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Radio Drama to Communicate Climate Change to Nigerian Farmers
July 25, 2008
Radio broadcasts in local languages may be the voices needed to communicate with Nigerian farmers about the impacts of extreme climate change on their livelihoods.
Profs. Helen Hambly and John FitzSimons (School of Environmental Design and Rural Development) have helped develop a 26-episode radio drama to air in four states across Nigeria this fall, reaching some 25 million people. They are working on the project in partnership with two Nigerian organizations, the African Radio Drama Association and the Women Farmers Action Network, as well as with the Canadian organization, Farm Radio International.
"They came to the University of Guelph not only because we have expertise in agriculture ecology, but also in rural radio," said Hambly, who has studied ways to use radio as an educational tool in Africa. "We are hoping to use radio as a way to help farmers be aware and discuss the implications of climate change. Radio is a very appropriate media for non-literate farmers, especially in oral cultures where spoken word is much more powerful than anything written on paper."
