People's radio: communicating change across Africa

Abstract

This book is a critique of communication for development that examines radio-based methods and practices employed to engage people in the process of social change. Community engagement is a participatory and deliberative process aimed at fostering good governance, improved livelihoods, safer communities and a sustainable environment. The author discusses the challenges of using radio as a tool for community engagement in development. It examines specific case studies from the African continent. The book also considers the different ways governments, organizations, broadcasters and communities can use radio networks as instruments of participatory knowledge production, exchange and utilization so as to bring about social change and development. Thus, this book is relevant to global discourses on communication and development. It demonstrates how elusive participation can become if implemented without adequate consideration of power relationships within indigenous and local knowledge systems. It proposes that more effective radio for development initiatives should be built on participatory action research, local communication needs, and indigenous knowledge systems. Effective radio should rely on relevant broadcasting technology and infrastructure, and designed to operate independently of donor funds