Feature: Community radio improves rural livelihoods in northern Tanzania

Orkonerei Radio Service (ORS) is one of the rural-based community radios introduced in northern Tanzania's region of Manyara, which proved to be an effective tool towards improving people's livelihoods as well as scaling up information on weather patterns in the area.

A number of people in Simanjiro district, located nearly 80 kilometers from the tourist hub of Arusha, have been listening to the radio which is aired in local Maasai and Swahili languages.

Despite the fact that the area is largely inhabited by pastoralists, there are many people who use weather information aired by the radio to improve farming activities, taking into accounts that the area is one of the areas which are potential for cereal crops farming in northern Tanzania.

Isaya Loserian, one of the Maasai people living in the area, says ORS Radio has been key instrument in updating people on a number of issues including weather forecast and socioeconomic activities.

He says before the introduction of the radio, it was very difficult for people in the area to capture what aired in the national radios, as most national radios use Swahili language which isn't their mother tongue.

"But, this radio airs its programs in our Maasai language, this makes most people in this area to understand what is being aired. This radio has also supported the central government as most of the public campaigns like on the need for people to actively take part in the on-going Biometric Voters Registration (BVR) are easily broadcasted in our language," he says.

"As of now there are many people who have been doing a wide range of activities as a positive impact of the radio here," he says.

According to the Maasai elder, in the past, the drought- stricken area was very bad as farmers were unable to know the exact time when the rains come.

"Right now, the radio is assisting us a lot..we know the right time to plant," he says, commending efforts made by people who are behind establishing such community radio in remote areas like Terati.

Moses Adam, Chief Executive Officer of Friends of East Africa (FEA), implores the need for rural community to effectively use such local radio for their socioeconomic development.

Information is power and people need to use such media to cope with climate change which is becoming more severe in recent years, he says.

"Through radio people learn a number of issues on how to avert climate change. And they can also use it to get to know where to sell their agro-produces," he says.

ORS radio station manager Baraka Ole Maika says local communities in the area are well informed in various issues including the weather forecast and climate change.

"By addressing climate change issues the community has been able to handle drought negative impacts to their livestock that include regulating numbers of their livestock and relocating them in areas that are having high capacity of handling them and by so doing mitigating the over carrying capacity related problems," Ole Maika says.

He says the use of environment-friendly technology like low cost cooking stove and renewable energy such as bio-fuel power generators and solar have also been emphasized, enabled and implemented in a number of Maasai kraals.

The manager describes climate change as a major concern in the area compared to communities located in Arusha city.

Currently, people in the area supplied with power generated by bio-fuel produced by Jatropha plant as a result of information generated by the presence of the radio.

Martin Kariongi, Director of Institute for Orkonerei Pastoralists Advancement (IOPA), says the community must embrace the development achieved so far through community based participation. Endi