Notes to broadcasters
Erosion is one of the biggest problems that farmers face in regions where land slopes and lacks covering. One rainfall can wash away all that farmers have worked and hoped for. But, for every problem there is a solution. To hold the soil and prevent erosion farmers can plant tall fast growing trees and shrubs in between crops.
If your listeners practise farming on a gentle or moderately sloping land, they may want to adopt the alley cropping system; this involves the planting of trees and shrubs as hedgerows. These hedgerows serve as physical barriers against soil erosion.
This drama piece is meant to educate listeners about how trees can safeguard farms from the effects of erosion. Please adapt the script to suit your audience.
Script
“When it rains” Part 1
Start of program
BRING UP MUSIC AND CROSS FADE INTO EFFECT. CRICKET SOUNDS IN THE DISTANCE. HEAVY WINDS BLOWING. A CRACK OF THUNDER AND THEN HEAVY RAIN. HOLD THE RAIN FOR 3 SECONDS.
Keke:
(Yawning) Nothing like the morning after a rain. I can not only feel, but smell the fresh air.
CHIRPING OF BIRDS IN THE FAR DISTANCE.
Keke:
Whoa! What a rain, I better go and check my fields. This is going to be my year of bumper harvest… (Shouts across) I am off to the farm!
DOOR OPENS AND CLOSES. ESTABLISH ATMOSPHERE OF COUNTRYSIDE ENVIRONMENT. BIRDS CHIRPING. COWS MOO IN THE DISTANCE. CUT TO SOMEONE RUNNING THROUGH THE BUSH, THEN STOPPING SUDDENLY.
Keke:
No it’s not possible, this cannot be my farm! Tafa, have you seen? All the yams and cassava washed away by just one rain! My God I am finished!
Tafa:
(Sober, nearly in tears) Keke have you seen my farm…..oh! The rain, how can the gods be so unkind?
Dende:
(Calming voice) Tafa, the gods are not to blame, most times the fault is in us.
Keke:
Dende, don’t let me take my frustration out on you.
Dende:
(Calmly) Would it solve your problem? Don’t forget it’s not only your farm that was destroyed by the rain.
Tafa:
I am so confused; I don’t know how you can be so calm… Dende what do we do?
Dende:
(Still calmly) We all suffered the blessings of last night’s rain, the gods want us to learn something from this…let’s go and report this disaster to the village head.
All voices in agreement:
I suppose you are right.
FOOTSTEPS IN THE BUSH. A STREAM FLOWS. BIRDS CHIRPING IN THE DISTANCE. VOICES OF CHILDREN FETCHING WATER AT THE VILLAGE STREAM.
Tiwa:
Papa Ego, where are you coming from? Why are you all wearing such a face? Did someone die?
Keke:
Tiwa, if someone died we would have been able to face it. But what has befallen us is more than death.
Tiwa:
(Cuts in) The rain was a blessing to all the farmers in our village. Didn’t you hear them jubilating and thanking God for opening the heavens?
QUIET MURMURING BY ALL THE MEN.
Tiwa:
Did I say anything wrong?
Dende:
No, my daughter, your words are full of wisdom. It takes courage to learn from one’s mistake. (Slight pause.) Can you do us a favor?
Dende:
Can you take us to your fields? We will like to see for ourselves. You must be doing something right, and we need to know to survive.
FADE IN MUSIC AND HOLD UNDER ANNOUNCER.
Announcer:
What do you think is the cause of the problem at Dende’s village? What is the solution to the problem? Tune in for the conclusion of the story, “When it Rains.”
HOLD CLOSING MUSIC FOR 3 SECONDS AND FADE.
“When it rains” Part 2
Announcer:
To farmers, the rain is a blessing. It brings nourishment to the soil and allows the crops to grow. To farmers, usually a good rainfall means a bumper harvest. But this was not the case for farmers in “Bendo” village. But wait a minute, don’t they have the same soil as their neighbors in “Agbado” village? They have been planting crops on this particular soil for generations, so what went wrong? They are about to find out as they follow Tiwa to her village in “Agbado.”
