The Growth of Community Radio and Rural Development

This article examines the growth and the impact of the community radio in Africa across the political, social and economic fronts. The paper focuses on the sub Saharan Africa with special attention to the East, South and West Africa regions. In East Africa for instance, the paper argues that the emergence and growth of the community radio stations has entrenched within the communities many programmes for poverty alleviation and numerous peace initiatives especially for the pastoralists communities. The researcher also realized that during the COVID-19 pandemic, the community radio stations have come in handy to facilitate home based learning for both primary and secondary school students. In West Africa, especially in Ghana, the researcher discovered that these stations have enabled the farmers to embrace modern methods of farming and marketing strategies. In Southern Africa countries such as Namibia and South Africa, they have been key in advancing political and economic liberation and giving a voice to the marginalized communities especially the slum dwellers. Various primary sources of data were used including interviews with radio managers, listeners and journalists. Secondary data was taken from earlier researchers and organizations such as UNESCO, Communications Authorities of various countries and Balancing Act of 2008.