Airwave agriculturist:

As a 10-year-old, Nnaemeka Ikegwuonu hated working on his parents' farm. He could not play with other children and he disliked getting dirty. But he loved listening to the radio, the only means of communication with the outside world.
In an ironic twist of fate, Ikegwuonu is now not only a smallholder farmer in Imo state in Nigeria, but also lead broadcaster at a radio station that disseminates information about best farming practices to other small farmers, who make up 70% of Nigeria's agricultural sector.
The powerfully built Ikegwuonu, 29, raises poultry, rabbits and grasscutters – a rodent that looks like a giant rat – and grows yam and cassava on his one-acre farm. But his main occupation is running the Smallholders Foundation and its radio station, Smallholders Farmers Rural Radio. The station broadcasts 10 hours a day, with input from listeners via sms, letters and phone calls. The operation sustains itself by selling airtime to local government, churches and village organisations.
Last year, Ikegwuonu won the Rolex award for enterprise, worth $50,000, and he was in London this week for the 35th anniversary of the awards.
Over tea at the Kensington hotel, Ikegwuonu – who is not wearing the Rolex watch he won because it is being kept in a safe in Nigeria – explained the rationale behind his venture, which may be likened to Farming Today, the BBC Radio 4 programme for farmers and insomniacs in the UK.
"When I left school and worked for an NGO that dealt with farmers and HIV, I ended up fascinated by farmers' problems and they also brought back childhood memories," he said. "My boss advised me to do something in agriculture and I started a non-profit at 21 that combined my passion for agriculture and my ambitions in journalism. I soon discovered that information doesn't get to rural people. They have no TV and their battery-powered radio is their library into the world, their only means of getting any information."
The station in Obitti village – an hour's flight from Lagos – in the local government area of Ohaji/Egbema in Imo state, reaches about 250,000 listeners every day. Last year's prize money went towards a bigger transmitter and a higher radio mast. Ikegwuonu is the lead broadcaster at the station, which has four other broadcasters and five full-time staff.
"The radio is built on interactivity, the listener has knowledge," he said. "We send out information and it comes back to refresh knowledge for everybody."
There are also drama segments, which sound like episodes from another BBC radio programme, The Archers, an episode of which Ikegwuonu listened to while in London. His station, however, uses drama to illustrate issues such as climate change and how it affects local women, many of whom now have to walk further to fetch water because nearby streams have dried up.
The programmes discuss such topics as the virtues of crop rotation (growing cassava one year, maize the next to combat disease) and how to retain rainwater, simple techniques that can boost productivity. One particular programme led to the development of a lengthier hoe.
"We had a programme on the health of farmers, and 70% of the responses were about body pain," said Ikegwuonu. "Listeners complained about the short hoe that caused waist pain and they asked if we could do something. They said they needed farming implements that reduced pain as they were spending money on pain relievers."
The answer was simple: a longer hoe so that farmers did not have to bend over. Next year, Ikegwuonu is introducing a long hoe, developed with a local carpenter, that costs less than $8 for farmers' groups.
"The most simple ideas can solve the greatest challenges," said Ikegwuonu, who also believes in locally applicable solutions. One such solution is seed sharing, whereby, for instance, one farmer might exchange his white maize seeds for another's yellow maize seeds, obviating the need for a more science-driven approach.
Now a champion for smallholder farmers, Ikegwuonu says the country has neglected agriculture for the past 20 years because of oil, which has brought riches for some but misery for those whose lands have been polluted.
"Over the years, the agricultural sector has been abandoned because of the advent of crude oil," he said. "Agriculture is slow money, while oil is fast money. There has been no major government investment in agriculture, especially in agricultural extension services, which is critical. Just as lawyers and doctors need to read legal and medical reviews to keep up their knowledge, farmers need information that comes from agricultural extension workers. There are no four-wheel drives for agricultural extension workers, no demonstrations for farmers. Without an effective agriculture extension service, there is no way knowhow will improve."
There is a lot of talk within the government about the need to do something, especially from the new president, Goodluck Jonathan, he added. But after 20 years of neglect, it will take more than a few years to recover – and a lot of will.
Ikegwuonu also raised the vexed issue of land rights. Nigerian farmers, like many farmers in Africa, have no title to their land. This has implications when farmers try to borrow money from the bank, as lenders often do not recognise certificates of occupancy as collateral for loans. The lack of land rights also puts farmers at a disadvantage when it comes to disputes.