Radio: Connecting Papua

This report is the result of an independent survey commissioned by Media Development Loan Fund (MDLF) to look at the impact of a radio station that MDLF helped to build in the Central Highlands of Papua in cooperation with Indonesian radio news agency KBR68H and the non profit Indonesian Association for Media Development (PPMN). The radio station, which first went on air on September 10, 2007, is one of several stations MDLF has set up over the past several years in remote parts of Eastern Indonesia, where communities have little or no information access and are consequently largely cut off from the development process. The survey provides several examples of how the radio station has had a positive impact on all aspects of life of the local community living in the surrounding area. MDLF also commissioned a 12-minute video that illustrates impact that the station is having.

This research, conducted in November 2009, comprised in-depth interviews and focus group discussions (FGDs) with Radio Pikon Ane listeners and staff in the field, complemented by desk research and interviews in Jakarta with key individuals from the 3 organisations most closely involved in the establishment of the radio station.

An excerpt from the Executive Summary follows:
"The research reveals...[that] in Kurima, Radio Pikon Ane is not just a medium of information and entertainment; it is also a community mobiliser....The most obvious impact of Radio Pikon Ane is that it offers access to and a media for information, never before available in such a geographically isolated area with such poor communication infrastructure....One notable impact of Radio Pikon Ane is the opening of elementary schools in Anyelma and other villages in Kurima. These schools had been closed down after being abandoned by their teachers and principals. Radio Pikon Ane broadcast the news that the teachers were not turning up at school, that the schools had been closed, and that parents were concerned that that their children would not be able to go to school anymore. This information not only brought the problem out into the open, but also acted a form of control and as a channel for people to have their say. After news of the closure of the school in Anyelma was aired, the education authority in Yahukimo made an on-site inspection and ordered the teachers to return to their teaching duties immediately...

The villagers use the information they get from the radio to improve the quality of their lives....Pikon Ane provides lots of information about health and hygiene. About the importance of washing your hands before eating, bathing before going to bed, and making sure there is ventilation in their traditional houses, called honai: all new information for the villagers. They did not have enough information to know that unhygienic practices are the source of many of the diseases that people in Yahukimo suffer. [One man told the research team: "I heard about HIV/AIDS on the radio. It was a program about how dangerous the disease is and how ... we could catch it and give it to our wives. We have to be careful and take care of our families."]

Radio Pikon Ane has also provided information about the importance of women's rights, which is relatively new information given the deep-rooted patriarchal culture of Yahukimo society. [Regular Radio Pikon Ane listener Kores Wetipo explained how radio programmes on the subject have changed his behaviour. "I listened....Now I never beat my wife..."]

...This information has been used for economic benefit, too. One interesting impact of Radio Pikon Ane comes from the use of the radio station by the carrot farmers' association in Kurima. Before Radio Pikon Ane, the price of carrots often fell as a result of an oversupply of carrots on the market. Also, the farmers had no price standard, so prices were easily manipulated by traders and middlemen. The farmers use Radio Pikon Ane to share information about the price of carrots. They also use the radio station as a means to regulate the supply of carrots on the market, so that the price remains stable, or increases. The chair of the farmers' association informs the farmers when to deliver carrots and when not to. This was impossible before Radio Pikon Ane existed, because it would have taken days to contact and inform all the farmers."