In Voices we present an interview with Alice Bafiala Mutombo, the overall winner of the scriptwriting competition. We offer general feedback on the scripts submitted for the competition, and photos of the ten competition winners!

Along with the latest issue of Voices newsletter, the script and issue pack are all available on the Farm Radio International website: http://farmradio.org/english/radio-scripts/

In addition, we invite you to listen to two audio productions based on two of the winning scripts.

Thanks to the Gender, Equity and Rural Employment Division of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) for supporting the audio productions.

The two scripts/audio recordings are:

1. “A community fights malnutrition with local leafy vegetables,” was written by Gabriel Adukpo from the Ministry of Food and Agriculture in Koforidua, Ghana. In this script, a local extension worker helps villagers to reclaim the health and agricultural benefits of indigenous green leafy vegetables, commonly stigmatized as “poor people’s food.”

• To listen to the audio production of the script produced by Gladson Makowa in Malawi, go to:  http://www.farmradio.org/audio/malnutrition_e.mp3
• To read the script, go to: http://www.farmradio.org/english/radio-scripts/93-3script_en.asp

2. “AIDS support group gives positive people a new lease on life!” was written by Filius Chalo Jere from Breeze FM in Chipata, Zambia. This drama shows how a local Zambian organization helps HIV-positive people improve their nutrition by supporting them to grow the ingredients for their own nutritional supplements.

• To listen to the audio production of the script produced by Gladson Makowa in Malawi, go to: http://www.farmradio.org/audio/AIDS.mp3
• To read the script, go to : http://www.farmradio.org/english/radio-scripts/93-10script_en.asp

In July 2010, radio professionals from across sub-Saharan Africa were invited to submit a radio script about a healthy community initiative. To help participants develop their scripts, they were encouraged to participate in a 10-week online training course on scriptwriting. One hundred and twenty-eight entries were received from 23 countries across sub-Saharan Africa.

The first-prize winner impressed an international panel of judges with her script about how community members mobilized to improve hygiene by purifying drinking water, encouraging hand-washing and building latrines. She also receives the Marie Coulibaly Award for the top entry by a woman. The Marie Coulibaly Award is named in honour of a Farm Radio International staff member in Mali who tragically died in 2009.

All 10 winners will receive high quality digital audio recorders. Winners will also work with Farm Radio International’s managing editor, using feedback received from contest judges, to improve and finalize their scripts. The winning scripts will then be published in French and English and distributed by Farm Radio International to several hundred radio organizations across sub-Saharan Africa. They will then be transformed into a wide variety of programs and shared with a rural audience of millions of farmers.

The winners and script titles in alphabetical order by country are:

•  Kpénahi Traoré, Burkina Faso – Composting human waste is a healthy way to reduce disease and feed the soil
• Alice Bafiala Mutombo, Democratic Republic of the Congo – A clean village for a healthy life
• Gabriel Adukpo, Ghana – A family fights malnutrition with local leafy vegetables
• Simon Mukali, Kenya – Talking to teens about unsafe sex
• Charles Kemboi, Kenya – Empowerment saves youth from drug abuse
• Lawrence Wakdet, Nigeria – Occupational and nutritional therapy for people living with HIV and AIDS
• Oluwakemi Aduroja, Nigeria – Empowering communities with participatory community enumeration
• Ugonma Cokey, Nigeria – Florence saves girls from human trafficking
• Bonaventure N’Coué Mawuvi, Togo – Collecting plastic waste: Cleaning the city and generating income
• Filius Chalo Jere, Zambia – AIDS support program gives positive people a new lease on life

Farm Radio International carried out the scriptwriting competition in collaboration with the Commonwealth of Learning (COL). We would also like to thank the following organizations and individuals for their support: the Donner Canadian Foundation, the McCain Foundation, the Government of Canada through the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), Anne Burnett, The Canadian Public Health Association (CPHA), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA).

Thanks to those who submitted entries for the competition. To make sure we received your entry please check that your name is on the following list. If you do not see your name please contact Blythe Mckay at with your entry by Friday November 5 at the latest.

List of people who submitted scripts:

Abdilatif Adan

Adebisi Alo

Adhiambo Mercyline Omondi

Alu Azege

Andrews Osler

Anthonia Ike-Mbanefo

Asuo Dizgbordi

Atebong George Atemnkeng

Balezi Mulum Oderhwa

Bola Adeyileka

Bramwel Omondi

Charity Omenka

Charles Kemboi

Charles Suglo

Christian Chibuzo Maduka

Christopher Mbewe

Cynthia Kimola

Daniel Osei-Bonsu

David Enyaku

Elizabeth Lepapa

Eric Kadenge

Eugene Ngoma

Felix Orianan

Festus Odeyale

Filius Chalo Jere

Fredrick Mugira

Gabriel Adukpo

George Gbadago

Gibbs Mweemba

Gilbert Kedia

Godwin Samafo-Hokoe

Igogo E. Stephen

Irene Zih

Ismaila Muhammad

Ismile Balie

Jefferson Massah

Joshua Onyenwere

Justin Boswell Oryema

King-Freeman Nuvor

Kingsley Opara

Kofi Adu Domfeh

Lawal Ali Garba

Lawrence Wakdet

Lydia Ajono

Mary Kiio

Mary Wambaria

Mary Yongolo

Maureen Murori

Maureen Obare

Mohammed Lere Yunusa

Mohammed Yusuf Mafara

Moise Tuyishimire

Monica Mandala

Odong James

Okoye John-Bell

Oluwakemi Aduroja

Peter Labeja

Peter Mwangangi

Peters Olufemi

Petronillah Simwenyi

Phelomenah Kelakye

Prince Edgard-Setsoafia

Rhoda Zulu

Robinson Wikana

Rosemond Ohene

Samuel Okocha

Silas Gbandia

Simon Mukali

Sonigitu Ekpe

Stephen Fajonyomi

Suliyat Adeyele

Susuma Susuma

Tabot Nicholas

Timothy Bamidele

Titilayo Bamigboye

Ugonma Cokey

Victor Asumani

Williams Osewezina

Winnie Onyimbo

If you have been participating in the online course, you can submit your script online. Here’s how: Log into the online course, go to the end and click on “Submit your script for the competition here.” Upload the file with your script, and you’re done!

If you have not been taking the online course, you can submit your script by e-mail to:  

Remember that, as well as receiving valuable feedback on your scriptwriting skills, you may win one of our valuable prizes. Each of the 10 winners will receive an Olympus LS-10 audio recorder!!

If you have any questions please send an email to Blythe McKay:  

We look forward to reading your final scripts. Good luck!!!

Radio Scriptwriting Course on Healthy Communities

August 16^th is the start date for the online course on healthy communities and it’s coming up fast! If you haven’t signed up for this year’s competition and course yet you need to do so before Friday August 20 if you want to participate.

Please go to www.scriptcompetition.farmradio.org to sign up

The Sansa MP3-player awarded to participants who complete the online course.

All participants who complete the online course for the Radio Scriptwriting Competition on Healthy Communities will receive a certificate and a Sansa MP3-player with built-in microphone and radio. Broadcasters can use this little device in the field to record interviews with farmers and other community members.

To be eligible for the prize and certificate, you must complete all course assignments. This includes submitting your story idea and focus statement, the team tasks, and the quizzes. You must also submit your script at the end of the course.

So don’t wait any longer. Sign up now for the competition and the online course. The online course starts on August 16th 2010.

What is an RSS newsfeed?

RSS means “Really simple syndication”.  It is a simple way for you to get a quick list of latest story headlines from websites and blogs as soon as it is published, without having to visit the websites or blogs.

The benefits of the RSS newsfeed on the blog site:

As a way to help you save time online and to provide a quick list of latest health stories in Sub-Saharan Africa, Farm Radio International in collaboration with the Commonwealth of Learning has created a health newsfeed on our blog site.

It gathers all the headlines of current stories on Health, from different websites, so you don’t have to spend hours online searching for this information.

The Health newsfeed is definitely a time saver!

How to use the RSS newsfeed on the blog site

To access the health newsfeed, you have two options:

1-      You can click on the RSS symbol “HEALTH NEWS” located on the right side of the competition page. This will take you directly to the health newsfeed page; or

2-      You can check the headlines which will be featured daily in the newsfeed just below the title “HEALTH NEWS”.  If the headline looks interesting to you, all you have to do is click on the headline and you can read the whole story.

*Please visit the RSS feed on the blog site, to learn more about Health news in sub-Saharan Africa.

Please indicate when you sign up that you want the CD-ROM version. And remember to include your mailing address.

Sign Up Now

An online training course, starting August 16, will help participants write their scripts before the competition deadline of November 1, 2010. A number of prizes will be awarded to the authors of winning scripts. The best scripts will be published in English and French and distributed to hundreds’ of radio organizations across sub-Saharan Africa.

We invite you to sign up for the competition!

Press Release (PDF): Launching of the Competition

Andreas Mandler
Andreas Mandler is a social scientist, specializing in the fields of Communication for Development, Agricultural Advisory Services, and Rural Radio. He has a constant passion for radio and worked earlier as a freelance radio journalist for German broadcasting stations.

Bernard Pelletier
Bernard Pelletier is a faculty lecturer and research associate in the Department of Natural Resource Sciences at McGill University. Bernard has conducted research on the impact of small-scale farming practices on soil quality and crop yield in Malawi, using participatory and ecological techniques. His research interests focus on the development of methodologies and approaches (participatory, integrated environmental assessment, spatial and multi-scale modeling) to study complex social-ecological systems. Bernard also works as a consultant to a project in Haiti which aims to increase the capacity of local institutions/organizations to support rice and vegetable farmers in the Artibonite Valley.

David Gutnick
David Gutnick has worked with CBC Radio as a writer-broadcaster since the mid-1980s. One of David’s passions is finding alternative ways to tell stories on the radio.

Ibrahima Sané
Ibrahima Sané is an international consultant in communication for sustainable development. His skills include: participatory assessment of community projects, evaluation, communication planning, operational planning, facilitation methods, training in media practices, and conception and evaluation of media campaigns. Dr. Sané worked for four years as a radio producer and broadcaster for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Bush house, London, and has ten years of experience in media management as director of the Senegalese national radio network.

Liliane Kambirigi
Liliane Kambirigi began working at FAO in 1991 as an Information Officer for the Communication Division, where she specializes in radio production and media relations with broadcasters at the community, national and international level. She is responsible for overall radio activities, work and plans within the Communication Division’s yearly Corporation Communication Strategies. She travels to development and agricultural project sites in developing countries to collect radio/media material for worldwide dissemination, and contributes multimedia programmes – web articles, slide shows, audio-visual scripts, photos, etc. – for distribution to traditional and modern media, educational institutions, NGOs, UN agencies, and donors. Before working at FAO, she was the Director of the National Radio in Burundi.

Luca Servo
Luca Servo is a New Media and Web Communication expert with many years in-depth experience of Online Communities and Knowledge Management. He is currently supporting the Communication for Development Service of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations for rural radio projects, as well as the CSDI ComDev Platforms network.