BBC World Service Trust livestock welfare education project in Somalia, in partnership with the Africa Educational Trust1, and the European Union's Rehabilitation Programme for Somalia.

This report outlines key findings from research conducted during the first year of the Trust's three-year livestock welfare education project in Somalia2. The programme, `Barnaamijka Xoolaha' (`The Livestock Programme') is broadcast on the BBC Somali Service.

The questions explored in this report include:

- What was the reach of the programme among the primary target audience in the first two months of broadcast?
- What is the profile of those who are aware, those who listen, and those who regularly listen to the programme?
- What is the initial audience feedback on the format and content of the programme?
I- s there evidence that the programme is having an impact on knowledge and practice among listeners to the programme?
- What are the key learning points from the initial research that can optimise the programme as a vehicle to have an impact on audiences?

Overview

`Animal health is an important and interesting issue because there are no veterinarians in our area and the people do not understand how to use the drugs when treating their sick animals.' Male, Hargeisa

Most recent World Bank estimates are that 55% of Somalis are directly engaged in livestock production and another large segment employed in ancillary services3. Despite the importance of livestock to the Somali economy, years of civil war have caused a severe decline of the production and marketing infrastructure, and a breakdown in all service functions, resulting in the loss of much of the national wealth derived from livestock.

As part of its `Learning for Livelihoods' initiative, the BBC World Service Trust, with funding from the European Union's Rehabilitation Programme for Somalia, broadcast the first programme of Barnaamijka Xoolaha in September 2005.

The target group for Barnaamijka Xoolaha is males and females, aged 15 and above who are engaged both directly and indirectly in the production, marketing, and selling of livestock.

The programme is being delivered in partnership with the Africa Educational Trust, and will run until 2008.

Project design

The key objectives of the programme are:

- To contribute to poverty alleviation by bringing about significant and sustainable improvement in household incomes generated from livestock.
- To engage in constructive public debate on key issues relating to development of the livestock industry.
- To empower livestock producers, traders and those connected with the sector with the practical skills, technical knowledge and policy and business awareness to maximise their incomes from the livestock industry.

Barnaamijka Xoolaha is being broadcast in three consecutive waves, each lasting 40 weeks. Each weekly programme covers the key project themes of animal health, education, business skills and practices, and the optimisation of economic opportunities. The programme is broadcast for 30 minutes on Saturday evenings at 17.00.

RESEARCH AND LEARNING GROUP

BBC World Service Trust livestock welfare education project in Somalia, in partnership with the Africa Educational Trust1, and the European Union's Rehabilitation Programme for Somalia.

This report outlines key findings from research conducted during the first year of the Trust's three-year livestock welfare education project in Somalia2. The programme, `Barnaamijka Xoolaha' (`The Livestock Programme') is broadcast on the BBC Somali Service.

BBC World Service Trust Research Officer interviewing a livestock farmer

Figure 1: Reach and awareness of BBC Somali Service and Barnaamijka Xoolaha

79% of respondents said that they were interested in listening to a programme about livestock in Somalia, with the five areas of greatest interest being:

- Animal health
- Marketing skills
- Disease prevention / outbreaks / cures
- General development / raising of animals
- Drugs / medication or treatment

The three most popular times of day respondents listen to the radio are:

17.00 - 18.00 (62%)
21.00 - 22.00 (53%)
14.00 - 15.00 (35%)

The most popular time of day to listen to the radio coincides with the broadcast time of Barnaamijka Xoolaha. Despite this, almost four out of ten respondents did not include the 17.00-18.00 time as one at which they currently listen to the radio. For these respondents, the most popular time to listen to the radio is 21.00-22.00 (47%). A repeat broadcast at this time would enable the programme to potentially reach at least 80% of the target audience.

Age of respondents, and reach of Barnaamijka Xoolaha Analysis of reach by listeners' age suggests possible strategies for growing the base of listeners and regular listeners.

Barnaamijka Xoolaha is reaching men and women, and urban and rural8 populations in equal proportions. However, the data show that reach varies quite substantially across the age groups (see Figure 2).

Figure 2: Profile of age distribution in the sample, listeners and regular listeners to Barnaamijka Xoolaha

A key component of the project is a network of Community Learning Groups (CLGs), established throughout Somalia. The purpose of the CLGs is to enhance the learning function of the programme, enabling listeners to collectively explore the issues presented each week, and, where appropriate, to demonstrate practical implementation of the techniques discussed 4.

Programme content has been guided by the counsel of an advisory panel, consisting of a number of Somali and international agencies that are actively involved in the livestock sector.

