Papua radio: Changing lives

Set up with the simple goal of bringing information access to people in the remote Central Highlands of Papua, Indonesia, a recent survey has found that Radio Pikon Ane is achieving much more than that: it is also acting as a highly effective tool for development.

Researchers, who carried out in-depth interviews with dozens of Radio Pikon Ane listeners and others involved in the establishment of the station in November 2009, have published a detailed assessment that provides unique insights into the harsh realities of life in one of the most under-developed parts of Indonesia and the profound impact that the radio station is having.

Radio Pikon Ane broadcasts to an area suffering from one of the highest poverty rates nationwide, with over half the district's population living below the poverty line, compared to a national average of less than 17 percent. Malnutrition is common-place and food scarcity a seasonal routine. Less than 12 percent of the population in the district has completed primary school.

In an area where basic services are all but non-existent, the research found that Radio Pikon Ane is addressing these problems and, in doing so, improving the quality of life of its listeners.

In a subsistence farming community such as this, selling produce at market represents a valuable opportunity to earn cash, but until recently farmers were at the mercy of brokers who determined prices. By broadcasting news about crop prices in the provincial capital and allowing the farmers' cooperative to coordinate the sale of produce via the radio, Radio Pikon Ane has improved their bargaining power and increased their ability to command higher prices.

The station is also playing a key role in health care, particularly important in a district where even the most basic health facilities are virtually non-existent, maternal and neonatal mortality rates are high, and where over half the population suffer from respiratory tract infections and almost 100 percent annually report having diarrhoea. In many instances the illnesses suffered are avoidable, and Radio Pikon Ane is seeking to educate people about this.

As a woman interviewed for the study explained: "The station often reminds about washing our hands before we eat... because you might get ill..." With Papua having the highest rate of HIV/AIDS in the country, radio's ability to increase awareness of it and its implications is vital. One man told the research team: "I heard about HIV/AIDS on the radio. It was a program about how dangerous the disease is and how ... we could catch it and give it to our wives. We have to be careful and take care of our families."

A less expected breakthrough has been a growing awareness and acceptance, among both men and women, of women's rights. Regular Radio Pikon Ane listener Kores Wetipo explained how radio programs on the subject have changed his behaviour. "I listened to [the programs], and most of what they said made sense. Now I never beat my wife... There are lots of men here who don't understand about women's rights. Lost of them beat their own wives.... There has to be lots of programs about women's rights so the men understand about them."

Radio Pikon Ane's positive impact on all aspects of life is impressive, but its most remarkable success to date was in getting local schools reopened that had been shut for months or even years. Reports by the station about the almost total breakdown of the school system in the area due to chronic teacher absenteeism initially met with no response from the authorities. But after national radio news agency KBR68H also started to investigate the problem, the local education department belatedly took action. Astonishingly, it took no more than the broadcast of warnings from the local government that teachers who failed to return to work would face administrative sanctions to solve the problem.

"The remote location and its lack of development meant that there were many challenges in setting up this station," admits Santoso, Managing Director of KBR68H. "We even had to set up a micro-hydro system so that the area could have electricity. But we are very proud of what we have been able to achieve in collaboration with the local people in the area."

Tessa Piper, Indonesia Program Director for MDLF, which commissioned the research, argues: "Through this radio station we have been able to prove that it is possible to have a profound and positive impact on the lives of tens of thousands of people in a part of the country that has otherwise been largely off the development radar. Given the modest costs involved, the potential for replication of this model, not just in Indonesia, but in other developing countries, is significant."

Radio Pikon Ane was established in September 2007 by Indonesia's only independent national radio news agency, KBR68H, and the Indonesian Association for Media Development, an NGO, with support from MDLF and the Dutch government.

Watch a video on Radio Pikon Ane here.