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Livelihood Improvement Through Participatory Mass Communications

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Manfred Kofi Antwi Asuman sought to find out how the programmes and activities of community radio stations in Northern Ghana are improving the livelihoods and economic capabilities of women in their broadcast areas through participatory programming.

Image courtesy of interviewee. August 8, 2024

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This video discusses the role and impact of community radio, particularly in Northern Ghana, focusing on how it serves as a tool for educating and improving the livelihoods of women in rural areas. It reflects on the transition of media from traditional forms to digital and AI-driven platforms, noting that traditional media, especially radio, is still highly relevant in the Global South.

The speaker highlights the decline in media's effectiveness in addressing community development needs and emphasizes that while many people, especially women, remain underserved by commercial media, community radio provides an opportunity for empowerment. It allows communities to voice their needs and participate in development discussions, tailored to their context.

The research involved examining how community radio influences women's lives through improved access to information related to agriculture, health, and local governance. The findings indicate that participation in community radio programs leads to greater awareness and education, ultimately contributing to women's economic empowerment and food security.

Moreover, the study analyzes ownership dynamics of community radio stations, revealing that those owned by individuals or external agencies may lack local representation, while community-led stations foster a sense of ownership and relevance.

The speaker identifies key mechanisms of influence, including targeted content, outreach initiatives, and the mobilization of community resources. Recommendations stress the importance of participatory approaches in development initiatives to enhance engagement and relevance.

In conclusion, the text asserts that community radio significantly contributes to improving women's livelihoods in Northern Ghana but notes that the research is limited to this specific region, suggesting that further studies are needed to understand the broader implications across Ghana.

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X-TIMESTAMP-MAP:LOCAL=00:00:00.000,MPEGTS=900000

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The media in itself has a tool of educating

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and improving the lives of people.

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But also we also realize that,

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the media these days has not been used the way it was

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originally intended to

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because of the fact

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that nowadays people can create their own content

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and do their own activities on the media.

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In recent times, we have seen a decline in the way

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that the media is able to affect the development agenda

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of the communities in which they are into.

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For example, I can just wake up today

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and start my own podcast,

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which may not necessarily add any life improvement value

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into the lives of the people who listen.

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Now, we realize that against the backdrop of this, there are

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so many people in the world who are largely ignored

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by com, commercial media

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and the international media conglomerates.

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Some of these groups are women in the global south,

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and even further impoverished are women in the rural parts

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of the global south.

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Now, within the past couple of years, we realize that a lot

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of the academic

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and even industrial discourse on media has shifted from

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traditional media to digital media and AI

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and algorithms and things like that.

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But we also realized that in the global south,

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at least in Ghana, where the study was based,

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radio still remains the number one medium of information,

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which means the more the academic narrative diverts from

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traditional media, the more we ignore the people

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who depend on on, community radio

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and even tv, even regular broadcasting has changed.

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So the more we ignore these guys

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because their information needs are not

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met, yes.

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So we decided to, I decided to write a proposal

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to start this 'cause I wanted to make a case

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why community radio should still be included in academic

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discourse and to measure the impact

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or the effect of community radio in the lives of the people

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who listen to community radio and its activities.

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Now, community radio provides a voice for poor

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and powerless people, and has become a major tool

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for spreading development and insighting social

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and political action from people who are

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otherwise sidelined by public and commercial radio.

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I am a part of,

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a network in the UK called the Radio Studies Network,

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and we are also, we also have the,

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community Radio Association of the uk.

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But in recent times, we realized that most

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of our dialogue has been changed, you know, so

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I tried to study the impact

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and the, in how the information women get from community

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radio affects their lives.

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Because, for example, when you go to the study,

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the study site in Northern Ghana, we realize that

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women do most of the work that is farming.

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It's an agricultural community.

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But when we look at commercial radio in Ghana, we realize

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that commercial radio doesn't necessarily

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cover the interest of women

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and doesn't necessarily include women's views.

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So we dec I decided to study

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how community radio affects the lives

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of women in the communities since the women are the ones

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who do most of the Greek work.

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But the control of the media,

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at least in the commercial sense, is in the hands

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of commercial business interests, which are mostly men.

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This, this work, this particular project,

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was focused on two strands of literature.

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I decided to, to, I decided to not be a very,

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timid academic in the sense that I learned not not

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to go the regular academic way.

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So I chose two very interdisciplinary theories

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and concepts to focus on.

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The first one is the theory of empowerment,

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which evolved from social psychology

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and the theory of participatory development communications.

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Now what we realize is that,

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since the eighties, since the days of Paolo fear and Linsky

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and Rappaport, one of the things

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that has mostly been argued is that empowerment needs

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to come to people.

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People need to be empowered.

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But most of the previous stories have always thought that,

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empowerment can be given to people.

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So in the eighties,

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or at least in the post independent communists, the idea

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of empowerment was that development agencies such

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as UN World Bank, usaid, and UK Aid

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and whatnot, can go into

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otherwise under developed communities

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and give them empowerment.

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But through the concept

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of participatory development communications,

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which is the second theory I used in this study, you realize

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that no empowerment cannot be given to people.

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Rather, empowerment must evolve from within the community

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or the group of people who wants to be empowered.

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What this means is that people must must know the need

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for, for empowerment.

