USING FARMERS' VOICE RADIO TO ENABLE ADOPTION OF CLIMATE SMART AGRICULTURE BY WOMEN TEA SMALLHOLDERS IN WESTERN KENYA
Nandi, Kericho and Bomet Counties
Rift Valley, Kenya
Partners:
National Organisation of Peer Educators (NOPE), Sireet OEP
(Outgrowers Empowerment and Producer Company), Sasini Tea, Kass FM, Twinings,
Ethical Tea Partnership, Kenya’s Tea Research Institute, and WOW
Project Funder:
FCDO’s Work and Opportunities for Women (WOW) Programme
When:
06/2023 to 09/2024
Target Audience:
Tea smallholders and workers, particularly women, involved in
Twinings’ tea supply chain in Nandi, Kericho and Bomet counties, Kenya
Radio Programme:
"Tugetab Kabotik ab Sasini ak Sireet OEP"
("The sound of farmers from Sasini and Sireet OEP") on Kass FM 91.1
Project Summary:
This project builds on an existing Farmers’ Voice Radio programme made by and for smallholder tea farmers in Nandi County, Kenya, and broadcast weekly on Kalenjin-language radio station, Kass FM, between September 2022 and November 2023. That programme was supported by Twinings as part of their Sourced with Care initiative and focussed on improving access to health information and positive health outcomes for smallholder tea farmers, particularly women; addressing gender imbalances within households and communities; and increasing knowledge and adoption of appropriate alternative income generating activities to reduce families’ dependence on tea.
Work and Opportunities for Women (WOW) is the UK Government’s flagship women’s economic empowerment programme. Through partnerships with global businesses, WOW ensures that women have access to improved economic opportunities throughout global value chains. WOW and Twinings have partnered previously to address gender-based violence on tea estates in India.
Twinings source 30% of their tea from Kenya, therefore economically empowering smallholder farmers in the Kenyan tea sector is of vital importance to maintain a sustainable tea supply chain. Smallholders in Kenya face multiple vulnerabilities due to low prices, a lack of basic services and the effects of climate change. Reaching smallholder farmers with training and support remains a challenge for brands. Twinings have noted that frequently women smallholders are unable to attend in-person trainings due to time and income poverty. WOW research conducted on climate change and the tea sector identified that women often lack the time and knowledge to adopt climate smart farming techniques. They also suffer from the digital divide, with more men than women accessing new technologies and weather mapping apps on mobile phones.
A partnership between WOW, Twinings and LYF was agreed with the objective of piloting and evaluating the potential for Farmers’ Voice Radio programming to reach women smallholder farmers and enable them to adopt climate smart agricultural practices. The joint initiative will add to the depth of the existing radio programme by incorporating new climate-smart agriculture content; increase the reach of the programme by bringing on board a second tea outgrowers’ association with members in Kericho and Bomet counties; and assess and promote the replication of the model by other companies by contributing to the gender analysis and monitoring, evaluation and learning approach.
To ensure that the new radio programme series reflected the realities and needs of the expanded target audience, existing Programme Reference Group members from Sireet OEP were joined by new members from Sasini Outgrowers. Monthly recordings are alternated between Nandi Hills and Kericho, and where possible held on demonstration farms or in some cases at the Tea Research Institute (TRI). These meetings are supported by a gender adviser and representatives from TRI and ETP to guide the programme content and supplement farmers’ knowledge. 37 new Radio Champions were selected from the Sasini Outgrowers membership (supplementing the existing 18 Sireet Radio Champions) to run weekly communal listening sessions across Kericho and Bomet.
The project kicked-off at the end of October 2023 with a workshop involving PRG members and representatives of all partners. During the meeting, participants explored in depth the issues relating to climate change and gender that are affecting smallholder tea farmers in that region of Kenya, and developed a draft radio programme content plan with the following objectives:
-
Smallholder tea farmers understand the causes, impacts and challenges of climate change and how it affects men and women.
-
Smallholder tea farmers are aware of how to adapt and mitigate climate change using climate smart agriculture.
-
Women smallholder tea farmers have increased economic resilience and feel more empowered.
The first episode of the new series, looking at gendered impacts of climate change on tea growing communities, was broadcast on 29th November 2023. The programme will be aired twice weekly until July 2024 reaching a potential audience of 30,000 smallholder tea farmers. Original audio recordings of all episodes can be found on the programme’s YouTube channel.