Farm Radio International Presents Equipment To Radio Stations

Farm Radio International (FRI), a Canadian organisation as part of their continuous partnership with various media houses in developing countries to educate smallholder farmers on good and improved agricultural practices, has presented some broadcasting equipment to Tamale based North Star Radio.

The equipment include a desktop computer, a tablet and two voice recorders. North Star Radio 92.1 MHz is one of four (4) radio stations in Northern Ghana to receive these equipment. The rest are GBC URA Radio in Bolgatanga in the Upper East Region and W FM in Wa and Radford FM in Tumu in the Upper West Region.

George Morton, a Programmes Manager at RFI, said the initiative which formed part of the implementation of USAID’s Feed-The-Future Agriculture Technology Transfer (ATT) project, would enable farmers get the right information with regards to best farming practices and broadcast to educate farmers during the 2016 cropping season.

He told Savannahnews, that staff of the four beneficiary radio stations who were directly involved in the implementation of the project, would also be trained on how to develop educative programmes geared towards the promotion of agriculture in their catchment areas.

Mr. Morton however encouraged Ghanaian journalists to show keen interest in agriculture reporting which seemed to have been neglected by the media. He further urged professionals to log on to FRI’s website and sign up for free agriculture reporting courses in order to enhance their knowledge and skills.

Feed-The-Future Ghana Agriculture Technology Transfer Project is seeking to increase the availability and use of agricultural technologies to maximize and sustain productivity in Northern Ghana.

The project which started in 2013 and expected to end in 2018 is introducing new technologies to improve the seed sector in Northern Ghana. The project is also exploring ways to identify sustainable solutions that will increase competitiveness in the rice, soybean and maize value chains. The project is part of IFDC’s North and West Africa Division.

Technical Director of ATT project at IFDC, Musah Salifu Taylor, said the partnership with FRI and the four radio stations was expected to benefit 100,000 farmers across the three regions, by making it possible for them to gain access to appropriate information relevant for the cultivation of rice, soy beans and maize.

According to him, the project in collaboration with Digital Green was also developing and screening community videos produced in various local dialects with local actors and farmers to teach other smallholder farmers good agricultural practices. Over 4,000 farmers in the three regions, he said, had benefited from the farmer-to-farmer videos.

Mr. Taylor also noted that, the project in partnership with Countrywise Communication had screened relevant videos produced by Access Agriculture to over 11,000 viewers across the three regions. 

Meanwhile Director of North Star Radio Mr. Haruna Abubakari Sadique who received the equipment on behalf of the station, thanked Farm Radio International and its partners for the support.