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People must know the need,

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the reason why they want to be empowered.

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And the steps that lead

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to empowerment must evolve from within the group that seek

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to the empowerment to be empowered.

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Sorry. So against this backdrop, we realize that,

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community radio becomes a channel

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or it becomes a link between the people,

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their community members,

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and even their external development partners, such

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as their government and their donors

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and NGOs working in the community.

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So I used, we used, community empowerment

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as a way of understanding.

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We use participation, sorry, as a way of understanding

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how community members can incite social action

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or community development action from within themselves to,

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in order to be empowered, which is in this case, in order

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to have livelihood empowerment.

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So one of the things is that community radio becomes

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the channel through which

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ideas can be shared within the community.

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It also becomes the channel

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through which the community can determine its own programs,

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what it wants to hear, how they want to hear it,

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and how they want to understand it.

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One of the, one of the fancy things

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that I think is a very,

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unique about this study is the fact that

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you can actually see community members meet to decide

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what they want their radio station to focus on.

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So, for example, we in this community can meet

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and then decide that we think the planting

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season is coming now.

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So we should let our community radio station focus more on

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agricultural programs.

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So we work hand in hand with our district officials,

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and then we create more agricultural programs,

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which are focused on the produce

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that we grow within our community.

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That way we are able to provide information

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to small holder farmers so that they can be able

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to grow more food.

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Secondly, we realize

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that the information which is being produced on the

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community radio and which is being shared amongst members

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of the community, is created by they themselves.

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So they have several channels like, the community radio

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listenership groups where groups of women can meet

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to discuss events

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or activities that they want to be involved in.

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And also when community,

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when development partners come within the community,

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these radio listenership groups become the point of focus.

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For example, in one

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of the communities there is a farmers group.

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So when an agricultural focus

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and NGO comes into the community, they are able to meet

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with farmers, create radio programs that focus on farming,

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and then through the community radio, they're able

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to disseminate that information to the community members.

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Now, one of the things about the, the

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Theories that I I like a lot is the fact that previously

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with empowerment, we tend

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to accept whatever the development agent tells us.

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Now, through the community radio,

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the community members are able to decide,

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or even against, commercial radio, you realize

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that on commercial radio, once I can pay for my airtime,

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I can just go and see whatever I want to say, regardless

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of it being the truth or regardless of it being the lie.

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But now because of the community radio,

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once a program is coming out, community members are able

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to meet and decide to know if they want to be on it.

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So it further increases and it further expand the knowledge

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and theoretical base of empowerment.

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And it relates, it's able to relate more of empowerment to

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participation and how communication plays

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a role in that process.

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A lot of the time when I speak

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to people in the global north, they have a very, varied

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idea of what community radio stations are in Ghana.

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We have public radio, which is the Ghana Broadcasting

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Corporation that was modeled

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after the BBC by our colonial masters.

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And we have commercial radio beneath commercial radio.

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We have all outside commercial radio.

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We have community radio stations.

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Now, the licensing regime

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for community radio stations in Ghana are done in two tiers.

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There are ideological communities.

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For example, we can say those of us who believe in rock

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and roll, we have our own radio station

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or those of us who believe in, military invasion.

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We have our own radio station.

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And then there is, there are

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geographical community radio stations.

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This study was focused on geographical

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community radio stations.

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So those are the ones that particular, particularly speak

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to members of a particular field,

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geographical community.

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For example, Southland Radio

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or Derland Radio, specifically targeting that group.

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Now, what happens is, another thing against is,

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is the ownership of the community radio stations.

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I realized that some of these community radio stations are

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owned by different groups of people

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with different interests.

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Ideally, the law states that a community, the decision

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to own a community radio should come

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from within the community.

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But for my studies, I have realized that

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community registrations can be owned by individuals.

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They can start as, an individuals

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and entrepreneurial efforts,

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and the license will be granted as long

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as they get the whole community

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to sign the documents that they need to sign.

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Also, I realized that, another group of,

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people who can own community radio stations are

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development agencies.

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Some of the radio stations that I believe I worked with are,

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French Aid, US Aid,

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and those ones have set up community radio stations.

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After a while, there is usually a handing over process

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after the short to medium term, maybe three to five years,

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they hand over to the communities.

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But because of, finance

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and sustainability issues, most

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of these radio stations are not able

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to completely rate themselves of, the influence

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of the people who set them up.

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And also there are community radio stations

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that are owned by religious bodies.

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Actually, religious bodies owned

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so many community radio stations.

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The Adventist Relief Group owns a community radio station.

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Uh, the, what's it called?

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The Catholic, actually one of the oldest, if not the old,

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the oldest, actually the oldest community radio station in

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Ghana belongs to the Catholic Church Radio Progress in war,

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which was, which was in, in, in in the study.

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It is owned by the Catholic church.

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It was the first licensed community radio station.

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And also sometimes the community themselves, they are able

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to raise funds and decide

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that we have been excluded from the media for so long.

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Sometimes these guys who broadcast on commercial radio,

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they broadcast in English,

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which is the official language in our community, most

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of the people are not that much educated

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to even understand the language.

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'cause we speak our local dialect.

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So therefore we want to set up our own form of media

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and then they choose to invest in a community radio station.

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And I realized that, all these factors affect

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how these radio stations operate.

