed at our radio and ICT innovation lab, The Hangar. It…
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Uganda Women Farmers Lack Access to Critical Information via Radio
KAMPALA, Uganda – I traveled across Uganda, last May, to conduct focus group discussions with smallholder farmers on the impact of the My Children radio drama, produced by Farm Radio International and Harvest Plus Uganda. This radio drama taught farmers about the nutrition and benefits of growing and consuming orange-fleshed sweet potato. It became obvious…
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Tanzania: Loliondo FM – bringing a community together
Taking a break from the midday sun under a tree, Mindey Ndoinyo tunes the radio on his mobile phone to 107.7 Loliondo FM. The 20-year-old lives in a remote Maasai village called Ololosokwan, 15 kilometres south of the border with Kenya. Mr. Ndoinyo is joined by two friends dressed in traditional red and black Maasai…
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#WorldRadioDay: a time for change
Radio is a tool for development and social change around the world. It’s widely accessible, relatively cheap and very simple to use. According to the United Nations, or UN, radio reaches 95 per cent of the world’s population. In sub-Saharan Africa, radio is the most important medium for communication, as millions of Africans tune-in to…
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‘Fahari Yangu’: The Pride of Agricultural Radio in Tanzania
ARUSHA, Tanzania – A large, yellow, wind-up, solar radio crackles as farmer Esther Mbwana tunes it into her favourite radio station. “I love the Fahari Yangu farmer program. I listen every week,” she says as she spins the dial and stops on 105.7 FM, Arusha’s Radio 5. Mbwana is a 48-year-old mother of three from Poli village, located…
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From Accra to Arusha: A journalist’s journey across Africa
Okay, I know it’s cliche to travel to Africa and expect to launch my career as an international journalist. But, hey, if it worked out for so many others, why not give it a try? Of course I spent six months backpacking and not a lot of time actually doing my journalism. Throughout my travels…
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Adam Bemma 