2004 2011 1979 2000 2010 DCFRN offers its first online Farm Radio expands its strategy from the production of The Internet changes how George Atkins sends a package with nine scripts and tapes to 34 discussion group, connecting Farm Radio wins ALINe’s ‘Farmer Voice Award’ for the resources to include impact programming and training and DCFRN communicates broadcasters in 26 countries marking the first project of the newly rural broadcasters with Participatory Radio Campaign method, where radio campaigns standards to better reflect the growing nature of our work with broadcasters. We established Developing Countries Farm Radio Network (DCFRN). resource experts experienced are designed to boost the uptake of a specific farming practice -- working with selected radio stations to achieve impacts on launch online versions in agriculture & rural or methods. This award-winning approach has been proven the ground in targeted areas, and ensuring training for radio of our radio resources, DCFRN volunteers, and later staff, would travel across the world development. to significantly increase knowledge and the uptake of good station staff is the best it can be. 40 years of radio collecting and sharing information about effective, low-cost and local and start connecting with agriculture, health and development practices. agricultural techniques for farmers. broadcasters via email — Farm Radio expands its country offices from the original five 2016 opening up the potential to to also include Ethiopia. reach more broadcasters Farm Radio launches a radio and phone-based poll in excellence with more information Tanzania, collecting input from nearly 4,000 Tanzanians instantaneously. to share with the Government of Canada to help inform Canadian policies on international development. The seed for Farm Radio International was planted nearly 40 years 2013 1982 2009 Farm Radio opens our first Portuguese office in ago in rural Zambia when a man named George Atkins had a simple, The Her Farm Radio project is launched with the aim DCFRN operates on a yearly budget Farm Radio offers its first e-training course Mozambique. of promoting gender equality and specifically targeting but really good idea. It was 1975, and George, a Canadian farm radio of just over $100,000, provided by for African broadcasters: an 8-week course 2003 women’s information needs. Reaching an estimated Massey Ferguson Ltd, the University of moderated by African e-facilitators on how broadcaster with the CBC, was running a workshop for his African 2 million women in its first year, the project created Guelph and the Canadian International DCFRN decides to focus exclusively on to write a radio script on smallholder farmer space for women to express their needs and solutions Development Agency (CIDA). broadcasting in sub-Saharan Africa, innovation. Canadian broadcasters act as colleagues. over the airwaves. where we know we can make the volunteer mentors for participants. biggest difference. When he asked a fellow journalist from Sierra Leone about the Farm Radio opens an office in Burkina Faso — its second Francophone office. content of his latest program, George was surprised to hear the focus was about the spark plugs on tractors. According to his math, of the broadcaster’s audience of 800,000, only about ten listeners actually owned a tractor.

Other broadcasters shared similar stories. When George asked why, 2015 2020 they told him they simply didn’t have access to information about farming techniques that could help small-scale farmers. Most of the 2018 2008 Farm Radio opens new offices in Senegal, Nigeria and information available had to do with the large-scale, mechanized Kenya, and starts providing resources in new-to-us We change our name from DCFRN to 1991 languages such as Amharic, Oromifa and Kenyan farming of developed countries. Farm Radio International — Radios The George Atkins Communications Swahili. Rurales Internationales in French — Award is initiated to recognize, on to better represent our work. There, the concept for Farm Radio International, first called an annual basis, the exceptional Farm Radio resources now reach more than 800 Developing Countries Farm Radio Network (DCFRN) was born. Over achievements of rural radio broadcasting partners in 40 countries across broadcasters in their efforts to aid sub-Saharan Africa and Farm Radio projects reach the next four years, George travelled around the world recording small-scale farmers. a potential audience of 100 million listeners. and collecting innovations farmers were using that could be applied anywhere. 2007 DCRFN begins the African Farm Radio Research Initiative 2014 1985 (AFRRI), a 42-month project to assess the effectiveness 2012 On May 1, 1979, George sat around his kitchen table, stuffing tapes For Farm Radio’s 35th birthday, the organization hosts its first The DCFRN has more than 2005 of farm radio in improving the food security of Farm Radio begins production on “Broadcasting How- farming families. Through AFRRI, we develop and test ‘African Harvest’ dinner in Ottawa, Canada. Farm Radio’s family and scripts into envelopes. With a Canadian stamp marking their 500 members (broadcasters DCFRN relocates its offices from Toronto to” documents that provide tips and tricks from expert participatory radio campaigns, launching a new era of and friends gather to celebrate the resilience of farmers in and communicators receiving to Ottawa to be closer to the federal broadcasters on how to do anything from conduct origin, Geoge slipped the envelopes into the mailbox and out across our work in radio projects, beyond simply sending radio Africa. resources) in more than 100 government and share an office with our accountability interviews, to fund your farming program. countries across the developing 1986 resources to broadcasters. the globe. The rest, as they say, is history. strategic partner: WUSC. Farm Radio builds our first Innovation Lab, ‘The Hangar’ in world. The packages include tips The DCFRN is officially incorporated Farm Radio wins the Rockefeller Foundation’s 2012 from farmers in India, China, We open our first set of offices in Ghana, Malawi, Mali, Tanzania, and Uganda. Arusha, Tanzania. The hub of our interactive radio and mobile as a non-governmental organization, We also make a pledge to engage more Innovation Challenges Competition. One of 15 winners Kenya, the Philippines, and phone development, The Hangar becomes the centre of Here’s but a little of that 40-year history. and also achieves registered charitable African writers for our scripts and among 2,000 entries, Farm Radio won with our idea of elsewhere. In what he called a Farm Radio Weekly, now called “Barza Wire” is launched. A news service for African technical innovation within Farm Radio. status. DCFRN also launches their first resources — making sure our resources for a reality-radio series featuring African youth competing on their quest to create the “conservative estimate” George says that the material the broadcasters, Farm Radio Wire covers issues of interest to small scale farmers fundraising campaign to raise $100,000, African broadcasters are written by those “best new farm.” The program would become hugely successful in Mali, where farming DCFRN produces reaches 100 million people around the globe. written largely by African freelancers, that broadcasters can read on air. money which CIDA promises to match. who know their contexts the best. youth competed to become known as the “best young farmer of the year.” 40 years of radio excellence

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