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So depending on the ownership strategy of the, of the,

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community radio station,

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sustainability may not be an issue

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because obviously if US AID or French aid or UK AID

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or OECD is setting up a radio station,

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they'll definitely have the funds for it.

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So they don't have to struggle.

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If, a church is setting up a radio station,

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they'll obviously have the funds for it.

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They'll not struggle. But when the community itself

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sets up a radio station, sometimes, operational

14:09.415 --> 14:10.575
challenges pop up.

14:10.995 --> 14:12.455
And because of that, it is able

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to change the way the community radio stations operate in a

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while, in, in, in certain instances.

14:18.485 --> 14:22.615
What I did was, first of all, I used a two step model

14:22.675 --> 14:24.135
to select my radio stations.

14:24.505 --> 14:25.655
Ghana has over,

14:26.735 --> 14:30.055
I think Ghana has over 300 registered radio stations with,

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and Ghana is a really small country with about, 200

14:34.475 --> 14:35.495
of them being online.

14:36.195 --> 14:37.375
And about 77

14:37.375 --> 14:40.015
of them are geographical community radio stations.

14:40.595 --> 14:43.055
So I used the random sampling method

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to select five districts

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with geographical community reduced stations.

14:47.345 --> 14:52.315
After I selected the, the, radio stations,

14:52.555 --> 14:56.085
I went to work with the gatekeepers of the radio station,

14:56.465 --> 14:58.045
who are the program producers

14:58.105 --> 14:59.685
and the managers of the radio station.

15:00.265 --> 15:03.565
So most of these radio stations, they have a list of people

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who participate in their programs via social media, via,

15:09.195 --> 15:13.575
community mailboxes, via radio listenership groups,

15:14.315 --> 15:17.015
via forums and town meetings.

15:17.285 --> 15:21.495
They have so many. So I was able to have an extensive list

15:21.555 --> 15:23.495
of most of these participants.

15:24.405 --> 15:29.035
And in the second level, I sampled five, no,

15:29.115 --> 15:31.395
I sampled 10, 10 participants.

15:31.595 --> 15:33.915
I did five first and then I did another five,

15:33.935 --> 15:35.195
but I sampled 10,

15:35.195 --> 15:38.075
and then I put them into two groups, two focus groups,

15:38.575 --> 15:42.395
so five focus, two focus groups for each radio station.

15:42.395 --> 15:45.475
So I ended up having 10, focus groups

15:46.095 --> 15:48.755
for each radio station made up of five members each.

15:49.015 --> 15:53.595
And I also interviewed the managers of the radio station

15:53.695 --> 15:54.955
and the program producers.

15:55.845 --> 15:59.375
This was because I wanted to find a way to triangulate

15:59.515 --> 16:02.975
and verify the information that I get from each

16:02.975 --> 16:03.975
of them individually.

16:04.595 --> 16:08.455
And also I did a qualitative content analysis,

16:09.165 --> 16:11.675
which I call a radio program analysis.

16:12.555 --> 16:16.815
So in order to be able to understand how

16:17.465 --> 16:21.415
radio is having an, an is improving the livelihoods

16:21.415 --> 16:24.975
of people, I try to understand who creates the program.

16:25.835 --> 16:28.255
Is this program funded by an outside entity?

16:29.555 --> 16:31.335
How many people listen to this program

16:32.155 --> 16:33.855
if the program is involved?

16:34.315 --> 16:38.735
If the program is about HIV of what importance is HIV

16:38.995 --> 16:40.575
to the people who live in the community.

16:42.065 --> 16:44.885
And, for example, if the program is a health

16:45.425 --> 16:48.765
or an education based program, who drafts the bill?

16:49.265 --> 16:51.845
Who writes it? Because I don't want to, I don't want

16:51.845 --> 16:55.525
to mention names, but I have, I have instances where

16:56.875 --> 16:58.755
I saw an agreed program being produced.

16:59.495 --> 17:02.575
The people in the community grow rice.

17:02.795 --> 17:05.375
The area is actually called the BC Rise Valley.

17:06.505 --> 17:10.725
But because the pe the NGOs sponsoring the program

17:11.355 --> 17:15.245
were from a country that was against, were from a country

17:15.355 --> 17:18.515
that is a global producer of rice,

17:19.225 --> 17:22.235
they deliberately failed to sponsor programs

17:22.235 --> 17:24.195
that focus on growing rise.

17:24.615 --> 17:26.955
So you realize that this is an agri program,

17:27.415 --> 17:31.395
but it may not necessarily be having a positive impact on

17:31.395 --> 17:32.395
the lives of the people.

17:32.895 --> 17:34.515
So I tried to analyze some of these

17:34.575 --> 17:38.195
and then I translated my data in order to have valid data

17:38.415 --> 17:40.915
and in order to make sure that my data was enriched,

17:41.275 --> 17:42.475
I used these three methods

17:42.895 --> 17:44.315
to know what's, what's going to happen.

17:44.795 --> 17:46.555
I have a lot of findings.

17:46.745 --> 17:48.195
Some of them are really minute,

17:48.695 --> 17:52.125
but they go a long way to say a lot, to,

17:52.125 --> 17:54.765
to discuss a lot of things, especially in regards

17:54.825 --> 17:55.965
to media effects

17:55.965 --> 17:57.685
and how they affect the livelihoods of people.

