Development Through Radio

The purpose of this manual is to provide easy and practical guidelines to help prospective Development Through Radio (DTR) trainers, who may include rural communities, to set up and maintain their own Rural Radio Networks (RRN). The manual intends to lead the trainer into implementing DTR project using participatory methodologies. The manual should also help build clearer understanding of DTR among various stakeholders and partners within the community.

The publication states that the majority of Africa’s population, despite high levels of urbanisation, still reside in rural areas. Although a lot has been done to improve the lives of rural-based communities, they still face a number of challenges. Among these challenges are: food security, the environment, gender, the economy, health, education, water and sanitation. It is critical that these challenges are seen in the context of the changing political, social and economic environment of our societies.

The writer goes on further to explain that communities need to be mobilised to enable them identify methods that will help make changes that will integrate them into the development process. Communities also need to exploit alternative media for the reception and wider dissemination of information related to their areas. This can be achieved either through existing systems or through modern ones. These systems will help those communities integrate into the new world order where information is at the peak of development programmes.

According to the writer, Panos Southern Africa has been working with local partners and public broadcasters to empower rural women economically, politically and socially. The objective of the programme is to strengthen community voices in accessing mainstream media and thus contribute to public debate and advocate for change.