On Air Dialogues – Listening to Rural Africans

Rural Africans bear the brunt of climate change. From reliance on rain-fed irrigation, dwindling resources, and recurring disasters rural people in sub-Saharan Africa are particularly vulnerable to climate change, though they are among those least contributing to it. And yet, they are rarely, if ever, consulted in the development of solutions to climate change.

Whether protecting natural resources and biodiversity, diversifying livelihoods, or adapting new farming practices, small-scale farmers are already part of the solution to climate change. They are experts in their fields and are ideally situated to identify the needs of their communities.

In October 2022, Farm Radio International organized a series of three On Air Dialogues in Ethiopia and Burkina Faso to gather the views, perspectives and experiences of rural people as they contend with climate change. The questions touched on how communities are taking action in response to climate change, and most importantly, what supports they identified as being most useful.

The On Air Dialogues prompted more than 14,300 calls from rural people. They responded to poll questions and left voice messages sharing their opinions, experience and perspectives on the impact of climate change — and what they thought global leaders should do to aid them to adapt and prosper. In total, we received over 120,000 poll question responses and 9,300 thoughtful voice messages from rural people in Burkina Faso and Ethiopia.

This research was led by Farm Radio International in partnership with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and seven partner radio stations ahead of the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP27. This research was made possible by financial support from IFAD and Global Affairs Canada.