17:58.105 --> 18:00.365
So for example, I realized that one

18:00.365 --> 18:03.245
of the key things I realized was that the primary focus and,

18:03.665 --> 18:08.305
and, and the

18:08.975 --> 18:13.655
ownership of the community review station can determine how

18:14.515 --> 18:16.485
they are able to influence livelihoods.

18:17.255 --> 18:21.205
Because one of the things I realized was that in instances

18:21.415 --> 18:25.545
where community review stations are owned by an individual

18:25.805 --> 18:29.545
or they are born out of the entrepreneurial effort

18:29.545 --> 18:33.265
of an individual within the company, 99% of the time

18:33.575 --> 18:36.505
that individual is a politically exposed person.

18:37.645 --> 18:40.505
So the members of the community do not feel like

18:40.885 --> 18:41.985
it is a radio for them.

18:42.175 --> 18:44.505
They feel like it is a political radio station,

18:44.595 --> 18:47.145
which is there to influence or to do propaganda

18:47.605 --> 18:52.265
or, influence political decisions within the community.

18:53.025 --> 18:54.425
Secondly, I found out

18:54.425 --> 18:58.305
that community radio disseminates information on new

18:58.305 --> 19:01.385
agricultural technology, such as new seed varieties.

19:01.685 --> 19:05.945
And even in irrigation farming, I realized that,

19:06.215 --> 19:08.785
true agricultural programming on,

19:09.325 --> 19:13.105
on community radio members of the communities are able

19:13.125 --> 19:17.945
to meet, discuss what they hear, go on out to their farms,

19:18.625 --> 19:21.045
practice the information they got,

19:21.305 --> 19:25.055
and also meet US radio international groups

19:25.275 --> 19:28.215
and discuss the outcome amongst themselves.

19:28.765 --> 19:33.295
Sometimes most of these discussions at the community,

19:33.435 --> 19:35.935
at the radio listenership clubs are collected

19:36.235 --> 19:40.715
and sent back to the, radio station

19:40.895 --> 19:43.675
and played so that other community members who are not part

19:44.255 --> 19:48.235
of the radio listenership groups can also hear and practice.

19:48.855 --> 19:52.195
The third one I realized was that community radio is used by

19:53.465 --> 19:55.075
NGOs for the implementation

19:55.075 --> 19:56.795
of economic empowerment programs.

19:57.735 --> 20:00.155
So when NGOs come into the community

20:00.735 --> 20:03.635
and they want to implement social change programs

20:03.935 --> 20:06.795
or development programs, the community radio is one

20:06.795 --> 20:10.635
of the ways they are able to gauge their,

20:10.815 --> 20:12.035
effect on the community.

20:12.675 --> 20:16.395
A lot of the, even quite recently, some of the,

20:16.475 --> 20:19.595
programs I have worked on in Ghana usually have a radio

20:19.595 --> 20:23.195
component because if we are tracking,

20:23.645 --> 20:26.875
let's say we are tracking how many people are getting tested

20:27.495 --> 20:30.675
by HIV Community Radio becomes a good source

20:31.185 --> 20:32.835
because that is where we are.

20:33.455 --> 20:35.675
How many people are getting tested for HIV, sorry,

20:35.705 --> 20:39.915
community radio becomes a good source to educate people

20:40.535 --> 20:42.715
and also to get feedback from the community.

20:43.095 --> 20:45.435
So one of the things I realized is that sometimes,

20:45.435 --> 20:49.645
because most of these NGOs know that, they are not

20:50.445 --> 20:53.275
accepted widely within the community,

20:53.375 --> 20:57.315
or once they record their own programs,

20:57.655 --> 21:00.115
the programs may not be participatory enough

21:00.115 --> 21:02.315
to reflect the needs of the community.

21:02.865 --> 21:06.355
They by segments within shoes.

21:07.015 --> 21:09.795
So for example, in the, in the Drive time show,

21:10.215 --> 21:13.755
we can have the World Health Organization buying 10 minutes

21:13.895 --> 21:14.995
in the drive time show,

21:15.415 --> 21:16.435
and then they'll use that

21:16.435 --> 21:19.315
to educate people on why it is important to get tested,

21:19.655 --> 21:22.315
why it is important to get your vaccine, why it is important

21:22.415 --> 21:25.195
to use mosquito treatments and things like that.

21:25.935 --> 21:29.275
The fourth one is through health programming on community

21:29.275 --> 21:33.515
radio, most women in the communities have learned about HIV

21:34.095 --> 21:36.275
and how to properly use contraceptives.

21:36.645 --> 21:39.475
Women have also learned about how to test for malaria

21:39.775 --> 21:41.755
and give malaria pills to their kids.

21:42.295 --> 21:45.475
So we see a very important economic resource there.

21:45.745 --> 21:47.915
That is health because most

21:47.915 --> 21:50.195
of these rural communities don't have drinks

21:50.215 --> 21:51.235
for our hospitals.

21:51.805 --> 21:55.015
Sometimes they may have a hospital which is close

21:56.085 --> 21:57.825
or which is about an hour away,

21:58.085 --> 22:00.265
and your child falls sick in the night.

