Farm Radio International, in collaboration with the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) and other partners, is launching a scriptwriting competition on healthy communities in sub-Saharan Africa. The competition is open to organisations and individuals that work with radio in Africa, including radio stations, broadcasters, production organisations, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) with a radio project, farmers’ associations with a radio show, etc. It is a collaboration of the Commonwealth of Learning (COL), the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC), Inter Press Service (IPS) Africa, the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA), and other partners. The competition is committed to promoting gender equality and encourages scripts that feature innovations by women and men who are involved in farming and food production.
To assist participants with writing the radio scripts, a free, ten-week online scriptwriting training course will be offered, starting on August 16 2010, through the competition website. For those with limited internet access, the course will be available on a CD-ROM.
Top entries will be eligible for a variety of prizes, ranging from digital audio recorders to training opportunities. The winners will be announced in January 2011. Winning scripts will be published and distributed to radio stations across sub-Saharan Africa and made available on Farm Radio International’s website. All entrants will receive feedback on their script.
Application Information
The script is to be prepared by talking with local farmers. Scripts can take a variety of formats - for example, dramas, interviews, or two-host conversations. The script must be an original piece of work written specifically for this competition. It must be in English or French, be between 500-2,000 words, and include references to information sources used to prepare the script (e.g., farmers, agricultural institutions, NGOs, documents). Participants are encouraged to include an audio file with their script; however, this is not a requirement. These may be in the local language, which, if used for recording, should be identified.
Contact
Blythe McKay
Development Communication Coordinator/ Coordonnatrice de la communication
Farm Radio International / Radios Rurales Internationales
1404 Scott Street
Ottawa Ontario
K1Y 4M8
Canada
Tel: 613 761 3652
Fax: 613 798 0990
Farm Radio International website
bmckay@farmradio.org
More information here.
READ NEXT:
