By Kristine Pearson | CEO
We’re delighted and proud to report that COMACO has just added a signficant number of our Prime radios and Lifeplayer MP3s again to support weekly Farm Talk broadcasts. This means that hundreds more farmer cooperatives in Zambia’s Eastern Province will be able to tune into timely programs on conservation farming practices, how to defeat the fall army worm that is decimating maize crops in Southern Africa, how to increase incomes, and much, much more.
A central focus of COMACO from the start has been the negative effects of deforestation. To replenish deforested soil, COMACO advises planting the glircidia, a fast growing, nitrogen-fixing tree species numerous benefits result. Glircidia trees are a natural pesticide, improve soil and water quality, increase crop yields and biodiversity, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions while increasing carbon.
This type of information and much much more is covered in the hour-long Farm Talk broadcasts which air three times weekly. The same program is repeated in case a farmer misses it. The last 15 minutes of the show are devoted to question and answer whereby farmers can call or text their questions and receive on-the-stop advice. Farmers are even interviewed in advance to share their experiences in overcoming a difficulty or to encourage other farmers to adopt COMACO approaches.
One such testimonial came from Simon of Chituvi village. “We thank God for COMACO who have taken us through the conservation farming process. Now we have a woodlot where we get our compost materials. Four years ago, my family and I were working for food in other people’s fields, and we were a laughing stock. Now the good opposite is true, people follow us so they can learn our secret. It’s conservation farming".
The Prime radios are distributed to cooperatives where the FM Breeze Radio signal is strong. The Lifeplayers are used in areas where signals are weak, whereby programs can be recorded. They’re also used as training devices for the farmers. Lifeplayers are pre-loaded with all types of content that might include market pricing, introducing new crops, nutrition, bookkeeping, farm management, employing others, as well as health information.
Farmer cooperatives usually range in size from 15-25 people and at least 50% of farmers are women. With the educational content that COMACO is loading onto the Lifeplayer, it’s creating many more opportunities for women to become lead farmers.
Please won’t you continue to support this great initiative?
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