Community Radio for Development

From SOUL BEAT AFRICA - where communication and media are central to AFRICA's social and economic development

In this issue of The Soul Beat:

* Highlighting the IMPACT OF COMMUNITY RADIO ON DEVELOPMENT
* Spotlight on Soul Beat Africa COMMUNITY RADIO THEMESITE AND E-NEWSLETTER
* TOOLS to assess and improve the impact of community radio
* POLL on Community Radio and ICTs
* Looking at the FUTURE OF COMMUNITY RADIO

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This issue of The Soul Beat offers a selection of strategic thinking documents, evaluations, programme experiences, and resource materials from the Soul Beat Africa website that highlight the role of radio, and more specifically community radio, in promoting development in Africa. It looks at the impact of community radio on development, what is required to support the community radio sector, and future trends in community radio – particularly related to the convergence between traditional radio and information and communication technologies (ICTs).

If you would like your organisation's communication work or research and resource documents to be featured on the Soul Beat Africa website and in The Soul Beat newsletters, please contact soulbeat@comminit.com

To subscribe to The Soul Beat, click here or send an email to soulbeat@comminit.com with a subject of "subscribe".

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ASSESSING AND ENHANCING THE IMPACT OF COMMUNITY RADIO ON DEVELOPMENT

1. Community Radio: Its Impact and Challenges to Its Development
This 2007 working group report from the Center for International Media Assistance, National Endowment for Democracy, United States (US), describes results of a meeting on the impact of community radio, as well as the role and challenges of community radio development within the larger context of media development. The group discussed creating an enabling environment for community radio development, issues related to the sustainability of community radio stations, and appropriate assistance strategies that donors and implementers should consider, against a background of first-hand accounts of where and why community radio has been effective.

2. Documents on Evaluating the Social Impact of Community Radio
Every four years the Association Mondiale des Radiodiffuseurs Communautaires (AMARC or World Community Radio Association) Africa organises a Pan-African conference for its members and community radio stakeholders to discuss the challenges facing community radio in Africa. As part of the Pan-African conference in 2009, some members participated in a workshop on measuring the social impact of community radio. A number of members prepared papers ahead of the conference to share their insights and experiences in assessing impact. These are made available on the AMARC website.

3. Community Radio Social Impact Assessment - Removing Barriers, Increasing Effectiveness
This evaluation report details a long-range participatory action research process launched in 2006 by AMARC. The research shared in this report was designed to identify the barriers that limit the potential positive impact of community radio, and to explore ways to increase the effectiveness of community radio in achieving poverty reduction, development objectives, inclusiveness, and democracy building in local communities around the world.

4. Women's Empowerment and Good Governance through Community Radio: Best Experiences for an Action Research Process
Published by AMARC in 2008, this book offers a collection of articles which seek to contribute to the impact of community radio on governance issues especially related to gender equality and women’s rights. The publication is part of a two-year participatory action research process seeking to address the challenges to women’s participation in democracy building. It brings together case studies and experiences written by women practitioners participating in democratic processes through community radio. Some articles also raise questions regarding the specific challenges to gender equality within community radio and explore how to increase women’s participation in community radio as a key governance challenge to the community radio global network.

5. Engaging Development: Environment and Content of Radio Broadcasting in Nigeria
By Dr. Ayobami Ojebode and Dr. Tunde Adegbola
According to this publication from 2007, Nigeria has developed a relatively huge radio broadcasting sector. However, critical observers claim that radio broadcasting has performed below expectations in engaging issues of development. This paper was commissioned to provide scientific data which would inform the development of future activities and provide a picture of the crucial challenges confronting radio broadcasting, as well as provide recommendations and impetus for further work to advance the cause of development-oriented radio broadcasting in Nigeria. It argues that the country needs to re-position the sector, in order for it to contribute to development.

6. Community Radio in East Africa: An Impact and Sustainability Assessment of Three Community Radio Within the EACMP
By Birgitte Jallov
This report from 2007 is the result of an impact study commissioned by the Division for Culture and Media with the Swedish International Development Agency (Sida). It includes an overview and summary of three separate impact studies of three radio stations supported by Sida via the East African Community Media Project (EACMP). The objective of the studies was to identify the Most Significant Change in the communities served by each station. The study reports the most significant change to be in participation involving empowerment and change.

7. Citizen Empowerment for Good Governance through Community Radios in West Africa
This book, published AMARC Africa in 2008, is a compilation of reports that seek to increase the social impact of community radio in West Africa. The book consists of papers by 24 different contributors. The contributions provide perspectives from a variety of West African countries related to the state of community radio, national broadcasting landscapes, legislative frameworks, good governance, and challenges and constraints in the sector.

8. Communication for Empowerment in Mozambique: An Assessment of Communication and Media Needs at the Community Level
By Faruco Sadique Ibraimo and Barry Driscoll
This document, published in 2008, is one of 5 national pilot studies to assess ways to empower vulnerable people who are marginalised by lack of access to central information flows and who lack the communication channels necessary to participate in national and local debates and agenda-setting. Funded by the United Nations Development Fund and coordinated by the Communication for Social Change Consortium (CFSC), the study describes the Mozambican context, including the legal and regulatory environment for communication and media. It suggests that there is a need for strong, organised support of community radio stations, in particular the need for a clear and specific legal framework and for support for wider community radio dissemination.

9. Fighting Poverty: Utilizing Community Media In a Digital Age: Practitioners’ Reflexions from an Interactive Roundtable at the World Congress on Communication for Development (WCCD)
This publication focuses on democratic and sustainable development in relation to community media. It discusses participation as the main interest of those who support or are active in community radio. The publication contains articles, audio, and video documents by practitioners, decision makers, and scholars. It argues that current evidence and experience should prompt a major re-evaluation and increasing interest in community radio by development policymakers and specialists. It also suggests that what is needed are strong efforts to create more enabling policy and regulatory environments for community media.

