Farm Radio International
STAR RATINGCi's Star Rating is calculated based on the following independent metrics: |
✔+
FINANCIAL TRANSPARENCY
Audited financial statements for current and previous years available on the charity’s website.
A
RESULTS REPORTING
Grade based on the charity's public reporting of the work it does and the results it achieves.
High
DEMONSTRATED IMPACT
The demonstrated impact per dollar Ci calculates from available program information.
NEED FOR FUNDING
Charity's cash and investments (funding reserves) relative to how much it spends on programs in most recent year.
71%
CENTS TO THE CAUSE
For a dollar donated, after overhead costs of fundraising and admin/management (excluding surplus) 71 cents are available for programs.
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OVERVIEW
About Farm Radio International:
Farm Radio International is a 5-star charity with High demonstrated impact. The charity is financially transparent and has an A results reporting grade, which is above average. For every dollar donated to the charity, 71 cents are available to go to the cause, which is within Ci's reasonable range.
Founded in 1979, Farm Radio International (FRI) runs radio programs to provide agricultural information to farmers in Africa. The charity also produces content that helps improve health, nutrition, and gender equality. FRI states that 77% of people it surveyed who listen to its broadcasts said they had experienced an emergency in their area within the past three years.
A Charity Intelligence 2024 Top 100 Rated Charity.
Farm Radio International runs three main programs, listed below. FRI spent $8.8m on its programs and grants in its fiscal year ending March 2024 (F2024). Ci did not find a breakdown of program spending in the charity’s annual report or on its website.
Radio Projects - FRI works with African radio stations to design and develop radio programs. These programs help develop listeners’ farming, health, nutrition, gender equality, and climate change adaptation skills. FRI reports that it delivered 34 radio projects with a total of 3,783 hours of programming in F2024. It reports that 45 million people listened to these programs in F2024.
Radio Network Services - FRI helps its radio partners develop their skills and produce high quality radio programs. The charity produces resources such as guides, scripts, and stories. It had 1,390 network members across 38 countries in F2024. FRI reports it created 117 radio resources in F2024.
Radio Innovations - FRI provides radio skills training for broadcasters. The charity reports it trained 762 broadcasters across 129 stations in F2024. FRI also runs an interactive radio program. Its Uliza Interactive tool allows people to answer polls and call in to radio stations. The charity reports it had 778,662 mobile interactions with 68,270 people in F2024.
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Results and Impact
Farm Radio International reports that 22 million listeners applied their radio learning to improve their farming, health, or nutrition practice in F2024. Ten million of those listeners identify as women.
FRI surveyed broadcasters it supports through its Radio Network Services in F2024. 87% of respondents said they had used FRI’s radio resources in the past three months. 70% said they used the resources weekly.
FRI also reports on outcomes from its Radio Projects subprograms. For example, the charity runs a radio program in Uganda on regenerative agriculture. It reports that 70% of listeners changed a farming practice after listening to the program.
While Ci highlights these key results, they may not completely represent Farm Radio International's results and impact.
Charity Intelligence has given FRI a High impact rating based on demonstrated impact per dollar spent.
A Charity Intelligence 2024 Top 10 International Aid Impact Charity.
Impact Rating: High
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Finances
Farm Radio International's audited financial statements follow activity-based costing, a best practice. Its expenses are clearly defined between program, administrative, and fundraising categories.
In F2024 FRI received $2.7m in Canadian donations and $3.2m in international donations. It also received $5.0m in government funding. Government funding is 45% of total revenue.
Administrative costs are 7% of revenues (excluding investment income). Fundraising costs are 22% of donations. This results in total overhead spending of 29%. For every dollar donated, 71 cents are available to go to the cause. This falls within Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending.
In F2024 FRI spent $8.8m on its programs and grants, which is 79% of its revenue. In F2024 it had a surplus of $1.0m.
FRI has $1.9m in reserve funds (cash and investments). The reserves can cover 22%, or just under three months of program costs. This indicates that FRI has a need for funding.
This charity report is an update that has been sent for review to Farm Radio International. Changes and edits may be forthcoming.
Updated on July 10, 2025, by Grady Simpson.
Financial Review
Fiscal year ending March
|
2024 | 2023 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Administrative costs as % of revenues | 6.8% | 9.4% | 8.3% |
| Fundraising costs as % of donations | 21.8% | 23.9% | 26.3% |
| Total overhead spending | 28.6% | 33.3% | 34.6% |
| Program cost coverage (%) | 21.5% | 11.3% | 26.1% |
Summary Financial StatementsAll figures in $000s |
2024 | 2023 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Donations | 2,654 | 2,380 | 1,987 |
| International donations | 3,197 | 3,264 | 5,335 |
| Government funding | 4,996 | 3,648 | 2,178 |
| Other income | 329 | (248) | 220 |
| Total revenues | 11,177 | 9,045 | 9,719 |
| Program costs - International | 4,374 | 4,143 | 5,591 |
| Program costs - Canada | 4,433 | 4,814 | 3,632 |
| Administrative costs | 759 | 852 | 805 |
| Fundraising costs | 578 | 568 | 523 |
| Total spending | 10,144 | 10,377 | 10,551 |
| Cash flow from operations | 1,032 | (1,332) | (832) |
| Capital spending | 8 | 20 | 0 |
| Funding reserves | 1,891 | 1,010 | 2,410 |
Note: Deferred government revenue: FRI uses deferred accounting. To show donors information on a consistent basis, Ci adjusted for these deferred government revenues. This affected revenue by $421k in F2024, ($624k) in F2023, and $1.1m in F2022. Deferred Canadian donations: Ci adjusted for deferred Canadian donations. This affected revenue by $592k in F2024. Deferred international donations: Ci adjusted for deferred international donations. This affected revenues by ($71k) in F2024, ($1.2m) in F2023, and ($1.7m) in F2022. Deferred other contributions: Ci adjusted for deferred other contributions. This affected revenues by ($181k) in F2024, $193k in F2023, and $35k in F2022. Change in project receivables: Ci adjusted for change in project receivables. This affected revenue by $233k in F2024, $481k in F2023, and ($648k) in F2022.
Salary Information
$350k + |
0 |
$300k - $350k |
0 |
$250k - $300k |
0 |
$200k - $250k |
0 |
$160k - $200k |
1 |
$120k - $160k |
2 |
$80k - $120k |
7 |
$40k - $80k |
0 |
< $40k |
0 |
Information from most recent CRA Charities Directorate filings for F2024
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Comments & