Promoting the use of community radio to enhance community participation in development initiatives in Njeru town council Buikwe District.

Abstract

Community radio helps to ensure people’s right to information and community participation by expressing the voice and thoughts of grassroots people in the development process. This study aimed at exploring ways of promoting the use of community radio to enhance community participation in development initiatives in Njeru Town Council Buikwe district. The researcher used descriptive design so as to adopt descriptive statistics. The researcher applied a purposive sampling method and data collection was undertaken using interviews. The study was dived into three objectives that’s; i) To establish the nature of program content provided by radios in Njeru Town Council, ii) To explore the role of community radios in fostering mindset change amongst communities in Njeru Town Council and iii) To explore the different ways in which the use of and operations of community radios can be improved in Njeru Town Council. The findings of the study indicated that community radio offers a wide range of program content ranging from local news and updates to educational programs that equips communities with relevant knowledge and skills in essential sectors like agriculture and health. These programs have been essential in challenging community stereotypes by creating awareness hence fostering attitudinal change of local communities. However, for community radio to be effective in its operations, the study indicated that radio staff have to be trained in community leadership and how to moderate discussions to extract valuable ideas from all participants. From the findings the study recommends that management staff of CR put in place mechanism for receiving feedback from listeners for self-evaluation on its program performance. The study also recommends other areas that require further research include; How CR personnel can be trained to be able to reorganize their stations to contribute to rural development; how to improve the participation of community members in the running of stations and in content production and how CRs can collaborate with community-based organizations to foster development.