When the Drum Beats: Radio Drama as a Vehicle for Behavior Change in Climate Change Adaptation Amongst Rural Small Holder Farmers

Abstract

The purpose of this project was to test the efficacy of radio drama and related communication interventions in strengthening the capacity of smallholder farmers and herders to adapt to climate change. Male and female smallholder farmers and herdsmen in Northern Nigeria are extremely vulnerable to climate change. Various studies showed that indigenous knowledge alone was not enough to reduce vulnerability in rural farm holdings. Appropriate adaptation technologies researched by agricultural institutes and scientists in the country, which could enable farmers to sustainably use resources, safeguard their livelihoods and reduce rural poverty were inaccessible to the mostly illiterate, rural families. This project aimed to disseminate some of the most critical adaptation information through the medium and format identified by audience research as most accessible and popular: radio and drama respectively and then test the methodology. // Paper ID 218