In March a new radio programme made by and for shea nut collectors and shea butter processors in the Northern Region went on air! The radio programme, called Kpihi Saha (which means Shea Nut Time), is broadcast on Zaa FM and Simli Radio in Dagbani language. The radio programmes follow monthly discussions that take place in two shea nut communities, Yipielgu and Tumahi, where shea nut collectors and shea butter processors discuss the issues that matter to them and ask questions to relevant local experts and stakeholders.
The radio programmes are broadcast on Zaa FM every Wednesday at 20.30 and Friday at 19.45 and on Simli Radio every Wednesday at 19.00 and Monday at 20.00.
In the first radio programme the Programme Reference Group made up of 11 women from Yipielgu community discussed the economic value of shea. The discussion was facilitated by Vida Ayishetu Bakari from Tungteiya Women’s Association, a leading shea butter association in the Northern Region and Shani Haruna, from the NGO Solidaridad. The radio programmes include the local shea nut and shea butter market price in Tamale and major markets in the project districts, using data gathered by N’kalo, the shea nut market information platform.
Abiba, a shea nut collector from Yipielgu in the Tolon District, explained the value of shea nuts on the first radio programme ‘Shea has a lot of benefits, when the shea trees fruit and you are picking it and there is no emergency, and you store it and when the price of the shea nuts rise and you sell it, you can use it to buy what you want to buy and when your children school fees comes and you sell it, you can use it to pay the school fees.’
Abiba also stressed the importance of protecting the shea trees in the parklands ‘I am also pleading with my fellow women, the way we are cutting the shea trees, we should stop cutting the trees. Shea has a lot of benefits and for that matter we planted more shea trees.’
The Kpihi Saha radio programme is a result of a partnership between Tungteiya Women’s Association, Solidaridad, Global Shea Alliance, The Body Shop, Cargill Zor and the Lorna Young Foundation's Farmers’ Voice Radio. This collaboration aims to strengthen the sustainability of the shea supply chain in northern Ghana. The radio programmes are produced using the Farmers’ Voice Radio methodology, which empowers women shea producers to share their knowledge, experience and expertise through weekly programmes in local language. Communal Listening Sessions in 10 communities across the Northern Region are meeting up weekly to listen to the radio programmes and feed back their questions and comments, which will be answered in subsequent radio programmes. The radio programmes will also introduce a telephone Listener Feedback System, using Interactive Voice Response (IVR) technology that will allow listeners from anywhere to call in and leave their comments, as well as get the local shea nut prices.
As we know, radio is hugely popular in Ghana: our data shows that more people in the Northern Region have access to radio than a TV or a mobile telephone, and many people listen to the radio as a group. Over recent years, trust in many forms of media has eroded, but listeners have confidence in the information they are given over the radio. In Ghana’s Northern Region, multiple surveys show that women access vital health information via radio[1]. Part of people’s trust in radio is due to its low cost and ubiquitous nature. Despite digitalization being a global tendency, digital access to information is far from equal, with huge differences remaining between regions, communities and groups of people. Radio overcomes barriers of distance, gender inequality and illiteracy; radio is accessible to everyone!
The Kpihi Saha radio programmes will complement face-to-face training on health and safety, diversified livelihoods and shea cooperative development, as well as advocacy on shea parkland protection. The wider project 'Strengthening the Sustainability of the Shea Supply Chain in Ghana' is a 3-year programme of activities which aim to contribute to increased incomes and improved livelihoods for 10,000 women in shea producing communities in the Northern Region of Ghana. This project is funded by the Fund for Responsible Business (FVO), as part of the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) and commissioned by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, The Body Shop International and Cargill Zor.
For more information about the radio programmes and the wider project, please get in touch with Shani Haruna at Solidaridad on shani@solidaridadnetwork.org.
[1] Ghana Malaria Indicator Survey, 2019 and Ghana Demographic and Health Survey, 2014