Project Summary:

The aim of this Farmers Voice Radio project was to set-up, produce and broadcast radio programmes that will improve the knowledge and practice of 5,000 coffee farmers in Jimma, Ethiopia.

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Ethiopia is the birthplace of coffee and accounts for a quarter of Ethiopia’s export earnings, however 95% of coffee production is on small family farms with less than 2 hectares. Smallholder coffee producers struggle to access international markets for quality and sustainable coffee, due to outdated agricultural practices, low productivity and unsatisfactory labour conditions, including a high prevalence of child labour and gender inequality. In the Jimma region, most coffee farmers are isolated and do not have the knowledge or the resources they need to improve their farming, sell their produce for a good price, protect their families and preserve their natural environment.

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This Farmers' Voice Radio project connected coffee farmers in Jimma to the information they need to improve the sustainability of their coffee production, improve labour conditions and access international markets. The specific objectives of the project were:

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1. Increase the number of OCFCU coffee farmer members enrolled in Rainforest Alliance’s sustainable certification scheme 

2. Increase the volume of coffee meeting required quality, environmental and social standards sold to OCFCU by member farmers by 15%

3. Increase the number of farmers who report adoption of a minimum of 3 recognised good agricultural practices 

4. Increase the number of farmers who report at least 3 actions they can do to mitigate the risks associated with child labour 

 

In order to achieve this, the project team brought together coffee producers, cooperatives, agricultural extension workers and actors in the supply chain to produce weekly radio programmes, that addressed the issues that farmers face. Produced in the community setting, the weekly programmes were in the farmers’ voices, in local language Afaan-Oromoo, broadcast on two community radio stations, Jimma University Radio and Fana FM. Alongside the Programme Reference Group, six communal listening groups were set up to enable all farmers (particularly women) to listen to the radio programmes and feed in their comments and questions to the project team.

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By the end of the project, 280 ‘Utuba’ radio programmes were produced and broadcast over a 17 month period in Afaan Oromoo on two community radio stations, Jimma University Community Radio and Fana FM (the state broadcaster). The estimated listenership of these two radio stations was between 3-5 million people. The project evaluation showed that 88% of OCFCU member farmers listened to ‘Utuba’ radio programmes in the last year of the project, which suggested that 25,832 of OCFCU’s members in Jimma listened to the radio programmes about sustainable coffee production. 65% of the endline survey respondents said that they attended a Communal Listening Session either every week or once a month.

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Impact from this project included a 79% increase in the number of farmers enrolled in the Rainforest Alliance certification scheme and 2 new cooperatives registered for Rainforest Alliance certification. The evaluation showed a steady increase in the average quantity of coffee cherries harvested by the farmers, with a 28% increase from baseline to endline (despite the endline being undertaken in a difficult year for Ethiopian coffee due to the pandemic, unfavourable rains affecting production and the security situation). In addition, farmers received increased prices for their coffee. The evaluation showed positive changes in coffee practices that improved quality, such as harvesting only ripe cherries, drying coffee on a raised table without shade, drying coffee after harvesting and using bags to store the coffee. The evaluation showed that 73.5% of farmers had changed their agricultural practices as a result of the radio programmes, with an increase in stumping, mulching and conducting weed management to improve land management.

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Feedback from listeners included the following:

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“In the past, we used to dig a hole and plant coffee immediately. Now, after preparing the hole, we should wait for a recommended amount of time before planting. This is a change. If we plant the seed in the wrong way, it will impact the outcome we expect at the end of harvest time…. The seed I planted past year based on the knowledge I got from Utuba radio program has grown very well this year” M, male Utuba listener

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“In the past, we used to make the children work on coffee farms and stop them from going to school. We have openly discussed these issue and agreed that prohibiting children from going to school and engaging them in work beyond their capacity is so harmful to them and the whole family/community. If we overwork our children, they can get physically and mentally sick. And when we ban them from school, they will encounter a serious loss in academics.” KA, female Utuba listener.

 

“I used to get one kesha (container) of coffee from a ¼ hectare coffee farm… not sufficient for my family life. But now, after listening to the Utuba radio programme, the income I earn from the coffee plantation has sustained our life….. This year’s production is better than last year. Coffee production has increased because we conserved our coffee properly.” Mr B, male listener

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Photo credit- Netsanet Hailu