Project History


In this context of possibility, the project then led by the International Service for National Agricultural Research embarked upon a Training Needs and Organisational Constraints Assessment (TNA) with its partners in Africa. This TNA was held to identify the factors affecting individuals’ performance in linking agricultural research and rural radio in order to highlight the solutions (training or nontraining) most appropriate and best suited to their needs. Regional teams involving agricultural researchers and radio broadcasters were brought together from Cameroon, Ghana and Uganda in July 2002, to explore the top two needs identified in the TNA:

  • Facilitating partnership between researchers and radio broadcasters.
  • Mobilising financial resources for collaborative activities.

This training workshop responded to these two areas while addressing areas such as managerial and technical knowledge and the attitudes of researchers and broadcasters towards working with farmers and other stakeholders, identified as concerns during the TNA. Following this capacity building training workshop, the teams have been working on team projects to bridge agricultural research and rural radio.


Training workshop, Ghana, July 2002.     ©larrra 2004

Based on the encouraging results of the project in English-speaking African countries, the project is conducting another workshop in Dakar, Senegal in December 2004, with teams from French-speaking West African countries. This approach might also generate Pan-African cooperation and partnerships. The work of the project has been encouraged and reinforced by the response of governments and policy-makers in many cases. The Government of Ghana, for example, is now developing a national programme that will further strengthen the linkages between agricultural research and rural radio.

Current Partners:
University of Guelph; Developing Countries Farm Radio Network (DCFRN); Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Fund for International Development

Other Partners:
Commonwealth of Learning; International Service for National Agricultural Research (ISNAR); Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA); Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO)