Solar-powered community radio stations

Djilali Benamrane looks at how RURANET's independent, locally managed radio stations in Niger are becoming rural information centres.

In Niger, a network of solar-powered radio stations is providing farmers in remote, isolated villages with information on weather conditions, farming techniques and market trends in the local languages. The programmes are produced locally and exchanged at the national level by the Rural Radio Network, or RURANET.
The first RURANET locally managed, solar-powered broadcasting station was established in the famine-hit village of Bankilaré in 1999. The audacity of such an initiative at the time of a major food emergency astonished the government, donors and media gurus alike. Coordinated by the Local Radio Steering Committee (CPRP), with core funding from UNDP, more than 80 radio stations are currently operating in exactly the same way in the poorest and most disadvantaged villages of Niger. By 2007, the number of stations is expected to have doubled.

Each radio station is responsible for programme content, the broadcasting schedule and the local languages used, which depend on the preferences of the communities covered by the broadcasts. The range of broadcasts is limited to about 20 km in order to reflect actual local concerns and to help the community retain control over elected broadcasters.

All of the work involved in the construction of a station is done by local people, mostly on a voluntary basis, and as far as possible using locally available materials. The radio equipment consists of a Wantok portable FM broadcast unit, an antenna and a set of solar panels. Other equipment includes a PC and a satellite radio receiver with a modem for downloading multimedia content. Community listening groups within 20 km of each station have been supplied with wind-up or solar-powered FM radio receivers.

More than just radio

The radio stations are also broadening their scope, and are gradually becoming rural development and information centres (DICs). The DICs promote activities that complement the broadcasts and meet the needs voiced by rural communities, such as for communal showings of television broadcasts and videos, access to documentation and rural telephony, and even solar ovens for drying fruits and vegetables. Also, under an agreement between the CPRP and the Niamey-based African Centre for Meteorological Applications for Development (ACMAD), all RURANET radio stations are equipped with a set of basic meteorological instruments, and thus serve as local weather stations. In addition, each station is equipped with two satellite receiver sets and free access to the WorldSpace satellite network – a commercial, subscription-based service that provides access to over 40 digital radio channels in various languages, including French, offering listeners in the remotest areas global news and information.

In the longer term, however, once the DICs have a better understanding of the needs of the communities they serve, they will be able to equip themselves with the appropriate ICTs to respond to them. Improved regional and national coordination will also allow them to pool and strengthen their capacities and skills by sharing experiences.

The DICs could also become important independent centres for the prevention of humanitarian crises. In the summer of 2005, Niger experienced a severe famine that affected thousands of people in rural areas. However, due to their lack of experience, the DICs did not play a role in raising awareness about the imminence of the famine nationally or internationally.

RURANET could grow to be an indispensable partner both in consumer activities and in providing information and communication services, whether by receiving broadcasts and interpreting or popularizing them in the local languages, or retransmitting information at local, national or global levels. This growth is unlikely to be easy, however, given that the funding agencies involved and national authorities have different views about the future of this initiative.

WSIS: taking stock

RURANET is considered a ‘success story’ in the world of ICTs for development. Yet the international community and the WSIS process have failed to take into account the concerns and expectations of rural people regarding ICTs. This has been coupled with a tendency to recognize only those initiatives that conform to the pursuit of liberalization and privatization. Unlike many projects, RURANET is locally managed and responds to local needs with local content. One of its major achievements is to have secured considerable autonomy from national and local authorities, the donor community, as well as from private companies and other actors in search of easy profits. Maybe because of this RURANET will probably not be mentioned at WSIS.

Nevertheless, the work it has already done, and its contribution to rural development – through training and public education campaigns about HIV/AIDS, in strengthening the culture of peace and local democracy, in recovering illicit weapons and managing conflict, in civic education or in promoting the gender dimension in sustainable human development – are successes for which RURANET can take full credit.

Djilali Benamrane (dbenamrane@yahoo.com ), former chief economist of UNDP in Niger, is now a member of Public Goods on a Global Scale (BPEM), Paris. For more information, visit http://membres.lycos.fr/nigeradio .

This project was first featured in ICT Update 25, May 2005

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