Blane Harvey: Community radio, action research and advocacy for climate justice: lessons learned from Ghana

Community Radio, Action Research and Advocacy for Climate Justice Lessons emerging from Ghana Dr. Blane Harvey Research Fellow, Climate Change and Development

Outline
Context:
Climate change in Ghana
Failure to engage with the local
The role and potential of community radio
The community radio and action research
The Initiative:
Aims and Partnership
Methodology
Results to date
Conclusions and lessons for action research and climate justice

Context

Climate change in Ghana
Ghana:
Vulnerable to water-stress, land degradation, and coastal zone erosion
Expected to drops in agricultural productivity, power shortages and loss of key coastal land
Possible internal (north-to-south) and cross-border migration and conflict
Increased investment in research and programming in recent years: Why so little impact among the most vulnerable?
Sources: Dazé 2007; McSweeney, New and Lizcano 2008; BBC World Service Trust 2009

Engaging with the local
Growing recognition of the centrality of local culture and knowledge, but
Limited uptake of research and engagement at local scales attributed to:
challenges of appropriately communicating scientific research
failure to meaningfully engage with local institutions or local cultural practices
Failure to overcome barriers presented by technology, language, power, among vulnerable communities.
Not spanning the “last mile” of engagement = not communicating knowledge, and not hearing demands.
Sources: Gauthier 2005; Agrawal and Perrin 2009; Berkes, Colding et al. 2000; Ensor and Berger 2009

The role and potential of community radio
Radio is the dominant mass-medium in Africa with the widest reach and highest audiences – particularly among rural, poorer, or less literate groups.
Potentially effective in behavioural change and in providing a platform for citizens’ voice
Community radio still emergent in much of Africa and with uneven existing capacity
Current top-down programming doesn’t seize on radio’s potential to strengthen voice and challenge socio-political power structures.

Community radio and action research?
Community radio ambitions:
“ ensur[ing] that listening communities are not only consumers of information, however rich and appropriate. Rather, [...] to enable the listening communities, especially the most disadvantaged groups, to upload and grow their own knowledge" (Quarmyne)
“ If you choose to regard your subjects as self-directing agents, whose creative thinking determines their actions, then you cannot do research on them or about them, but only with them.” (Heron 1996)

Communicating within communities: research, forecasts, local knowledge, adaptation strategies, etc. Communicating local knowledge, needs and demands beyond the community Community Radio Intervention

The Initiative

Climate Airwaves
Pilot methodology for strengthening community radio stations’ capacity to engage in action research and advocacy on climate change.
Ultimately seeks to strengthen community knowledge and voice on climate change impacts and adaptation by increasing their engagement with research and policy agendas and sharing their experience and knowledge.

The partnership
Designed to address the multi-level dynamics of climate change (drivers, policy and impacts)
3 Ghanaian Stations participating:
Radio Ada , Radio Afram Plains and Radio Tongu
All on the Volta and facing many similar challenges
Ghana Community Radio Network
AfricaAdapt Knowledge Sharing Network
AMARC
IDS

Methodology
“ Action research on action research”
Participants will assess the impact and value of the initiative with the community
Strengthening broadcasters’ capacity to understand, investigate, and advocate on climate change by drawing on existing networks and local knowledge.
Capacity building on climate and action research
Engagement with researchers, community, and duty bearers
Taking findings and demands beyond the local

Outcomes to date
Growing understanding of the current and projected impacts of climate change locally and their link to existing vulnerability
Growing awareness of the complexity and global dimensions climate change
Connecting global drivers to local impacts
Increased capacity and interest to explore the issue within their communities
Mapping actors; developing vocabulary; identifying priority issues

Conclusions and lessons learned to date

Conclusions
This won’t work with all stations
Complexity and uncertainty of the challenge remain hurdles
Lack of local expertise; lack of formal education
Conflation of CC with environmental degradation; ozone depletion
Partnerships cannot be one-off or short-term
Not a development “project”

Conclusions cont.
Rights and justice is an entry point and organic fit for many community radio stations
Capacity building must be embedded in a longer term shared vision of social change
Developing stronger networks
Looking for multiple benefits

Thank you! [email_address]

Blane Harvey: Community radio, action research and advocacy for climate justice: lessons learned from Ghana

by AfricaAdapt on Mar 21, 2011

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