22:00.645 --> 22:04.025
It is almost impossible that you can get to that hospital,

22:04.725 --> 22:06.745
around 2:00 AM or 3:00 AM.

22:07.005 --> 22:10.385
So what usually happens is, through community radio,

22:10.595 --> 22:15.385
women have been taught how to use these small home-based.

22:16.055 --> 22:19.145
It's almost like the covid tests, that we use at home

22:19.525 --> 22:20.625
to test for malaria,

22:21.045 --> 22:24.065
and then they can administer some medicine to their children

22:24.565 --> 22:27.875
before, they are taken

22:27.895 --> 22:29.595
to the hospital the next day.

22:30.065 --> 22:32.915
Also, we realize that public health communication,

22:33.085 --> 22:35.915
which is a major importance to women, is easier

22:36.625 --> 22:38.075
than on community radio

22:38.585 --> 22:41.755
because broadcasting community radio is done

22:41.755 --> 22:43.195
through the local dialect

22:43.195 --> 22:46.165
or local language, which means unlike

22:46.765 --> 22:47.765
national communications,

22:48.175 --> 22:51.525
which is done on a broad scale in the capital Accra

22:51.655 --> 22:52.885
where English is spoken

22:52.985 --> 22:55.205
and which may eliminate some of these people,

22:55.755 --> 22:58.325
they get public health information in their own local

22:58.395 --> 23:02.685
dialect and they're able to discuss these public health,

23:02.685 --> 23:04.765
information they receive directly

23:04.765 --> 23:06.445
with their district health officials.

23:07.275 --> 23:10.885
This way, women who have good health are able to limit,

23:11.435 --> 23:13.525
they're able to save money on health costs

23:13.945 --> 23:15.805
and invest in other areas of their lives.

23:16.595 --> 23:19.925
Also, from the growing of new seed varieties

23:19.945 --> 23:22.325
and stuff, one of the things I realized was that

23:22.635 --> 23:27.405
through the information women get on, a programs,

23:27.515 --> 23:30.615
they're able to produce more food, which leads

23:30.635 --> 23:32.735
to improving food security in the region.

23:33.505 --> 23:35.015
Again, some of these

23:36.195 --> 23:39.745
foods which are not even used in the household, some

23:39.745 --> 23:41.625
of these food stuff which are not used in the household,

23:41.925 --> 23:43.385
are able to be sold,

23:44.485 --> 23:47.545
and then women make extra money to be able

23:47.605 --> 23:50.025
to invest in other areas of their lives.

23:50.585 --> 23:53.505
A clear example I remember was one woman who told me

23:53.505 --> 23:56.265
that she learned how to make her own compost menu

23:56.725 --> 23:57.905
and how to apply it.

23:58.935 --> 24:01.905
Some of them, I think, some of them said a couple

24:01.925 --> 24:05.705
of years ago, they had to pay people every year to come

24:05.705 --> 24:06.905
and apply manual

24:07.245 --> 24:10.185
or fertilizer on their crop for them in their farms.

24:10.365 --> 24:11.665
But through their radio stations

24:11.665 --> 24:14.425
and through their involvement in their radio listenership

24:14.425 --> 24:16.465
groups, they have been able to learn how

24:16.465 --> 24:17.865
to do these things themselves.

24:18.285 --> 24:21.145
Uh, we proclaim that the main mechanisms used

24:21.145 --> 24:23.545
by community radio in influencing the livelihoods

24:23.545 --> 24:27.785
of women in their brokers areas, targeted radio content,

24:28.415 --> 24:32.025
outside broadcast initiatives, and community radio outreach.

24:32.725 --> 24:36.065
One of the things we, we, we realized that previous Malik

24:36.065 --> 24:39.345
and Valara, who did their study in India,

24:39.655 --> 24:41.625
they have been able to tell us

24:41.625 --> 24:44.105
that radio really does empower people.

24:44.885 --> 24:48.535
But this study is actually telling us

24:48.535 --> 24:50.615
that radio can empower you,

24:50.875 --> 24:53.175
but it can actually give you economic

24:53.235 --> 24:54.695
and livelihood empowerment.

24:55.475 --> 24:59.695
So one of the things we recommend is that when doing,

25:00.555 --> 25:05.485
employment projects, employment projects need

25:05.485 --> 25:06.485
to be participatory

25:06.795 --> 25:10.565
because people are more likely to participate

25:12.125 --> 25:16.145
in programs or development initiatives when they feel they,

25:16.175 --> 25:19.985
they are interest are represented in that program.

25:20.895 --> 25:25.705
Also, when people feel, they are, their

25:26.585 --> 25:28.465
opinions have been taken into account,

25:28.805 --> 25:31.985
or when people feel they have influenced a decision,

25:32.375 --> 25:34.545
they are more likely to be accepting

25:34.885 --> 25:38.665
of the communal decision, even when it is different from

25:38.665 --> 25:39.905
what they initially wanted.

25:40.845 --> 25:45.025
So, in conclusion, we argue that,

25:45.025 --> 25:49.635
community Radio gives women in Northern Ghana an

25:49.635 --> 25:52.035
opportunity to improve their livelihoods

25:52.215 --> 25:55.235
by ensuring food security, by promoting their health,

25:55.735 --> 25:59.735
and also by promoting,

26:00.395 --> 26:04.095
and also by giving them tools for education.

