Debates

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Story Workshop has an outspoken grass roots approach to the issues we are addressing. However, we also recognize the many ways that Malawi is affected by the actions of high-level policy makers, politicians, donors, international agreements and macro economic policies, and it is our obligation to bring those issues to the forefront of public dialogue. That’s why we use radio advocacy debates whenever we feel that issues need to be addressed at a policy level. 

Our approach is simple. We gather policy makers, private sector officials, NGO representatives, church leaders, experts and rural Malawians at the table and get them talking. The results are sometimes controversial, but always spark public dialogue.

Learn how we maximize the dialogue through Media Competitions among journalists.

Mutu Umodzi Susenza Denga: Rural Development Communications Campaign Debates

Since August 2004, monthly policy and advocacy panel debates have generated dialogue on controversial issues and also aired possible solutions.

Given the umbrella title Mutu umodzi susenza denga (‘Two heads are better than one’), the debates tackle a diverse range of social and economic development issues relevant to Malawian farmers—such as household resource management, nutrition, gender barriers to development, the impact of HIV/AIDS on agriculture, appropriate technologies in soil fertility and land management, crop diversification, marketing and off-farm income generation, fertilizer subsidies, dependency on NGOs and coordination of food security activities in the country.

These debates, part of the Rural Development Communications Campaign, are funded by the European Union (EU). 

Ndife Amodzi Radio Panel Discussions

Panel discussions for Ndife Amodzi brought together religious leaders of different denominations from Christian and Muslim faiths, traditional leaders, politicians and lay people. Monthly radio debates addressed sensitive issues – including “best practices” in conflict resolution as well as “lessons learned” in hindsight after religious conflicts.

Key messages for the panel discussions included:

• Conflicts can be resolved (real life success examples)

• Learn from our mistakes (real life hindsight analysis examples)

• Division hurts national development (forecast examples)

These three messages, in Chichewa and Yao, were repeated either in music or narration in each of the 13 radio panel discussions. Panel facilitators incorporated these themes into the discussions.