Measuring the Impact of Radio Campaigns on Agricultural Practices

Ghana, Malawi, Mali, Tanzania, Uganda

One of Farm Radio’s first projects with Mobenzi, as part of the African Farm Radio Research Initiative (AFRRI), was to measure the impact of a 4-month participatory radio campaign (PRC), collecting 4,500 household surveys across five countries (Ghana, Malawi, Mali, Tanzania, Uganda) in less that one month. Using Mobenzi Researcher running on entry-level Nokia handsets FRI were able to conduct face to face interviews with farmers in this remarkably short time and had real-time access to data throughout.

Mobenzi Implementation

Mobenzi Researcher’s web console was utilised in the design, customisation, and installation of the surveys in each country. Through leveraging Mobenzi Researcher, FRI found an intuitive online toolset for detailed monitoring of fieldworker progress from a central location and for rapid data analysis.

Outcomes

FRI struggled with the latency of paper-based surveys which took several weeks to conduct and translate from local languages to English. From there data still had to be processed and analysed to reveal findings. Challenges in the field were particularly difficult to address using traditional techniques. Queries related a questionnaire and progress were only revealed when field reports were received.

Using Mobenzi Researcher translations were done prior to fieldwork, avoiding translation and transcription errors. With data immediately available the capturing stage was eliminated, any challenges were addressed in real time and the conduction time of the questionnaire was reduced by 50%.
 

Insights

“I was surprised when some community members shared the observation that the mobile phone was a better tool than the paper we write on. They believe that, with the mobile phone, the information goes straight to the authority for the necessary action, while information collected using notepaper may be discarded after the interview. This is giving more credence to our relationship with the communities we serve with our work.”
- Ben Fiafor, the National Research Coordinator for the AFRRI program in Ghana

“Fieldworkers are excited because they no longer need to carry bags heavy with questionnaires.”
- Girma Hailu and Emily Arayo

“The tool is an efficient and reliable means for research and development organisations to collect information from remote areas, in a timely and non-intrusive manner, with a built-in monitoring system for fieldwork. It has changed the way we, at Farm Radio International, conduct our surveys.”
- Sheila Huggins-Rao, program coordinator for AFRRI.
 

Future Plans

FRI continue to use Mobenzi Researcher and are looking at incorporating Mobenzi Outreach components to measure weekly feedback from radio listeners, as their search for innovative research methods continues, they strive to improve their collaboration with African farmers.

About Farm Radio International

Farm Radio International (FRI) works with broadcasting partners (community, public and private radio stations, farmers associations, productions houses) assisting in the exchange of practical, relevant and timely information in developing countries serving the interests of rural farming communities.