Thanks so much for this insight, Rabiu. I agree that agricultural advice needs to be inherently local - local weather, local prices, local challenges - so the relevance of programming is imperative. There is also such a need to be accurate and up-to-date. Maybe thats why the need for participatory dialogue is so important so listeners have opportunity to guide and contribute content, ensuring its appropriateness. But it sounds like the challenge is a central place for the organisation of this? Would the stations ever offer airtime to someone interested in leading this? 

Thats so interesting to hear about international broadcasts - do you worry that being international that this "local relevance" is lost? Are they popular with local people?

I'm no expert on setting up a radio but could put you in touch with Joseph if you are interested to hear his experiences? Otherwise resources like the following might help: 

http://www.hamuniverse.com/setuphamstation.html

http://www.hamlife.co.uk/categoryRender.asp?categoryID=3654

http://voices.yahoo.com/how-set-own-fm-radio-station-licensing-274533.html

http://www.clydebroadcast.com/img/bank/SettingStation.pdf

Hi Rabiu, Great to hear about your experiences and agree that certain contexts may present challenges to the application of using radio. I suppose if there is any benefit, agricultural advice is a relatively uncontraversial topic for the airwaves but its shocking to hear how little coverage it gets in your experience.  Why do you think the interactive state run programming doesn't cover agriculture - is to do with the audience who tunes in? 

I was wondering your thoughts on HAM or amateur radio? Many innovators I have heard about set up their own agricultural advice programmes - like Joseph Seikiku in Tanzania or in the case of The Organic Farmer I mentioned above, John actually records programmes which are broadcast via larger stations including the national Kenyan Broadcasting Coorperation.

In addition, do you hear about people listening to diaspora radio or international broadcasts via shortwave? 

I know Community Radio across Africa grew over 1,000% from 2000-2006 but many face challenges of financial sustainability. For me, its important to ask: how can stations tap into sensible revenue streams relevant to listeners (especially farmers) to ensure survival?