Role of Community Radio in Agricultural Technology Transfer

AHM Bazlur Rahman, CEO, Bangladesh NGOs Network for Radio and Communication (BNNRC)

And

Faroha Suhrawardy, Deputy Director, Bangladesh Betar.

Community Radio

• A non-profit broadcasting service owned and operated by a particular community.

• It is a medium that gives voice to the voiceless.

• Community’s welfare is the priority.

• According to the community radio installation, broadcasting and operation policy 2008, each CR station will cover a range of 17 km from its center. Maximum limit for transmitter power could be 100 watts.

• It is an alternative media besides public service media and commercial media.

South Asian Policy Environment

• First CR Policy in South Asia was adopted by India in 2006.

• First CR station in South Asia established in Nepal (1997) though there is no CR policy yet.

• Afghanistan has numbers of CR stations without CR policy.

• Bangladesh formulated the second CR policy in South Asia in 2008.

• Sri Lanka has government owned CR stations.

Why community radio!

• CR gives communities access to information.

• Provides opportunities to participate in communication system.

• Promotes local issues and events to broadcast.

• Creates bridges between national, local and community level.

• Upholds local culture and understanding.

• Minimizes gap between urban and rural people in terms of information divide.

• Helps communities to express opinions.

Role of radio in Agricultural Development

• Bangladesh Betar, the only public service radio in Bangladesh has been broadcasting programmes since 1939 with a country wide coverage.

• Since inception this large media has been focusing agriculture with due respect.

• After independence of Bangladesh it had started ‘Farm Broadcasting’, a separte unit for broadcast agriculture programme.

• It enhanced agricultural production, but can’t address local and community level needs because of central tendency.

Role of CR in Agricultural Technology Transfer

Three stages:

1) Before: inform, aware, sensitize.

2) During: Mobilize and exchange of information.

3) After: Trouble shooting and reinforcing.

Push factor: introducing new technology.

Pull factor: adapting new technology.

Advantages of CR in Agricultural Technology Transfer

• It will consider the local culture and social system.

• Community people will speak in the microphone in their own language.

• It will overcome the cultural and social barriers easily.

• It will create environment for negotiation, experience sharing, and focus the best practices.

• At one point technology transfer will turned to technology diffusion.

Thanks for your time.