Radio Handbook A Guide to Using Community Radio and Community Newspapers for Sharing the WRC Rainwater Harvesting and Conservation Materials and Information Cover Photo: Members of the Imvothu Bubomi Learning Network in the Forte FM Radio Studio (Photo - Chisala Lupele, Amanzi for Food) Contents A Guide to Using Community Radio and Community Newspapers for Sharing the WRC Rainwater Harvesting and Conservation Materials and Information ...................................................................... 1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 1 Users of this Guide .............................................................................................................................. 1 The Information .................................................................................................................................. 1 Access to the Information ................................................................................................................... 3 Language of the Information and Materials ....................................................................................... 4 A Focus on Farming Practices ............................................................................................................. 4 Farming Scales .................................................................................................................................... 4 Technologies, Skills, Costs, Maintenance ........................................................................................... 5 Farmers’ Activities and Interests ........................................................................................................ 6 Selecting the Information and Materials ............................................................................................ 6 Developing Radio Programmes using the Information and Materials ................................................... 7 Some General Guidelines .................................................................................................................... 7 Selecting a Radio Station .................................................................................................................... 7 Community vs Commercial, and Regional/National radio stations .................................................... 7 Engaging with Radio Station Managers and Presenters ..................................................................... 7 Importance of Radio Listenership Surveys...................................................................................... 8 Preparing for Programmes .............................................................................................................. 8 Frequency and Period of Programmes ........................................................................................... 8 Selecting a Panel ............................................................................................................................. 8 Producing Scripts ............................................................................................................................ 9 Preparing the Presenter .................................................................................................................. 9 Planning the Programmes – an Example of a Series of 3 Programmes .......................................... 9 Summary ....................................................................................................................................... 11 Producing Feature Articles for Print Media using the Materials and Information ........................... 12 Researching the Publications ........................................................................................................ 12 Syndicated or Exclusive Articles .................................................................................................... 13 Understanding and Writing for the Readership............................................................................ 13 Writing Articles for the Print Media .............................................................................................. 14 A Guide to Using Community Radio and Community Newspapers for Sharing the WRC Rainwater Harvesting and Conservation Materials and Information Introduction The Amanzi for Food initiative was established by the Environmental Learning Research Centre (ELRC) at Rhodes University which was commissioned by the Water Research Commission (WRC) to develop a strategy to disseminate the wealth of information they had developed concerning rainwater harvesting and conservation for food production. The end- users of this information are, in the main, farmers, and they access much of their information through local media, including community radio and community newspapers. This guide has therefore been developed to help those working with farmers to share this information through these media with the farming communities in their areas. Users of this Guide This guide can be used by anyone interested in sharing information on rainwater harvesting and conservation for food production with farmers and others in their local communities. Potential users include: Farmers Agricultural extension services Rural and economic development agencies Education and training institutions Non-governmental organisations involved in supporting farmers Community radio station programme managers and presenters Community newspaper editors and journalists The Information The core information is in the form of materials developed for the WRC. The two main materials are: Water Harvesting and Conservation (WH&C) Agricultural Water Use in Homestead Gardening Systems (AWHGS) 1 A ‘Navigation Tool’ has been developed to assist people to find the specific information they are looking for in these materials. This has been adapted for the Amanzi for Food Website and is also downloadable from the site. The Amanzi for Food initiative has also taken some of the critical information in these 2 sets of materials and adapted and developed them in the form of: Infocards Front Back Handouts (taken directly from the WRC materials) Posters Front page example Trench Bed Poster Additionally videos have been made of some key practices and podcasts are available of some radio programmes discussing particular practices. 2 Access to the Information The WRC information and materials concerning rainwater harvesting and conservation are available on a number of websites: www.amanziforfood.co.za – this is the website of the Amanzi for Food initiative and most of the site is accessible to everyone, see the home page in Figure 1. The only components of the site with limited access are some of the pages under the ‘Trainers Course’ tab, which are accessible only by course tutors and participants who use a password. This website is accessible via desktop and laptop computers, tablets and smartphones. Figure 1: The Amanzi for Food Website home page (www.amanziforfood.co.za) In addition to the full original WRC materials (the ‘Navigation Tool’ for using these materials is also downloadable), specific information is available in the form of downloadable infocards; handouts; posters; videos and podcasts for selected practices. This website also provides access to several other WRC materials with information on rainwater harvesting for food production. www.esuite.co.za – this is the Extension Suite Online® system developed by Manstrat Agricultural Intelligence Solutions (AIS) to support agricultural extension officers in the field and has done so since June 2010. Each Province has a separate platform and these are only accessible to agricultural extension personnel, who are provided with a username and password. This site is accessible via computers and tablets. The information is available in the form of downloadable infocards, handouts and posters www.agrisuite.co.za – Agrisuite Online® is an application produced by Manstrat AIS and was only released at the end of 2015 for the use on tablets and smartphones. The application is aimed at farmers for easy access to key informationthis and is accessible to 3 everyone and has links to a wide range of other sites concerned with providing agricultural information (including the Amanzi for Food site). The site is accessible via all devices. The information is available in the form of downloadable infocards, handouts and posters www.wrc.org.za – this is the WRC website and accessible to everyone, although one does need to register to log in. A wealth of information, including on rainwater harvesting and conservation is available via the ‘Knowledge Hub’ tab. The site is accessible via computers, tablets and smartphones. The information is available only in the form of the original materials, which are downloadable. www.intsika.org – this is the site of Intsika Agrimedia, a concern that is focussed on supporting emerging farmers. According to their website, the organisation: “specialises in content-creation and information products aimed to improve knowledge and sustainable linkages between agriculture, consumers and rural communities. We provide invaluable media exposure and communication solutions to clients who seeks to take a leap into the future. We work with NGO’s, private and public institutions; and farmer organisations to empower our clients with crucial media and communication solutions.” Unfortunately