In addition to expert advice, the programme is reliant on research to provide insights from its audiences.

Methodology

Audience preferences and views on content and format of the programme were collected in four ways:

- A survey of radio listeners working in the livestock sector.
- Visits by the two radio production teams, based in Hargeisa and Mogadishu, to a sample of CLGs.
- Pre-testing of programme content with the target audience in a range of locations.
- Regular consultation with advisory panel members to gain feedback on programme content.

Survey of radio listeners

The survey of 600 radio listeners was conducted in November 2005.5 All participants were aged 15 and over, and were involved in some way in the livestock industry 6. The sampling methodology was based on a multi-stage random sample design, carried out across the three regions of Somaliland, Puntland and Central and Southern Somalia. A repeat survey to assess the impact of the project will be conducted in spring 2007.

Sample profile

The overwhelming majority of the sample resides in rural areas

- (96%), divided equally between males and females.
- 29% of the sample was aged between 15-29, 40% between 30-45, and 31% were aged over 45 years.
- 92% of respondents owned livestock, with the common animals owned being goats, cattle, sheep and camels, donkeys and chickens.

Key findings

Reach and awareness of Barnaamijka Xoolaha among the target audience

95% of respondents reported listening to the BBC Somali Service in the previous six months, demonstrating that the BBC Somali Service is an effective way of reaching the target audience for Barnaamijka Xoolaha. Within two months of the first broadcast, 79% of respondents were aware of Barnaamijka Xoolaha. Reach is also high, with 63% having listened to Barnaamijka Xoolaha in the two months since broadcasts began, and 39% of respondents reporting that they are regular listeners 7.

The 30-45 year old age group is over-represented in the profile of listeners and regular listeners. The opposite is true for the other two age groups. In order to understand the listening patterns within each age group, the data were analysed separately by each of the three age segments (see Figure 3). Figure 3: Age profile of those aware, listeners, and regular listeners to Barnaamijka Xoolaha.

A slightly different picture emerges when looking at the data in this way:. 77% of those aged 15-29 are aware of Barnaamijka Xoolaha, 57% are listeners, and 66% of listeners are regular listeners.
87% of those aged 30-45 are aware of Barnaamijka Xoolaha, 75%
are listeners, and 58% of these are regular listeners.
70% of those over 45 years of age are aware of Barnaamijka Xoolaha, 54% are listeners, and 64% of these are regular listeners.

Barnaamijka Xoolaha and knowledge and awareness of support services to the livestock sector

In addition to exploring the reach and awareness of Barnaamijka Xoolaha, analysis was conducted to explore the association between exposure to the programme and two areas of technical knowledge and practical skills targeted by Barnaamijka Xoolaha:

- Awareness and use of support services, such as Community Animal Health Workers (CAHWs); and
- The use of drugs in the treatment of sick animals.

Table 1 shows the relative awareness, knowledge of location, and use of CAHW services, by non-listeners, listeners and regular listeners to Barnaamijka Xoolaha.

Table 1: Awareness of CAHWs by listenership to Barnaamijka Xoolaha

Variations in knowledge and use of CAHWs across the different levels of listenership are statistically significant at the p<.01 level. The strength of this association is explained by the substantial differences in knowledge and use of CAHW services by regular listeners, compared to listeners and non-listeners.

Table 2 shows the proportion of non-listeners, listeners, and regular listeners who have used drugs in the treatment of sick animals. Table 2: Use of drugs in the treatment of sick animals by listenership to Barnaamijka Xoolaha (Variations in use of drugs across the different levels of listenership are statistically significant at the p<.01 level). Analysis shows that listeners are more likely than non-listeners to have used drugs in the treatment of sick animals.

Regular listeners are more likely than both listeners and non-listeners to have used drugs in the treatment of sick animals.

The research programme for Barnaamijka Xoolaha will continue to track changes in these, and other, indicators of knowledge and practice.

Project and research learnings

The research carried out to date confirms the value of radio as a vehicle for delivering the BBC World Service Trust's livestock welfare education programme, to the target audience for this project.

The high listenership to the BBC Somali Service has enabled Barnaamijka Xoolaha to reach a substantial proportion of the target audience.

Barnaamijka Xoolaha is an effective vehicle for delivering livestock education content in Somalia. The research reported here has identified a range of issues around audience listening patterns, the programme schedule, and the content and format of the programme, which point to a number of strategies to improve impact of Barnaamijka Xoolaha on knowledge and practice.