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COMMUNITY RADIO THEMESITE AND E-NEWSLETTER

For more information related to community radio, please visit the Community Radio themesite .

On this site you will find programme experiences, strategic thinking documents, evaluations, and materials that deal with the role of radio, and community radio in particular, in development.

Every second month, Soul Beat Africa sends out a Soul Beat Extra: Community Radio e-newsletter which features all the latest community radio-related summaries posted on the Soul Beat Africa website.

If you would like to receive this free e-publication, please click here to register and indicate an interest in radio or media or write to soulbeat@comminit.com indicating that you would like to receive the Community Radio Extra.

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TOOLS TO ASSESS AND IMPROVE THE IMPACT OF COMMUNITY RADIO

10. Assessing Community Change: Development of a "Bare Foot" Impact Assessment Methodology
By Birgitte Jallov
Published in the Radio Journal, this paper outlines a bare-foot impact assessment methodology that was designed, tested, revised, and implemented with 8 community-owned stations in Mozambique between 2000 and 2005. The purpose of this UNESCO/UNDP Mozambique Media Development Project was to determine whether community radio stations promote democracy and active involvement of communities, and whether they allow people to set their own development agendas. According to the paper, barefoot impact assessments can ensure that community radio stations are on track with their objectives. They can also provide feedback to the communities in which they are working and demonstrate their credibility to local and international funding partners.

11. Community Media Index (CMI) - South Africa
In partnership with the National Community Radio Forum (NRF), the Alternative Information Development Centre (AIDC) developed the Community Media Index (CMI), a participatory assessment and action planning tool designed to be used by community media projects to enhance their ability to reflect and grow. Community radio stations can implement the CMI themselves as a self-assessment tool, or involve stakeholders and use the CMI as a participatory learning and information-sharing tool. They can also invite an external agency to apply the CMI as a form of external evaluation. The CMI assessment seeks to provide information that can easily be translated into practical actions by stakeholders.
Contact Mark Weinberg mark@amandla.org.za

12. Community Media Sustainability Guide: The Business of Changing Lives
By Jean Fairbairn
Launched by Internews in 2009, this guide addresses the challenge of how to make community media financially sustainable in countries around the world. It covers topics such as incorporating new online platforms and using alternative energy to power radio stations, all with an eye to sustainability. Case studies of community media outlets and networks featured here include creative solutions to the problem of finding enough funding to stay in business. The guide is designed for community media practitioners and activists, trainers, and the donors and development agencies that support them. It provides different perspectives on sustainability, practical approaches to achieving it, and a comprehensive list of resources for practitioners and activists.

13. Community Radio Start-Up Information Guide
By Karina Barker
This guide, published by Farm Radio International in 2008, is meant to be used as a tool for those interested in starting a community radio station. This guide has two main goals: to provide a general overview of some of the steps that are involved in starting up a community radio station and to provide resources for further information. It discusses how to get started, legal issues, funding options, things to think about when selecting equipment, ideas for managing a community radio station, and broadcasting tips.

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PLEASE VOTE IN OUR NEW POLL ON COMMUNITY RADIO AND ICTS

How are new ICTs (such as the internet and mobile phones) being used most effectively to support community radio in Africa? (you may choose more than one option)

Options:
* to access information to better meet the information needs of the community
* to download radio content from other sources
* to improve local programme production and reporting, eg. through mobile phones or digital audio technology
* to increase broadcast reach, making the voice of the community heard beyond the immediate community
* to increase audience participation in programming
* other

To vote and send comments go to the Community Radio themesite and see the Top Right side of the page.

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FUTURE TRENDS: COMMUNITY RADIO AND INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES (ICTS)

14. The Radio, Convergence and Development in Africa Research Programme - Africa
This research programme, initiated by the Centre for Media and Transitional Societies (CMTS) at Carleton University and supported by the International Development Research Centre, seeks to explore traditional radio in order to understand how it can be enhanced through the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) with the aim to gain a better understanding of the current impact and potential of radio as a development tool in Africa. The Radio, Convergence and Development programme came about after it was realised that there is a need for baseline data and critical research that examines radio-related outcomes and impacts on social and economic indicators. The research project will explore the cross-section, confluence and even convergence of ICTs in relationship with broadcasting.
Contact Allan Thompson allan_thompson@carleton.ca OR International Research Centre info@idrc.ca

15. Radio and Development in Africa: A Concept Paper
By Mary Myers
This paper, published in 2008, was prepared for the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) to guide the "Radio, Convergence, and Development in Africa" research programme, designed to explore traditional radio and gain an understanding of how ICTs can enhance the sector, as well as the current impact and potential of radio as a development tool in Africa. According to the paper, radio is still the dominant mass medium in Africa with the widest geographical reach and the highest audiences. The author states that radio seems to have proven itself as a developmental tool, particularly with the rise of community and local radios, which have facilitated a far more participatory and horizontal type of communication.

16. Radios et NTIC en Afrique de l'Ouest: Connectivité et Usages (Radio and ICTs in West Africa: Connectivity and Uses)
This French-language publication by the Panos Institute West Africa (PIWA) looks at how new information communication technologies (ICTs) and radio can be used in combination with each other. It presents the findings of research involving 220 radio stations in West Africa: Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo.

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For related previous issues of The Soul Beat newsletter see:

The Soul Beat 115 - Rural Radio

The Soul Beat 105 - The Role of Journalism in Development

The Soul Beat 98 - Radio for Social Change in Africa

The Soul Beat 17 - Community Radio

Click here to view archived editions of The Soul Beat Newsletter.