Community-based radio (CBR) broadcasting for distance education can be defined as the planned and systematic use of electronic technology as a medium to project to a mass audience, a mixed programme format and techniques in order to: i) facilitate the enhancement of mass learning; ii) provide a process of information dissemination; iii) establish a foundation for decision making and value formation; and iv) initiate behavioural transformation for social mobilisation.
“Likas Kayang Pamumuhay” (Sustainable Life) is an example of a community-based radio programme with a focus on agriculture. The “Likas Kayang Pamumuhay” programme seeks to integrate the philosophy and technology of sustainable agriculture in a distance education module. It considers sustainable agriculture within a holistic framework of life that emphasises the connections and interrelationships between the different elements.
The programme's training period covers one season or four months, and the programme is aired five days a week. A different subject is tackled each week, following a logical and pre-planned sequence based on actual field experience. At the beginning of each week, a one-hour programme introduces the topic to be discussed that week and summarises the issues and points raised during the previous week. This one-hour programme is followed by four 30-minute daily programmes aired during the rest of the week. Each daily programme dissects the subject matter in detail. These daily broadcasts also refer to other concerns that are indirectly related to agriculture but which have real implications for, and relevance to, the issue being discussed. In this way, related topics such as health, soil quality and nutritional content, food nutrients, micro credit and small enterprise development are also addressed within the context of agriculture.
The Likas Kayang Pamumuhay programme was conceptualised as a means to achieve media's greatest and most noble social goal, that of education. In order to maximise the facilitation of learning among a greater number of students, the programme sought to take advantage of the clout and reach of mass media. In particular, it sought to use radio to complement and strengthen more formal education. It aimed to take advantage of the capacity of radio to reach the greatest possible number of people at the lowest possible cost. For instance, while a farmer's field school can effectively accommodate a maximum of only 30 to 40 people, a season-long training programme aired on the radio can reach thousands of listeners and learners.
Distance education should not be regarded as a substitute for formal farmers' field schools. For instance, in terms of quality a formal field school tends to be more intensive, effective and efficient since actual supervised learning and facilitation occurs on-the-spot and feedback is immediate. Rather, distance education should be seen as the most practical and creative solution to the urgent need for mass education among the rural poor in Asia today, especially given the resource constraints faced. For the purpose of massive learning, that is increasing the access of the poor to effective education, the BBC-DZJO experience demonstrates how a radio school programme can create a critical mass for social mobilisation, and at the same time promote sustainable agriculture. Radio school programmes cannot stand alone. If education is viewed as a “life practicum”, then field programmes need to be implemented alongside radio school programmes to support learning. Additionally, follow-up extension programmes should also be planned.
Distance education programmes seek to achieve certain behavioural changes in agricultural practices among farmer communities. This can be visualised by a process flow as illustrated in Figure 2. This process, from information to cognitive and affective knowledge to actual behavioural change, results in action for social mobilisation. The process flow should achieve changes in community behaviour on a massive scale, co-ordinated and systematised by the implementing organization.
Figure 2: Process Flow in Distance Education Programmes
information dissemination
↓
addressing cognitive or knowledge gains
↓
addressing formative or affective factors
↓
addressing attitudinal changes and
decision making capabilities
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translating all knowledge gained into
concrete behavioural changes
Distance education does not only focus on individuals but, more importantly, caters to the community as a whole. The ideal radio school is, therefore, for group learners wherein community action can be practised and enhanced. Individual listeners are considered as spill-over effects of the radio programme since they are not its direct target. Nevertheless, it is important to realise the extent of the influence of radio media. To this effect, individual listeners can also benefit from the programme. Indeed, sometimes, single listeners are more numerous than targeted group learners.
The BBC-DZJO radio school is not simply about informational or prescriptive broadcasting. It goes beyond the non-purposive chronicling or dissemination of facts and figures on a massive scale. The main purpose of educational broadcasting, such as the BBC-DZJO school on-the-air, is the realisation of specific pedagogical objectives through a systematic improvement of knowledge, consciousness and skills. As a community-based programme, it intends to be sequential and sustained for a long period of time. It is directed to the accomplishment of a higher social objective. Module development for the programme is therefore always dynamic and open to change at every stage of the cycle. The module is, consequently, flexible and adaptable to the changing needs of farmers and demands of the times.