26:04.955 --> 26:09.085
Yeah. But one of the, limitations of this study is

26:09.085 --> 26:12.165
that it was only based in Northern Ghana

26:13.085 --> 26:16.425
and also it is not entirely representative

26:16.725 --> 26:18.825
of the political economy of the Ghanaian media

26:19.365 --> 26:22.465
as we only focus on community radio stations.

26:22.805 --> 26:26.225
So this is one of the, reasons why we say

26:26.225 --> 26:29.785
that our at the finance cannot necessarily be,

26:31.185 --> 26:35.585
re over representative of the entire Ghana.

26:36.485 --> 26:39.865
So yeah, it is only limited to the areas we studied.

"Reviving Community Voices: The Impact of Community Radio on Women's Lives in the Global South"

00:00:00 - The media in itself has a tool of educating and improving the lives of people. But also we also realize that, the media these days has not been used the way it was originally intended to because of the fact that nowadays people can create their own content and do their own activities on the media. In recent times, we have seen a decline in the way that the media is able to affect the development agenda of the communities in which they are into. For example, I can just wake up today and start my own podcast,
00:00:45 - into the lives of the people who listen. Now, we realize that against the backdrop of this, there are so many people in the world who are largely ignored by com, commercial media and the international media conglomerates. Some of these groups are women in the global south, and even further impoverished are women in the rural parts of the global south. Now, within the past couple of years, we realize that a lot of the academic and even industrial discourse on media has shifted from traditional media to digital media and AI
00:01:27 - But we also realized that in the global south, at least in Ghana, where the study was based, radio still remains the number one medium of information, which means the more the academic narrative diverts from traditional media, the more we ignore the people who depend on on, community radio and even tv, even regular broadcasting has changed. So the more we ignore these guys because their information needs are not met, yes. So we decided to, I decided to write a proposal
00:02:08 - why community radio should still be included in academic discourse and to measure the impact or the effect of community radio in the lives of the people who listen to community radio and its activities. Now, community radio provides a voice for poor and powerless people, and has become a major tool for spreading development and insighting social and political action from people who are otherwise sidelined by public and commercial radio. I am a part of, a network in the UK called the Radio Studies Network, and we are also, we also have the, community Radio Association of the uk.
00:02:52 - of our dialogue has been changed, you know, so I tried to study the impact and the, in how the information women get from community radio affects their lives. Because, for example, when you go to the study, the study site in Northern Ghana, we realize that women do most of the work that is farming. It's an agricultural community. But when we look at commercial radio in Ghana, we realize that commercial radio doesn't necessarily cover the interest of women
00:03:32 - So we dec I decided to study how community radio affects the lives of women in the communities since the women are the ones who do most of the Greek work. But the control of the media, at least in the commercial sense, is in the hands of commercial business interests, which are mostly men. This, this work, this particular project, was focused on two strands of literature. I decided to, to, I decided to not be a very, timid academic in the sense that I learned not not to go the regular academic way.

"Empowerment through Community Radio: The Role of Participatory Development in Social Change"

00:04:13 - and concepts to focus on. The first one is the theory of empowerment, which evolved from social psychology and the theory of participatory development communications. Now what we realize is that, since the eighties, since the days of Paolo fear and Linsky and Rappaport, one of the things that has mostly been argued is that empowerment needs to come to people. People need to be empowered. But most of the previous stories have always thought that, empowerment can be given to people.
00:04:53 - or at least in the post independent communists, the idea of empowerment was that development agencies such as UN World Bank, usaid, and UK Aid and whatnot, can go into otherwise under developed communities and give them empowerment. But through the concept of participatory development communications, which is the second theory I used in this study, you realize that no empowerment cannot be given to people. Rather, empowerment must evolve from within the community or the group of people who wants to be empowered.
00:05:38 - for, for empowerment. People must know the need, the reason why they want to be empowered. And the steps that lead to empowerment must evolve from within the group that seek to the empowerment to be empowered. Sorry. So against this backdrop, we realize that, community radio becomes a channel or it becomes a link between the people, their community members, and even their external development partners, such as their government and their donors and NGOs working in the community.
00:06:21 - as a way of understanding. We use participation, sorry, as a way of understanding how community members can incite social action or community development action from within themselves to, in order to be empowered, which is in this case, in order to have livelihood empowerment. So one of the things is that community radio becomes the channel through which ideas can be shared within the community. It also becomes the channel through which the community can determine its own programs,
00:07:03 - and how they want to understand it. One of the, one of the fancy things that I think is a very, unique about this study is the fact that you can actually see community members meet to decide what they want their radio station to focus on. So, for example, we in this community can meet and then decide that we think the planting season is coming now. So we should let our community radio station focus more on agricultural programs. So we work hand in hand with our district officials, and then we create more agricultural programs,
00:07:42 - that we grow within our community. That way we are able to provide information to small holder farmers so that they can be able to grow more food. Secondly, we realize that the information which is being produced on the community radio and which is being shared amongst members of the community, is created by they themselves. So they have several channels like, the community radio listenership groups where groups of women can meet to discuss events or activities that they want to be involved in. And also when community,

"Empowerment Through Community Radio: A Platform for Local Voices and Sustainable Development"

