State Department Grant To Establish African Radio Station

J. Bryan McGarvey (Neuhoff Media, WKOA/WASK, Lafayette, IN) has received a grant from the U.S. State Department to assist in establishing Africa’s first 24-hour agricultural-focused radio station. Bryan was a mentor for the Mandela Washington Fellowship International Reciprocal Exchange Program, part of the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) in 2016, in conjunction with Purdue University. Through YALI, he met Daliso Chitundu, an aspiring broadcast entrepreneur who was inspired to build a 24-hour agricultural radio station by a lack of assistance to local farmers. Bryan will be traveling to Zambia January 27 to assist in the project by meeting with stakeholders, local farmers and the community, and assisting in the programming of the station. He will return on February 5.  Bryan said, “I am moved and honored by this opportunity to truly help a community halfway around the world by sharing my knowledge and experience of agricultural broadcasting.” Neuhoff CEO, Beth Neuhoff, added, “We are extraordinarily proud of Bryan and the work he is doing to better our world. To think his passion for agricultural broadcasting can be life-changing, creating nourishment and economic growth for a developing nation, is truly awe-inspiring. It represents the best of what radio can do.” Bryan McGarvey, left, is shown with The Mandela Fellowship's Daliso Chitundu.