Shows / Nature Answers: Rural Stories from a Changing Planet
Nature Answers: Rural Stories from a Changing Planet
How can nature itself help us tackle the challenges of a changing world? Each episode, we dive into an inspiring story of how a community in rural Africa is harnessing the power of nature-based solutions to adapt, thrive, and heal the planet. In Season Two, our new host Ivy Prosper takes us to her home country, Ghana, plus Uganda, Cote d’Ivoire, and Zambia, where we meet a woman growing her community, one tree at a time; young people banding together to save a swamp and the birds living in it…
Episodes
Nature Answers: Rural Stories from a Changing PlanetHow Replanting Jijen’s Dugout Revived Local Biodiversity
In Jijen, Ghana, a community is using native vegetation to protect a dugout that has transformed access to water and daily life. In this episode, host Ivy…
Nature Answers: Rural Stories from a Changing PlanetFighting Fire with Forests: How a Ghanaian community uses agroforestry to protect their crops from forest fires
In Kokofu, Ghana, farmers are using agroforestry to protect their crops from bushfires and improve growing conditions. In this episode, host Ivy Prosper visits…
Nature Answers: Rural Stories from a Changing PlanetHarvesting Hope: Langogu’s Irrigation Transformation
In Langogu, access to water is helping farmers grow food and earn an income throughout the dry season. In this episode, host Ivy Prosper visits a farming…
Nature Answers: Rural Stories from a Changing PlanetFrom Ash to Assets: How Biochar is Reshaping Kamonaayili
Turning farm waste into charcoal is helping transform a community’s future. In this episode, host Ivy Prosper takes us to Kamonaayili in northern Ghana, where…
Nature Answers: Rural Stories from a Changing PlanetThe Root Cause: How Mangroves Are Saving Ghana’s Keta Lagoon
What if restoring mangroves could help bring fish back to a community? In this episode, host Ivy Prosper takes us to Vodza and Agido in Ghana’s Volta Region…
Nature Answers: Rural Stories from a Changing PlanetRooted in the Sand: Planting a Future Against the Waves in Volta
In the Volta region of Ghana, the coastal community of Vodja has already lost 90% of its land mass to rapid sea erosion. Nestled precariously between a lagoon…
- Nature Answers: Rural Stories from a Changing Planet
Season 4 trailer
Season 4 of Nature Answers will be in your feed THIS Thursday! More about Nature Answers: Rural Stories from a Changing Planet at farmradio.org/natureanswers…
- Nature Answers: Rural Stories from a Changing Planet
Behind the scenes with MISA Zambia
In this episode, we sit down with a key project coordinator to explore the vital intersection of community radio, climate resilience, and rural collaboration…
Nature Answers: Rural Stories from a Changing PlanetWaves of Change: How Radio Broadcasts Are Reshaping Zambian Agriculture
In Zambia's Chipangali district, farmers are overcoming climate-induced agricultural challenges by forming listening groups to engage with radio broadcasts…
Nature Answers: Rural Stories from a Changing PlanetBanking on the herd: How ancient manure techniques outlast modern droughts in Zambia
Farmers in Zambia’s Kadiani Village are combating climate change and soil degradation by reverting to "kraal shifting," a traditional practice using manure to…
Nature Answers: Rural Stories from a Changing PlanetFrom insurgency to opportunity: how reforestation is building a better life in Alebelebe
Before the guns came, Alebelebe Village was alive with trees, rain, and abundance. What happened next, and how this community found its way back, is a story…
Nature Answers: Rural Stories from a Changing PlanetFaith in the fields
What if the secret to feeding your family, saving your land, and transforming your community was already growing in your backyard? In this episode, host Ivy…
- Nature Answers: Rural Stories from a Changing Planet
Part 2 -The Hidden Impact of Deforestation: Domestic Violence in Rural Uganda
This episode is hosted by Ivy Prosper, produced by student producer Madison Eldridge, and edited by John McGill. Translation and dubbing by Gertrude Nalubinga…
- Nature Answers: Rural Stories from a Changing Planet
The Hidden Impact of Deforestation: Domestic Violence in Rural Uganda: Part 1
What happens when the loss of forests reshapes not just the land, but the safety and lives of the women who depend on it? In this powerful first episode of a…
Nature Answers: Rural Stories from a Changing PlanetPonds of Promise: How One Village Is Farming Its Future
How can a village secure its food supply in an unpredictable climate? In Biasso, Côte d’Ivoire, a series of neatly lined ponds are doing just that. Built in…
Nature Answers: Rural Stories from a Changing PlanetFrom bare land to bounty
What does it take to turn barren land into a thriving future? In Eastern Uganda, Emmanuel Odeke and his wife Teresa Tino transformed a struggling 1.5-acre plot…
Nature Answers: Rural Stories from a Changing PlanetFrom skepticism to sustainability: rebuilding a climate-ready community
Climate change skeptics in their community doubted them. Still, Bebane Mahadi’s joined forces with other young farmers, dug up two wells, and manually…
- Nature Answers: Rural Stories from a Changing Planet
Season 3 coming soon!