The town of Infanta in Quezon Province is a fifth class municipality with 34,000 hectares of land. The population was 40,000 in 1996 (see Box 2 for additional background information). Sustainable agricultural development, increasingly based on organic farming, is an important goal for many farming households in the Infanta municipality (see Box 3). Indeed, the population of Infanta decided to aim to make their entire municipality “chemical-free with clean unpolluted air, fresh unpolluted water, chemical-free food and peaceful coexistence” by the year 2000.
| Box 2: Agriculture in the Municipality of Infanta | ||
| Situated 144 km from Manila, along the northern tip of the mainland of Quezon on the Pacific Ocean, the municipality of Infanta covers a total land area of 34,278 hectares. In 1996, the total population was 40,000 with an annual growth rate of 3.2 percent. There were 6,690 households, divided among 36 barangays. There is no dry season and a very pronounced rainy season from November to January. | ||
| In 1996, the average monthly income in Infanta was just P 1,3893, while the average monthly income of agricultural workers was only P 1,000. As much as 70 percent of the population was considered to be below the poverty line in 1996. | ||
| Farming is the main occupation in Infanta where the total amount of agricultural land amounts to 9,182.54 ha. In 1996, 3,000 hectares were under rice cultivation and 1,300 hectares were irrigated. Farming and fishing account for approximately 54 percent of family livelihoods. Food production is based on rice, vegetables, fish, fruits and root crops. The estimated rates of production and consumption are as follows: | ||
Crop | Production | Consumption |
rice | 11,912.0 mt | 7,867.6 mt |
vegetables | 391.6 mt | 533.0 mt |
fish | 267.9 mt | 10.4 mt |
fruits & root crops | 8,952.0 mt | 987.4 mt |
The distance education programme operated by BBC-DZJO in Infanta is a farmer realisation process designed to raise farmers' awareness about the various issues confronting sustainable agriculture. The programme aims to enable farmers to transform 3,000 hectares of prime agricultural land from chemically-treated farms to chemical-free farms by the year 2002. For this purpose, it intends to train more than 5,000 farmers in the philosophy and technology of chemical-free or alternative (to the mainstream) agriculture during two to five seasons.
3 In 1996, 1 US$ was equivalent to 26.2 Filipino pesos (P).
The Infanta distance education programme aims to achieve these targets in just two years by having the radio school airing educational programmes whilst the farmers' field school takes place. Four teams with two agriculturists are providing training. Combining community-based radio learning with farmers' field schools has provided the best opportunity to educate as many individuals as possible. For instance, it would have been extremely difficult to teach sustainable agriculture to more than 5,000 farmers using only farmers' field schools during one season long training. Eight teams of two agriculturists would each have required at least 15 seasons to cover 5,000 farmers at 40 persons per training. Furthermore, it would have taken the organisers more than seven years to accomplish the work. Using community-based radio broadcasting targets can be achieved in just two years.
| Box 3: Experiences with Organic Farming in Infanta |
| Several factors have encouraged Infanta's farmers to turn to organic agriculture. Organic farming is less expensive and does not require external (to the farm) inputs. It improves soil quality through the slow release of nutrients that are more stable and longer lasting. Organic farming promotes self-sufficiency and self-reliance, and integrates crop production and livestock raising. Finally but not least, organic crops commands a higher market price. |
| Initial experiments with organic farming in Infanta have achieved significant successes. On one demonstration experimental farm, self-reliant organic farming on 2.5 ha of land was achieved in 8 years. At the end of this period, the demonstration farm had 3,000 chickens in 4 poultry houses, 8 sows and 20 fattener pigs of different ages, a biogas digester and tank. In addition, a wide variety of crops were successfully cultivated together, including rice, corn, coffee, cacao, coconuts, vegetables, fruit trees, ginger, peanuts, etc. |
| Following just one season of the BBC-DZJO programme in 1996 in Infanta, 120 farms were classified as ‘fully organic’, 150 ha of land were ‘pesticide-free’, while a reduced quantity of pesticides was used on 300 ha. By the year 2000, the municipality' s target is to have 1,000 ha of land classified as ‘pesticide-free’. |
The clientele of the Infanta radio school programme are farmers (both women and men) in Infanta and surrounding towns, interested in applying sustainable agriculture and ready to embark on a systematic natural resource management venture. Both enrolled farmers and farmers not enrolled in the programme can benefit from the programme.
The radio school programme (Season II, 1996) in Infanta aimed to:
facilitate the education of 2,000 farmers to value the natural resource base of the community and to prioritise food security by adopting sustainable agriculture practices.
enhance people's participation through collective efforts in promoting the philosophy and praxis of sustainable agriculture.
enable participants (or listeners) to set up viable agri-based activities for household food security and off-farm livelihoods by providing access to economic opportunities.
prepare 40 farmer trainers following the season-long course to facilitate training in different villages simultaneous with the radio program.
consolidate farmers' organizations to mobilise communities in sustainable agriculture and natural resource management.
The radio school was based on a group learning approach. The programme flow was designed as follows:
opening remarks and greetings;
looking back (summary of past topics and discussions);
news and information about current and relevant issues of the day;
exchange of ideas among people in the studio, and using letters, phone-ins or radio-ins;
main discussion of the special topic;
feedback from the field;
assignment for the week or the following day;
time permitting, cultural treats are offered either as contributions of learners or canned items.
For group listeners, the radio set was turned off after the airing of the radio school programme. Group listeners subsequently continued to discuss their observations in the field, raised community problems, attempted to find temporary solutions and planned for the coming week. They also tried to collectively answer the assignment given. A rapporteur recorded their discussions and submitted a report to the radio station for processing and airing.