BRING UP MUSIC AND CROSS FADE INTO OUTDOOR EFFECT OF BIRDS CHIRPING AND SQUIRRELS TRILLING IN THE COOL AIR OF THE MORNING. SUDDENLY MARCHING FEET COME TO A HALT.
Tiwa:
Heavily.
SOUND OF DRUMMING AND CELEBRATION FILTERS IN FROM THE VILLAGE.
Dende:
(Interrupting) What Tafa wants to say is….
Tafa:
I believe I can speak for myself. (Slight pause) How come your farms are looking so lush and intact?
Keke:
(Sad and upset) The gods are not fair. They used an umbrella to protect your land and then exposed ours to destruction.
Dende:
(Amused) Do you make sense even to yourself? Our two villages are side by side and God covered their village and exposed ours….
Keke:
(Angry) Dende you behave as if you are the only sensible person in “Bendo” village.
Tafa:
Keke, I agree with you,……
Dende:
And I agree with the two of you.
Keke and Tafa:
(Shouting) Who do you think you are?
Tiwa:
My fathers – you don’t need to lose your tempers! We are close to my village… let’s join your brothers and we will find the answer to this puzzle.
SOUND OF FOOTSTEPS. THE SOUND OF DRUMMING BECOMES LOUDER. AS BEKE SPEAKS THE DRUMMING FADES INTO THE BACKGROUND.
Beke:
Tiwa, my daughter, you brought our brothers to celebrate with us. Dende, Tafa, Keke, my other brothers – you are all welcome to “Agbado” village.
Bobo:
The rains have come, and to us when it rains it blesses the soil and the products of our farms.
Beke:
And that’s why you met us jubilating. But you don’t look happy. Did it not rain in your own village?
Tafa:
(Sorrowfully) The Gods choose to bless you and curse us. It is not fair! Beke: Please stop drumming!
DRUMMING COMES TO AN ABRUPT END.
Beke:
(Continuing) I don’t understand….do you…
Dende:
It rained in our village too, but the result is different. I am still confused. My father before me was a farmer and I inherited his farm and I have been planting different crops.
Keke:
Dende you talk too much. The rains came and destroyed our farm land.
Bobo:
We at “Agbado” have gone through that before. But then we learned about farming with trees and that brought us from the brink of disaster to success.
Beke:
You need to see our farms to believe. After all seeing is believing.
Tafa:
I need to take my own two naked eyes to see this to believe that farmers can grow trees with crops.
Beke:
Please follow me.
SOUND OF FOOTSTEPS ON THE BUSH PATH. BIRDS CHIRPING. SOUND OF VARIOUS ANIMALS IN THE DISTANCE. THEY STOP.
Dende:
I can’t believe this. You have trees in between your crops!!
Beke:
Yes, you can see that we are growing these shrubs and trees between crops to protect the land. The roots of trees help to hold the soil.
Bobo:
If not for these trees our plight would have been the same as yours! Our sorrow and our crops would have washed away.
Keke:
We cut our trees to make firewood.
Beke:
That was your first mistake. You need the trees as boundary to control erosion. You can see how our mahogany trees have helped to hold the soil from washing away
Bobo:
They perform the same function as the mahogany, but added to that they serve as food for all the village. We even export the bananas to the neighboring country.
Dende:
Good farming techniques, and not the gods, brought good fortune to “Agbado” village.
Keke:
We need to learn more from you…we would like to visit your village again, and bring more of our farmers.
Dende:
As soon as you are ready, you are welcome to return. One thing I have learned my brothers, is that knowledge is power.
CLOSING MUSIC. HOLD FOR 3 SECONDS AND FADE OUT FINALLY.
Announcer:
Do you agree with the conclusions made by the farmers in the story? What about your village? Have you tried planting trees to protect and hold the soil in place? Please call in to talk to us at this station to tell us about your experiences.
That’s our show for today. Thanks for listening.
Acknowledgements
- Contributed by the African Radio Drama Association (ARDA), Plot 211, Muri Okunola Street, Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria. Email: info@ardabroadcasting.org
- Reviewed by Professor Helen Hambly Odame, Rural Extension Studies, University of Guelph, and by Professor Naresh Thevathasan, Temperate and Tropical Agroforestry Specialist, University of Guelph, Canada.
