Farmer participation in radio campaigns for technology adoption: Lessons from AFFRI’s hybrid maize campaign in Mangochi, Malawi

Abstract

This ethnographic study used focus group discussions to investigate and gather ideographical information about why statistics from the Nankumba region of Mangochi in Malawi, where, from 2008 to 2010, Farm Radio International implemented the African Farm Radio Research Initiative (AFRRI) - a meticulously and almost flawlessly planned hybrid maize variety promotion radio campaign - consistently showed that farmers preferred local to the promoted hybrid maize varieties before, during, and after the participatory community radio campaigns. The study found that in determining which maize varieties to opt for, farmers consider not only volume of yield per unit area but also taste, smell, flour extraction rate, and storability of the maize. The study further observes that preference of local maize varieties over hybrid is not restricted to rural farmers. Thus, farmer exposure to and participation in radio campaigns may increase awareness and knowledge as did the AFRRI campaign, but may not necessarily lead the farmers and consumers into adopting new maize varieties, technologies or innovations.

Key words: radio campaign, participation, radio production, adoption, innovation, hybrid maize, Malawi