Development Ratings

As in many areas, Malagasy people have a high capacity for absorbing and learning from radio messages. This is particularly the case for women who have an inferior position in Malagasy society. Project Radio is estimated to reach up to 900,000 people. The total cost of reaching this audience was less than 25p per head in 2008. 30-40 new programmes are produced each month in local languages and dialects. Since 1999, over 2,300 programmes have been broadcast and 4 production studios have been set up. 577 programmes were produced and broadcast in 2008. 1,991 village listening groups were established in 2008. The 19 additional radio stations becoming affiliated in 2008/9 will broaden the outreach to well over 1m people.

Under the DMP, 347 farming families have been taught to grow and use sorghum seed varieties for fodder, fuel and food. In 2008, 140 families grew sufficient to be able to return seeds back to the loan scheme. A late rainy season indicates the harvest will be disappointing, though. 4 sorghum festivals attract up to 7,000 people. Three communes in the hardest drought hit region of the Androy reported sorghum as their principal food during the worst drought months of 2007. (Previous drought periods have seen families existing on cactus and tamarind fruits alone for 3-6 months of the year.) The initial findings on the resilience of sorghum influenced the Malagasy government to distribute 20 tonnes of sorghum seed for the next planting season. Also under the DMP, over 6,500 trees have been distributed to 245 families. A further 227 families bought trees, and 2 schools received trees. 14 listening groups have been set up within specific DMP communities.

Project Energy, now ended, trained 36,839 people to build fuel efficient stoves over the project life. An evaluation notes savings of 30-65% in firewood use, 30-75% in cooking time, and 20-60% in cost savings on firewood purchases. The time saved, averaging 13 hours/week, resulted in 676 hours/year saved per stove, or 68 days at 10 productive hours/day. This increased economic opportunities for women, such as from weaving or crop harvesting. This time cash value at the daily minimum wage of 67p is £45.56/year per stove. Some women weavers have been able to generate an additional £14/month from the extra time made available. Wood saved per stove has been calculated at over 2 tons/annum suggesting over 73,000 tons of fuel wood is saved each year by over 36,000 stoves. At an average fuel wood cash value £0.0035/kg, £7.50 is saved per stove per year (or £276,000 of family income for over 36,000 stoves). The minimum cash benefit is therefore over £53/stove or family/year, and there is anecdotal evidence of the time resulting in increased family income of up to £170/year on top of this. The stove also produces less smoke. Fewer burn accidents have been reported amongst children playing nearby. Elements of the fuel efficiency project continue under the DMP.

A DfiD-funded evaluation of Project Radio reported improved knowledge and attitudes amongst listeners on the topics covered. While communicated ideas cannot change people’s behaviour, it can influence decision making and provide resources. Examples of results include 89% of the sample saying that radio was their main source of information on HIV/AIDS. More children were vaccinated in villages with radio access, despite equal access to vaccination services. More women were knowledgeable about family planning methods. Fewer women in listening groups would give newborns a traditional herbal tea (which can cause diarrhoea and fatalities) and more would exclusively breastfeed instead. 56% of participants mentioned radio as their source of information on a sorghum seed scheme, and 59% on a tree distribution project, although uptake was low due to pests and the climate. Radio programmes led to a clear increase in applications for a national micro-credit/income generation scheme, but the project was not a success due to insufficient technical or managerial support given by local authorities. There was an increased uptake in free literacy classes after advertising on the radio. 40% of male literacy students walked 3km or more to attend classes, and 4% walked 20km. There has been strong uptake of free health services advertised only on the radio. In addition, there have been increases in agricultural yields and tree planting, with notable yield differences between those areas with and without access to radio broadcasts. The evaluation noted that listeners cannot always afford the measures referred to in the broadcasts, such as buying condoms or sorghum seed. There was also little opportunity to ask questions or get practical demonstrations of farming techniques. When funds allow, the Trust plans to develop methods of broadcasting question and answer sessions to increase two-way communication.