TAGDev’s one-year partnership with Egerton Radio to air the “Kilimo Bora” Show for agricultural outreach

Egerton University has a long history of offering extension services to the communities. The university uses many avenues to reach the community, one of them being the Egerton Radio hosted at 101.7 FM or online streaming https://www.egerton.ac.ke/radio. “Kilimo Bora”, a Swahili word translated to ‘Good Agriculture’, is an agricultural show hosted on Egerton Radio. Transforming African Agricultural Universities to Meaningfully Contribute to Africa’s Growth and Development’ (TAGDev) Program at Egerton University is supporting the ‘Kilimo Bora’ radio show airing every Saturday at 1000-1200hrs. TAGDev is a partnership program between Mastercard Foundation and the Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM). The program is implemented at Egerton University, Kenya, and Gulu University, Uganda. This eight-year program (2016-2024) seeks to transform African agricultural universities and their graduates to better respond to developmental challenges through enhanced application of science, technology, business, and innovation for rural agricultural transformation. The radio show was birthed as a result of a growing need to provide correct, relevant, and up-to-date agricultural extension services to the farming communities in Kenya.

Additionally, the show seeks to impact Egerton University students with Community Engagement, Entrepreneurship, and Experiential learning skills, which are key pillars of the TAGDev Program and Egerton University. The show will benefit 42 undergraduate and post-graduate students from the faculties of Agriculture, Education & Community Studies, Veterinary Medicine, and Environment & Resources Development. The students were recruited in a competitive process that sought to identify talented, self-driven, and academically excellent students. These students are assigned specific agricultural-related topics to prepare and present as guest experts during the show. The first show premiered on Saturday, 07^th May 2022. Apart from the radio show, the program will also be conducting monthly farm visits. These visits are conducted on individual or group farms where students will assist the farmers in addressing some of the farm challenges. The Radio show team leader is Mr Joseph Jabu Mbudzya, an Agricultural Economics Consultant and a PhD. Candidate-Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness Management, Egerton University. The Assistant Team leaders are Mr Kioko Kivandi, a journalist and Head of the Electronic Media Section, Egerton Radio and Mr Daniel Kipchumba, a Journalist and Technical Assistant, Egerton Radio.

The show can be followed through Facebook (Kilimo Bora Show), Twitter (https://twitter.com/hashtag/KilimoboraShow?src=hashtag_click  and Instagram (Kilimo Bora Show)