Backgrounders

Backgrounders are brief introductions to important and technical topics and Answers to frequently asked questions share key information on a topic.

Use this information to plan an episode or series of episodes on the topic, to prepare for an interview, or to answer questions from callers.

All
  • All
  • Agriculture
  • Aquaculture
  • Children and youth
  • Climate change
  • Community development
  • Crop production
  • Energy
  • Environment and climate change
  • Gender equality
  • Health
  • Hygiene and sanitation
  • Land issues
  • Livestock and beekeeping
  • Marketing and market information
  • Nature-based Solutions
  • Nutrition
  • Post-harvest activities
  • Social issues
  • Soil health
  • Trees and agroforestry
  • Water management

Cassava value chain in Tanzania: Post-harvest

  Introduction and how to use this issue pack   This issue pack is designed to give radio broadcasters the information they need to create effective and entertaining programs on the post-harvest value chain for cassava, a staple food with the scientific name of Manihot esculenta. The issue pack focuses on cassava in Tanzania, but…

Groundnut value chain in Malawi: post-harvest

Introduction and how to use this issue pack   This issue pack was designed to provide radio broadcasters with the information they need to create effective and entertaining radio programs on the post-harvest value chain for groundnuts. Actions in the post-harvest groundnut value chain include drying, plucking, shelling, grading, storing, marketing, and processing groundnuts. This…

Issue Pack: Groundnut value chain in Malawi, production

1.     Introduction and how to use this issue pack This issue pack is designed to provide broadcasters with the information they need to help create effective and entertaining radio programs on growing groundnuts. The issue pack focuses on groundnuts in Malawi, but the information will be relevant, with some possible modifications, to other sub-Saharan African…

Issue Pack: Cassava value chain in Tanzania – production

1.      Introduction and how to use this issue pack This issue pack is designed to provide broadcasters with the information needed to help create effective and entertaining radio programs on cassava. The issue pack focuses on cassava in Tanzania, but much of the information will be relevant to other sub-Saharan African countries where cassava is…

An Introduction to Value Chains

Introduction: A value chain is not an object that you can see. Rather, a value chain is simply a useful way of understanding how the world of producing, buying and selling things works. We are all part of value chains in one way or the other as producers, consumers of goods and services, processors, retailers,…

Farming Hints

Farming Hints By Shamela Rambadan, Trinidad and Tobago I encourage sprout formation in ginger rhizomes before the first rains come. This gives me a head start and ensures that my plants have enough water to grow and develop large rhizomes. The method is effective and costs nothing. All you need is some old newspaper, or…

Fact Sheet on Bamboo

Description of bamboo plants: Bamboos are woody grasses that grow up to 40 meters tall. Bamboos can be classified by the types of roots they have. Some, called runners, spread widely, and others, called clumpers, have roots that slowly expand from the original planting. Bamboo culms (stems) are normally round, jointed, sometimes thorny, and can…

Storysheet – Livestock Health

Introduction – three true stories about livestock health Emuria Ekai worked at a butcher shop in a town in northern Kenya, and earned enough money to buy two weak goats for his family. He tied the goats to a pole in a shaded area near his work, and fed his goats with cabbage leaves, potato peels,…

How farmers can adapt to a changing climate

How global warming affects the weather It seems that everybody has now heard about “global warming” or “climate change.” The weather is changing and the earth is getting warmer because human actions – such as burning coal, oil and gas for energy – are increasing the levels of “greenhouse gases” in the earth’s atmosphere. These…

Story ideas on crop storage and climate change

1st story : Plants which protect stored crops   Story: Two women (or men) are worried that, because pests have damaged their stored grains in the past, they will not be able to feed their families during the coming hungry season. They cannot afford storage chemicals. They talk to an elder who advises them to…