In season 3 of Nature Answers, we will take you across Uganda, Zambia and Côte d'Ivoire. Episode 1 is coming this Thursday where we will travel to Côte…
Nature Answers: Rural Stories from a Changing PlanetHow people recovering from addiction are healing nature—and themselves
On a sunny day in Choma, Zambia, Cornwell Hademu shares a traditional drink—and a powerful idea. In this season finale of Nature Answers, we meet Kelvin…
Nature Answers: Rural Stories from a Changing PlanetHow these Zambians are future-proofing their farms
Under the Mochipapa tree in Choma, Zambia, is a research station. The researchers there are studying drought-resistant crops and sustainable farming—with the…
Nature Answers: Rural Stories from a Changing PlanetHow a climate-smart farmer helped an entire community grow
When Cornwell Hademu, of Choma, Zambia, started mentoring the women of nearby Mbole, he was sure it would help them on their fields and their farms. What…
Nature Answers: Rural Stories from a Changing PlanetCan planting trees save Côte d’Ivoire’s cocoa farms
In Côte d’Ivoire’s cocoa and rubber farms, yields are dwindling due to deforestation and rising temperatures. In this episode we meet farmers like Gbagnon…
Nature Answers: Rural Stories from a Changing PlanetCan planting trees heal a land devastated by civil war
In Northern Uganda, a community once torn apart by war is regrowing its future—one tree at a time. In this episode, we travel to Bar Opok, a rural village in…
Nature Answers: Rural Stories from a Changing PlanetClimate change took this community’s land. How they took it back.
Nestled on a narrow strip between the Gulf of Guinea and the Keta Lagoon, the Ghanaian village of Setsinu has long depended on its unique geography for farming…
Nature Answers: Rural Stories from a Changing PlanetHow composting cured a Ghanaian community
In Kugzua, Ghana, farmers were falling sick. They soon determined the cause: chemical fertilizer. But faced with a choice between poor crops and poor health…
Nature Answers: Rural Stories from a Changing PlanetHow a Ghanaian village banned charcoal production — and stands firm against the pressure
Yaara stands as a lone, lush oasis in its part of Ghana. And yet, women in the town have to walk six miles every day to fetch water. Despite pressure from…
Nature Answers: Rural Stories from a Changing PlanetHow one woman is changing the landscape of Uganda’s Teso region
When Jessica Sheillah Aanyu moved a six hour bus and motorcycle ride from home, she found herself asking, “What can I do to make a difference.” When an illness…
Nature Answers: Rural Stories from a Changing PlanetWhat an Ivorian community gave up to protect their mangroves
Mangroves are money-makers in coastal Côte d’Ivoire. And the fish you can cook with the smoke from their branches are delicious. But the very practice of…
Nature Answers: Rural Stories from a Changing PlanetHow these Zambian women beat a drought and made their community pay attention
When the Malili Women’s Cooperative first tried new farming techniques in reaction to climate change, their community laughed at them. But what started as a…
Nature Answers: Rural Stories from a Changing PlanetHow the once-polluted Mabamba swamp became a haven for rare birds
The Mabamba Swamp is home to the dinosaur-like shoebill stork. But it wasn't always that way. In order to save it. Joseph Kimbagaya had to convince his…
Nature Answers: Rural Stories from a Changing PlanetRegrowing relationships… and trees! Plus meet our new host
When Ggingo first found encroachers digging up their community forest, they called the police. But they soon found that chasing people from the forest wasn’t a…
- Nature Answers: Rural Stories from a Changing Planet
Bonus: The Future is Informed (Live Recording)
Local media can make a difference — at least if it's done right. That's what these professionals had to say during a recent live podcast recording at the…
- Nature Answers: Rural Stories from a Changing Planet
How banning wildfires sparked (and ended) a conflict in Ghana
Bushfires are both a way of life, and threaten the way of life, in communities in northern Ghana. But one community, Shelanyili, made a bold change: they…
Nature Answers: Rural Stories from a Changing PlanetFive trees for every child: Why this community is planting trees for the next generation
When Morungatuny in Uganda realized the essential need to start replanting trees in the face of their ever-depleting forests, they realized something stunning…
Nature Answers: Rural Stories from a Changing PlanetTaking the classroom outside: How nature is teaching valuable lessons in Uganda
A 100-year-old mango tree grows in the heart of Kikandwa, Uganda. But not long ago, the community considered cutting it down for charcoal. Instead, everyone…
Nature Answers: Rural Stories from a Changing PlanetWhat are Nature-based Solutions?
What are Nature-based Solutions actually? We talk alot about them on Nature Answers, but what makes a Nature-based Solution a nature-based solution? What does…
Nature Answers: Rural Stories from a Changing PlanetHow mangrove rehabilitation can save a community’s future
How mangrove rehabilitation can save a community’s future What can you do when the resources that pay you stop growing back? That’s the question asked by…
Nature Answers: Rural Stories from a Changing PlanetWhat can fish do to drive recovery after a civil war
After years of civil war and the challenges of restoring their environment, this community has found an innovative solution—a sustainable fish farm. Meet Betty…
Nature Answers: Rural Stories from a Changing PlanetHow can mangoes grow economies and limit wind damage
When wind blew off roofs in Gagbiri in northern Ghana, the community made what turned out to be a fruitful choice: they planted mango trees! Discover how the…
Nature Answers: Rural Stories from a Changing PlanetWhat do trees have to do with rain?
Inconsistent rainfall and a lack of reliable water are no small challenge for rural farmers, but two innovative communities in Ghana have found creative…
- Nature Answers: Rural Stories from a Changing Planet
Introducing ‘Nature Answers: Rural Stories from a Changing Planet’
Facing down climate change seems like an enormous task. But some of the most rural and remote communities on earth are up for the challenge – and using lessons…