Climate Change on Air (2016)
Objective: To strengthen the climate change resilience and adaptive capacities of cattle-herding and food crop farming communities of NW-Cameroon through climate change education (CCE) using radio.
Partner: INTERNEWS-Earth Journalism Network, (EJN) based in Washington DC- USA.
Work realized:
- 20 young rural radio journalists from eight (08) stations on how to collect and break down scientific and complex climate change concepts and terminologies into easy-to-understand broadcast language for the production of educative programs in the native languages of the target audiences.
- Formed a regional platform - Climate Change Radio Network, (CC-Radio Network) for information and knowledge-sharing among media professionals.
Impact spotlight
A village elder, Pa Nformi Shey (aged 84): Unusual heat everywhere, and streams are drying up. We no longer know when rains will fall. You see there is no grass for our goats. Last year, the people of Sop, (a neighboring village) performed sacrifices to the ancestors so that rains will come in time. But nothing! Rains still came very late. And the rains fall in a funny way. They fall and stop. Fall again and stop even for weeks. We now understand. The radio [the journalists] has explained that it is not our ancestors who are causing this terrible problem.
Female crop farmer, Yefon Sui, (aged 46) from Tatum village: In one program one man (guest on the program) told us that, when rains come, we should not just rush to plant our crops. We can plant only when we dip our middle finger, [long finger] into the soil in 5 different spots on our farm and notice that our finger is wet and the soil is sticking to it when we remove it. If we dip our finger and remove it and discover that it is still dry with no soil hanging on it, then, it is not yet time for us to plant. I am happy to know that secret.
Fulani cattle herdsmen, Jali Baleri, (aged 51) of Ntamnruh: We did not know that Guatemala grass is a good grass for cows. That grass does not get dry in the dry season. And the radio says, when cows eat that grass, they produce milk. So as from the next season, we are going to plant our own Guatemala grass because that grass is good grass you know.