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
- 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
Mosquitos and Dengue Fever
Can you name two diseases that are carried by mosquitos? Malaria is a common one that most people know. The other disease is called dengue or dengue fever. Sometimes this illness is confused with malaria. Dengue fever is a virus which is carried from person to person by the bite of a small, dark mosquito.…
A Village in India Promotes Sanitation
In the country of India there is a state called Orissa. In the rural areas of Orissa many of the roads and drains are used as open lavatories. During the rainy season, rainwater and water from the ponds, tanks and rivers mix with dried feces. Diseases such as diarrhea and dysentery spread throughout the communities.…
The Importance of Latrines
Is human waste a problem near your home? Look around you. Think about the places where people usually make waste. Maybe the men defecate or urinate close to the river early in the morning. The women usually go behind the bushes for privacy. Children go everywhere! After you defecate, flies walk on your feces. When…
Dirty Water is Dangerous
Dirty water is dangerous. People make water dirty by urinating or defecating near ponds, wells, and rivers. Every year many people die from diseases spread by dirty water. Even if water looks clean, it may not be. It can contain harmful germs that are too small to see. These germs can cause diarrhea, dysentery, cholera,…
Local Plant Controls Pests in Lowland Rice
Here is good news for lowland rice farmers! Research in the Philippines shows that a plant called makabuhay (Tinospora rumphii) controls striped stemborers and green and brown leafhoppers. With fewer striped stemborers you will have fewer deadhearts and white heads among your rice plants. Farmers can make a homemade pesticide using makabuhay. Makabuhay is a…
Pesticides can Hurt Unborn Children
Today you are going to hear a sad story about a village where children were poisoned by pesticides. This story is different from many stories about pesticide poisoning. It is different because these children were poisoned before they were born. They were poisoned while they were still in their mothers’ bodies. And though it’s a…
Eat Garlic for Good Health
Did you know that every time you go to the garden, you may walk by a plant that can be used as a medicine? I’m talking about garlic. Garlic has been used as a medicine for thousands of years. And it’s helping cure illness today. One of the best things about garlic is that it’s…
A Fodder Hedge Provides Feed for Cattle in the Dry Season
The dry season can be hard on cattle – and their owners. Animals may lose weight because they don’t get enough good feed. If your cattle lose weight in the dry season, it will take much longer to raise them to market size. You lose both time and money. Some farmers have a way to…
A House to Keep Chickens Healthy
When you are building the house make sure that the birds will have enough space. You don’t want to crowd them. If you have 25 birds the chicken house should be about 15 metres long and 10 metres wide. So now you have a chicken house. But the birds can’t stay in the house all…
Alternative Feeds for Poultry and Pigs
If you keep chickens or ducks or pigs, getting enough feed can sometimes be a challenge. There may be a shortage of feed in your country. Or it may simply be that animal feed is too expensive to buy. So you have to find some different, cheaper feeds. Today we have suggestions for alternative feeds…