00:08:24 - these radio listenership groups become the point of focus. For example, in one of the communities there is a farmers group. So when an agricultural focus and NGO comes into the community, they are able to meet with farmers, create radio programs that focus on farming, and then through the community radio, they're able to disseminate that information to the community members. Now, one of the things about the, the Theories that I I like a lot is the fact that previously with empowerment, we tend to accept whatever the development agent tells us.
00:09:07 - the community members are able to decide, or even against, commercial radio, you realize that on commercial radio, once I can pay for my airtime, I can just go and see whatever I want to say, regardless of it being the truth or regardless of it being the lie. But now because of the community radio, once a program is coming out, community members are able to meet and decide to know if they want to be on it. So it further increases and it further expand the knowledge and theoretical base of empowerment. And it relates, it's able to relate more of empowerment to participation and how communication plays
00:09:47 - A lot of the time when I speak to people in the global north, they have a very, varied idea of what community radio stations are in Ghana. We have public radio, which is the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation that was modeled after the BBC by our colonial masters. And we have commercial radio beneath commercial radio. We have all outside commercial radio. We have community radio stations. Now, the licensing regime for community radio stations in Ghana are done in two tiers. There are ideological communities. For example, we can say those of us who believe in rock and roll, we have our own radio station
00:10:32 - We have our own radio station. And then there is, there are geographical community radio stations. This study was focused on geographical community radio stations. So those are the ones that particular, particularly speak to members of a particular field, geographical community. For example, Southland Radio or Derland Radio, specifically targeting that group. Now, what happens is, another thing against is, is the ownership of the community radio stations.
00:11:12 - owned by different groups of people with different interests. Ideally, the law states that a community, the decision to own a community radio should come from within the community. But for my studies, I have realized that community registrations can be owned by individuals. They can start as, an individuals and entrepreneurial efforts, and the license will be granted as long as they get the whole community to sign the documents that they need to sign. Also, I realized that, another group of,
00:11:52 - development agencies. Some of the radio stations that I believe I worked with are, French Aid, US Aid, and those ones have set up community radio stations. After a while, there is usually a handing over process after the short to medium term, maybe three to five years, they hand over to the communities. But because of, finance and sustainability issues, most of these radio stations are not able to completely rate themselves of, the influence of the people who set them up. And also there are community radio stations that are owned by religious bodies.

"The Role and Challenges of Community Radio Stations in Ghana: Ownership, Sustainability, and Local Engagement"**

00:12:33 - so many community radio stations. The Adventist Relief Group owns a community radio station. the, what's it called? The Catholic, actually one of the oldest, if not the old, the oldest, actually the oldest community radio station in Ghana belongs to the Catholic Church Radio Progress in war, which was, which was in, in, in in the study. It is owned by the Catholic church. It was the first licensed community radio station. And also sometimes the community themselves, they are able to raise funds and decide that we have been excluded from the media for so long. Sometimes these guys who broadcast on commercial radio,
00:13:13 - which is the official language in our community, most of the people are not that much educated to even understand the language. 'cause we speak our local dialect. So therefore we want to set up our own form of media and then they choose to invest in a community radio station. And I realized that, all these factors affect how these radio stations operate. So depending on the ownership strategy of the, of the, community radio station, sustainability may not be an issue because obviously if US AID or French aid or UK AID or OECD is setting up a radio station, they'll definitely have the funds for it.
00:13:54 - If, a church is setting up a radio station, they'll obviously have the funds for it. They'll not struggle. But when the community itself sets up a radio station, sometimes, operational challenges pop up. And because of that, it is able to change the way the community radio stations operate in a while, in, in, in certain instances. What I did was, first of all, I used a two step model to select my radio stations. Ghana has over, I think Ghana has over 300 registered radio stations with, and Ghana is a really small country with about, 200
00:14:36 - And about 77 of them are geographical community radio stations. So I used the random sampling method to select five districts with geographical community reduced stations. After I selected the, the, radio stations, I went to work with the gatekeepers of the radio station, who are the program producers and the managers of the radio station. So most of these radio stations, they have a list of people who participate in their programs via social media, via, community mailboxes, via radio listenership groups, via forums and town meetings.
00:15:21 - of most of these participants. And in the second level, I sampled five, no, I sampled 10, 10 participants. I did five first and then I did another five, but I sampled 10, and then I put them into two groups, two focus groups, so five focus, two focus groups for each radio station. So I ended up having 10, focus groups for each radio station made up of five members each. And I also interviewed the managers of the radio station and the program producers. This was because I wanted to find a way to triangulate
00:16:02 - of them individually. And also I did a qualitative content analysis, which I call a radio program analysis. So in order to be able to understand how radio is having an, an is improving the livelihoods of people, I try to understand who creates the program. Is this program funded by an outside entity? How many people listen to this program if the program is involved? If the program is about HIV of what importance is HIV to the people who live in the community.