Audiences

Audience patterns and preferences identified here suggest three ways in which the base of listeners and regular listeners could be expanded: Increase awareness of Barnaamijka Xoolaha, particularly among those aged over 45 years. Those aged over 45 years are the least likely to be aware of Barnaamijka Xoolaha, but, once aware, have a strong chance of becoming listeners and regular listeners.

Highlight the benefits of Barnaamijka Xoolaha to those who are aware of its existence, particularly among those aged between 15-29 years of age. Whilst 15-29 year olds have relatively high awareness of the programme (77%), nearly 30% of these do not go on to become listeners. The fact that around 66% of listeners in this age group are regular listeners suggests that, once engaged, the programme has strong appeal.

Increase the proportion of listeners who become regular listeners, particularly those aged between 30-45 years of age. Although 75% of those aged 30-45 listen to the programme, over four out of ten of these are not regular listeners - the lowest conversion ratio from `listener' to `regular listener' among all three age groups.

30-45 years 45+ years
A % who have heard of Barnaamijka Xoolaha
B % who listen to Barnaamijka Xoolaha
C % of listeners who listen regularly to Barnaamijka Xoolaha

RESEARCH AND LEARNING GROUP

Schedule

The broadcast time for Barnaamijka Xoolaha coincides with the most popular period of the day for the target audience to listen to the radio. The research suggests that a repeat airing of Barnaamijka Xoolaha between 21.00 - 22.00 could increase the potential reach to approximately 80% of the target audience.

Content and formats

This research suggests that Barnaamijka Xoolaha has a mix of topics which audiences identify with, and which coincide with their own listening preferences. The evidence from the initial audience feedback indicates that listeners consider the sections of the programme dealing with business practices to be the least interesting. These could be strengthened through the stories being made more relevant to working life, drawing upon real success stories.

staff the Group. The Research Dissemination Series aims to contribute to the fields of media development and development communications research through summaries of the Research and Learning Group's work. As such, the target audience of the series includes research practitioners, technical advisors and project managers who commission and use such research. We welcome feedback on these publications and invite readers to share their own experiences and learnings. Please visit our website (http://www.bbc.co.uk/ worldservice/trust/researchlearning/) for more detailed research reports and further information about our projects and the work of the BBC World Service Trust.

About the BBC World Service Trust

The BBC World Service Trust is the independent, international charity set up by the BBC, which uses media to advance development. Through its Media Development and Development Communications Groups, the Trust works around the world to:

- Raise awareness of development issues among mass audiences and opinion-formers.
- Influence attitudes, awareness and behaviour amongst poorer communities through a wide range of educational programming on poverty-related topics.
- Build capacity in the media sector in developing and transitional countries.

This work is underpinned by formative, monitoring and impact research, which is managed by the Trust's Research and Learning Group. Research professionals based in London and ten project offices in the field

Contact & Feedback

If you would like to contact the Research and Learning Group or have feedback on this particular document please:
write to:
Research and Learning Group,
BBC World Service Trust,
Room 301 NE Bush House,
PO Box 76,
Strand, London
WC2B 4PH
visit: www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/trust/researchlearning
call: +44 (0)207 557 0509
or fax: +44 (0)207 379 1622

FORMATIVE RESEARCH

Research also suggests that the current format of a mix of weekly reports on market prices, expert advice, and discussion, has appeal and credibility among the audience. Further qualitative research with audiences will explore the relative appeal of different formats for different types of content.

Impact of Barnaamijka Xoolaha

This research has confirmed that listening and listening regularly to Barnaamijka Xoolaha has an impact on knowledge and practice related to the livestock sector. The relationship between impact and intensity of listening varies according to topic. This may be a function of the extent to which there is repetition of topics, and/ or the degree to which the information presented is actionable. This relationship will be explored further in future research.

NOTES

1The Africa Educational Trust is a London based charity that runs a number of education projects in Africa.
2`Somalia' is used to refer to the three semi-autonomous regions of Somaliland, Puntland, and Central and Southern Somalia. The project operates across all three regions.
3`Somalia: Towards a Livestock Sector Strategy', FAO, World Bank, European Union, April 2004.
4 The Africa Educational Trust was responsible for training volunteers to be CLG facilitators. Approximately 500 CLGs were established for wave one of the programme, with a similar number being organised for waves two and three.
5 The initial sample was of 600 respondents. 80 cases were removed from the sample because of missing data and/or concerns over meeting the eligibility for the sample.
6 The research was carried out by the research team of the Africa Educational Trust.
7`Regular listeners' are those who said that they listened to Barnaamijka Xoolaha, every week.
8 The sample of urban respondents is very small (only 4% of the total sample) and meaningful analysis of this group is not possible.