Overview
A RESEARCH PROJECT SUBMITTED TO THE SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM AND MASS COMMUNICATION, UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI, IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN COMMUNICATION STUDIES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI
2019
Principal Investigator
Abstract
ABSTRACT
Declining soil fertility in many parts of the Central Highlands of Kenya undermines food production and rural livelihoods. The challenge is compounded by reducing extension coverage and access to information among smallholder farmers. Moreover, current knowledge on improved agricultural practices obtainable in research findings does not reach farmers on time. Since sustainable agricultural development such as uptake of soil fertility management technologies to a large extent depends on knowledge and information sharing through appropriate communication channels, improving positive effects of the existing channels, more so the widely available channels, such as radio is critical. This study sought to assess the effects of radio on the uptake of information on soil fertility management technologies in Kandara Subcounty, Murang’a County. The study focused on the Mugambo wa Murimi radio programme aired on Inooro FM. The specific objectives were: to determine sources of information on soil fertility management for smallholder farmers, assess the relevance of information on soil fertility management technologies to smallholder farmers, examine smallholder farmers’ perception of Mugambo wa Murimi radio programme on information on soil fertility management technologies and assess the perceived effects of Mugambo wa Murimi radio programme on uptake of information on soil fertility management technologies. The study was guided by diffusion of innovation theory. Mixed method approach consisting of household survey, key informant and focus group discussion was employed. The study used cross sectional survey design to collect data from 139 farmer households. The findings suggest that farmers receive information on soil fertility improvement technologies from a myriad of sources, with the radio being the most ubiquitous source of information on soil fertility management in the study area. Listenership and relevance of Mugambo wa Murimi programme on soil fertility management tend to be linked with social economic characteristics such as age, education and gender. Findings show that farmers were able to practice organic pepino melon farming from listening to Mugambo wa Murimi. The robustness of the programme is related to its broadcast in vernacular, ease of availability and access over other electronic devices such as mobile phones. The effect of information received from the programme is however less than optimal due to linearity of the communication approaches adopted, limited time it is allocated and lack of expertise to handle topics on soil fertility. Participatory programming, covering topics on soil fertility management, engaging soil experts, and allocation of more time is thus recommended to improve Mugambo wa Murimi programme as source of information on soil fertility management.