"The Impact of Community Radio on Agricultural Development and Social Empowerment in Northern Ghana"

00:16:45 - or an education based program, who drafts the bill? Who writes it? Because I don't want to, I don't want to mention names, but I have, I have instances where I saw an agreed program being produced. The people in the community grow rice. The area is actually called the BC Rise Valley. But because the pe the NGOs sponsoring the program were from a country that was against, were from a country that is a global producer of rice, they deliberately failed to sponsor programs
00:17:24 - So you realize that this is an agri program, but it may not necessarily be having a positive impact on the lives of the people. So I tried to analyze some of these and then I translated my data in order to have valid data and in order to make sure that my data was enriched, I used these three methods to know what's, what's going to happen. I have a lot of findings. Some of them are really minute, but they go a long way to say a lot, to, to discuss a lot of things, especially in regards to media effects and how they affect the livelihoods of people. So for example, I realized that one of the key things I realized was that the primary focus and,
00:18:08 - ownership of the community review station can determine how they are able to influence livelihoods. Because one of the things I realized was that in instances where community review stations are owned by an individual or they are born out of the entrepreneurial effort of an individual within the company, 99% of the time that individual is a politically exposed person. So the members of the community do not feel like it is a radio for them. They feel like it is a political radio station,
00:18:47 - or, influence political decisions within the community. Secondly, I found out that community radio disseminates information on new agricultural technology, such as new seed varieties. And even in irrigation farming, I realized that, true agricultural programming on, on community radio members of the communities are able to meet, discuss what they hear, go on out to their farms, practice the information they got, and also meet US radio international groups
00:19:28 - Sometimes most of these discussions at the community, at the radio listenership clubs are collected and sent back to the, radio station and played so that other community members who are not part of the radio listenership groups can also hear and practice. The third one I realized was that community radio is used by NGOs for the implementation of economic empowerment programs. So when NGOs come into the community and they want to implement social change programs or development programs, the community radio is one
00:20:10 - effect on the community. A lot of the, even quite recently, some of the, programs I have worked on in Ghana usually have a radio component because if we are tracking, let's say we are tracking how many people are getting tested by HIV Community Radio becomes a good source because that is where we are. How many people are getting tested for HIV, sorry, community radio becomes a good source to educate people and also to get feedback from the community. So one of the things I realized is that sometimes, because most of these NGOs know that, they are not

Empowering Women Through Community Radio: Enhancing Health and Economic Security in Rural Communities

00:20:53 - or once they record their own programs, the programs may not be participatory enough to reflect the needs of the community. They by segments within shoes. So for example, in the, in the Drive time show, we can have the World Health Organization buying 10 minutes in the drive time show, and then they'll use that to educate people on why it is important to get tested, why it is important to get your vaccine, why it is important to use mosquito treatments and things like that. The fourth one is through health programming on community radio, most women in the communities have learned about HIV
00:21:36 - Women have also learned about how to test for malaria and give malaria pills to their kids. So we see a very important economic resource there. That is health because most of these rural communities don't have drinks for our hospitals. Sometimes they may have a hospital which is close or which is about an hour away, and your child falls sick in the night. It is almost impossible that you can get to that hospital, around 2:00 AM or 3:00 AM. So what usually happens is, through community radio, women have been taught how to use these small home-based.
00:22:19 - to test for malaria, and then they can administer some medicine to their children before, they are taken to the hospital the next day. Also, we realize that public health communication, which is a major importance to women, is easier than on community radio because broadcasting community radio is done through the local dialect or local language, which means unlike national communications, which is done on a broad scale in the capital Accra where English is spoken and which may eliminate some of these people, they get public health information in their own local
00:23:02 - information they receive directly with their district health officials. This way, women who have good health are able to limit, they're able to save money on health costs and invest in other areas of their lives. Also, from the growing of new seed varieties and stuff, one of the things I realized was that through the information women get on, a programs, they're able to produce more food, which leads to improving food security in the region. Again, some of these foods which are not even used in the household, some
00:23:41 - are able to be sold, and then women make extra money to be able to invest in other areas of their lives. A clear example I remember was one woman who told me that she learned how to make her own compost menu and how to apply it. Some of them, I think, some of them said a couple of years ago, they had to pay people every year to come and apply manual or fertilizer on their crop for them in their farms. But through their radio stations and through their involvement in their radio listenership groups, they have been able to learn how to do these things themselves. we proclaim that the main mechanisms used
00:24:23 - of women in their brokers areas, targeted radio content, outside broadcast initiatives, and community radio outreach. One of the things we, we, we realized that previous Malik and Valara, who did their study in India, they have been able to tell us that radio really does empower people. But this study is actually telling us that radio can empower you, but it can actually give you economic and livelihood empowerment. So one of the things we recommend is that when doing, employment projects, employment projects need

"Empowerment through Community Radio: Enhancing Participation and Development for Women in Northern Ghana"

00:25:06 - because people are more likely to participate in programs or development initiatives when they feel they, they are interest are represented in that program. Also, when people feel, they are, their opinions have been taken into account, or when people feel they have influenced a decision, they are more likely to be accepting of the communal decision, even when it is different from what they initially wanted. So, in conclusion, we argue that, community Radio gives women in Northern Ghana an
00:25:52 - by ensuring food security, by promoting their health, and also by promoting, and also by giving them tools for education. Yeah. But one of the, limitations of this study is that it was only based in Northern Ghana and also it is not entirely representative of the political economy of the Ghanaian media as we only focus on community radio stations. So this is one of the, reasons why we say that our at the finance cannot necessarily be,
00:26:36 - So yeah, it is only limited to the areas we studied.

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