School-on-Air for farmers in the Philippines

The school-on-air (SOA) is a communication strategy designed to provide farmers with data and information essential to the pursuit of agriculture and rural development. It was adopted by the Philippines Department of Agriculture (DA) to disseminate information on new technologies and to promote its agricultural programs and projects among its constituents. Data indicate that 70 percent of the population in the Philippines rural areas is dependent on agriculture as their main livelihood. The majority of the population in the rural areas derives their information and entertainment from radio. Portable radio is a farmers companion in the home and in the farm. The Cordillera Highland Agricultural Resources Management (CHARM) Project implemented a school-on-air to disseminate the best lessons learned during the projects implementation in the provinces of Abra, Benguet and Mountain Province. The conduct of this school-on-air was similar to a classroom experience where learning is essential but the lessons were aired over three radio stations, all in Mountain Province. The SOAs implementation in Mountain Province alone was mainly due to limited funds and the cost of broadcast through community radio here is service oriented, cheaper and popular among locals. Since it is a school, prepared lessons on the best practices on sustainable agriculture, and natural resources management developed under the CHARM Project were written as episodes with specific topics. At strategic stages in the conduct of each lesson, tests or assignments were also given. Queries from the enrollees and other listeners on the lessons aired were entertained. The tests, assignments and queries were collected and collated on a weekly basis through the offices of the municipal agriculturist who forwards the processed papers to the office of the Provincial Agriculturist for further processing and recording. With funding from the ENRAP ll, an initiative of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) through the International Development Research Center (IDRC), this SOA was supposed to be aired simultaneously in 20 minute episode, three times a week, in three months over two (government and private) radio stations. Another 10 minutes was used for program identification, market information plug-ins and announcements. SOA students were identified through the offices of the municipal agriculturist. These are farmers, homemakers and youths residing within the municipal coverage of the CHARM Project. After their enrolment at the office of the municipal agriculturist, their names were ultimately forwarded to the office of the provincial agriculturist for consolidation. Barely a month after its launching, the stakeholders of the SOA changed the program schedule to respond to the listening schedule of the students. The program was aired daily with the Radyo Ng Bayan (government station) airing it 30 minutes later than its private counterpart, Radyo Natin. The Radyo Ng Bayan broadcasted the program twice daily at 6:00-6:30 a.m. and 6:00-6:30 p.m. Radyo Natin aired the program at 5:30-6:00 a.m. in Bontoc, Mt. Province with a simulcast broadcast in Bauko, Mountain province. In spite of the change in schedule from a three times a week to daily broadcast and having the program rebroadcast or simulcast, the stations did not ask for additional payment but considered the additional cost as their support to the enrollees, who are captive daily listeners to their stations. Most of the students of the ENRAP-CHARM Project SOA were females. An evaluation conducted after the SOA indicated that the participants were relatively young and all are literate. Majority of them completed secondary education. The evaluation confirmed that radio is still the most preferred source of information for the SOA students compared with other information sources like agricultural technician, newspapers and other sources. Of the 93 graduates, 73 participated in the evaluation. Majority of them listened to the program on a daily basis. Among the most interesting topics in the SOA as identified by the participants were the following: banana production and processing; soil conservation; range chicken production; tilapia production; land degradation; and trees for people. These topics were identified from several topics discussed under crop production, natural resource management, livestock production, fishery, livelihood processing, agro-forestry, apiary, organic farming, among others. As expected, the ENRAP-CHARM Project SOA graduation was the high point of this endeavor. The graduates and supporters of the program were present. During the program, the graduating students appealed for the continuation of the SOA. Radio is the most accessible medium to reach the greatest number of population in the rural areas. The conduct of SOA through radio is not intended only for enrollees who are captive audiences. Local residents also listen regularly to the program as shown by the letters and feedback received by the local radio stations. With sustained support, the SOA may yet reach its potential to become a community communication strategy to achieve social democracy and development in the country. Source: ENRAP.

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