“Transmission Air et Terre” is an innovative information program for small scale farmers in Burkina Faso. The project provides farmers in the western part of the country with information relevant to agriculture, innovative ideas and best practice experiences.
It thereby aims at helping to improve agricultural planning, increase productivity and professionalize marketing in some of the less developed regions of the country. The MiCT editorial team works closely with three partner radio stations in Burkina Faso on the development and production of regular radio broadcasts around relevant agricultural topics. In total, the partner stations will produce and air about 250 shows until mid 2021.
The shows focus on various topics such as business, plant protection, fertilisers, variety selection and innovation. The project also addresses several topics on climate issues and its consequences. The broadcasts allow rural and agricultural populations to learn new ways of adapting to climate change. Above these topics the promotion of gender issues play an important role.
One of our partner stations is Radio Munyu. In Banfora (Burkina Faso), the Munyu women's association set up the radio station Radio Munyu for the promotion of women’s activities in areas of agriculture, health, education, and small trade.
"Transmission Air et Terre” is in Dafin, Dagara, Dioula, French, Fulfuldé, Mooré, San, Sénoufo, and Turka.
In addition, the project will employ the POCKET FM information platform that provides supplementary information for local farmers via smartphone. The communication system is connected to the Internet via GSM, has a built-in satellite receiver and can run on solar power. It is equipped with a media server and a hot-spot, which allows the farmers of a village to access the specially developed agricultural information with their smartphone. As Pocket FM generates a local WiFi, there are no costs for the user to access the information. Initially, POCKET FM sets will be installed in five regions that correspond to the GIZ project areas "Green Innovation Centers in the Agriculture and Food Sector" in Burkina Faso.
Screenshot of the landing page of our “off-line website” which runs locally on Pocket FM