FARMERS' PARTICIPATION IN THE CO- CREATION OF SUSTAINABLE FOOD SYSTEM CONTENT BY COMMUNITY RADIOS IN MIGORI COUNTY – KENYA
Awuor Olga Millicent
Millicent A Otieno
Marren Akongo
Keywords: Sustainable Food Systems (SFS), Community Radio, Commercial funding, Technical agriculture research, Exposure deficit
Abstract
Sustainable Food Systems (SFS) require decentralised, localised, and participatory communication frameworks
to ensure grassroots adoption, resilience, and equitable climate agricultural value chain integration. Community
Radio (CR) has long been heralded as an egalitarian medium capable of bridging the knowledge gap between
technical agricultural research, state policy, and rural smallholder realities. However, operational structural
constraints often force CR stations into top-down, instructional lecture models. This empirical study which was
anchored on Democratic-Participant Media Theory, Dialogue Theory, and Critical Pedagogy theory evaluates
smallholder farmers' participation in the co-creation of SFS radio programming across Nyatike and Suna East
Sub-Counties within Migori County, Kenya. Utilising a mixed-methods design, the study juxtaposes quantitative
survey metrics against qualitative testimonies from Key Informant Interviews (KIIs), Focus Group Discussions
(FGDs), and station broadcast log tracking. The findings reveal a severe structural participation funnel: while
general listenership baseline reaches 78.9% (n=315), 54.6% (n=218) experience a total exposure deficit
regarding downstream SFS concepts, 75.2% (n=300) maintain zero production engagement, and a mere 7.5%
(n=30) function as active co-creators. High airtime tariffs, commercial funding dependency, institutional biases
favouring traditional extension barazas, and strict broadcaster-centric production models perpetuate a state of
"false participation."