Designing radio programmes using this type of group learners' framework produces a number of benefits. For instance, existing farmer's organizations can play a leading role in facilitating and organising training. Similarly, facilitation of knowledge transfer is increased as a result of the collective effort to learn and community spirit is enhanced.
The overall format in the Infanta CBR distance education programme included a combination of a magazine, a public affairs forum and a formal radio school. The magazine component was reinforced by news and information, as well as interactive communication for anecdotal and issue-based feedback. Efforts were made to ensure that each format was entertaining and popular, and that many concrete examples were used. Repetition in different forms was acceptable. Value spots were also used to raise awareness and for information dissemination. For instance, “what” and “how-to” were packaged in attractive and entertaining forms such as drama, interviews with popular personalities, or music recordings combined with voice.
The radio school programme was designed to cover a range of different subject areas important in the context of sustainable agriculture. In particular, the following subjects were covered:
sustainable agriculture: an introduction to philosophy and practice
pest management
soil and water management (see Annex 3 for a sample curriculum)
rice production
nutrition
health and sanitation tips
co-operatives
micro-credit
The team of experts required to put the Infanta radio school programme into practice comprised just three experts: a local agriculturist; a radio broadcaster; and a researcher.
The Infanta programme recognised the critical importance of developing institutional linkages with relevant actors at the local, national and international level. It endorsed the importance of linkages with other organizations to complement and supplement available resources, for instance to provide field activities, group facilitators, or monitoring services.
The two main partners for the radio school programme in Infanta were non-governmental organizations (NGOs): the Bayanihan Broadcasting Corporation (BBC); and the Infanta integrated Community Development Assistance Inc. (ICDAI). These two organizations developed linkages with local farmer co-operators responsible for organising listeners' groups. They also collaborated with local co-operating agencies, including the Infanta local government unit, comprising the Mayor, the local Department of Agriculture, and other line agencies. At the national level, partners included governmental institutions, academia and NGOs with experience in the area of sustainable agriculture. In particular:
the Bureau of Agricultural Research of the Department of Agriculture;
the University of the Philippines, College of Agriculture;
Philippine Partnership for the Development of Human Resources in Rural Areas (PhilDHRRA), a national NGO network;
Philippine Development Assistance Program (PDAP), a national coalition of Filipino and Canadian NGOs;
Philippine Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, Inc.
At the international level, linkages were developed with: i) the Asian NGO Coalition for Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (ANGOC), a regional NGO; ii) the FARM Programme implemented by FAO; iii) the Regional Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Programme; iv) UNDP's Sustainable Agriculture Network (SANE); and v) World Resources Institute (WRI), an international NGO.
In order to be efficient and effective, a radio school cannot be fully participatory given the distance and time-lag in feedback (unlike in a farmers' field school). There are different levels of participation. The Infanta programme applied a balanced synthesis of top-down and bottom-up strategies. It sought to maximise efforts to increase participation by:
being issue-based
being evocative and provocative
being facilitative and catalytic
using an interactive communication process
applying CBR principles
using assignments
The radio school programme in Infanta sought to achieve two main effects on the lives of farmer participants. In particular it sought to ensure that, as a result of the on-the-air training, participants would be able to:
practice sustainable agriculture in their own households and apply modern farming methods;
analyse and formulate decisions regarding their future and produce organised or collective responses or activities (for instance that farmers could form an organization as a support system to their collective learning or ideally participate in policy formulation at the governance levels).
The radio school programme graduated 1,000 individual farmers in the second season of 1996. The number of group learners was 200 at 20 farmers per group. In addition, the number of non-enrolled listeners was estimated at 1,000 persons. As a result of the training programme, some groups reported household food sufficiency. The training programme further contributed towards strengthening the participation of farmers in policy formulation, while also ensuring that policy makers took farmer's concerns into account. In particular, following the radio schools, the municipal agricultural plan was adapted from the original plan, which had been formulated by government experts alone, to become a farmer-led plan, supported by both the local and national government. Furthermore, the focus of this Municipal Agri-Plan was changed from external inputs and monocropping of rice and corn to focus on integrative crop and livestock agriculture, reflecting farmers concerns and needs.
Farmer's capabilities were also strengthened as a result of the training. Graduates of the season-long training who excelled during the training, were appointed as trainers and organised into a Sustainable Agriculture Coalition called Bukid4. Finally, but not least, farmers observed that their yields were higher using the new integrative form of agriculture.
Financial resources required to implement radio school training courses vary according to the inputs which can be procured for free or at reduced cost. If the radio station used is owned by the government or a benevolent owner, air time is free. Naturally, the estimated budget for any on-the-air training programme will depend significantly on local prices.
As an illustration, a sample budget for a season-long (one month) daily radio school programme targeting 2,000 participants is outlined in Annex 4. This is an ideal budget, developed using a planned resource accessing process. By way of comparison, sample budgets for a formal education classroom training course and for IPM and EPM farmers' field schools are presented in Annex 5.
4 means “rice field” in Tagalog.
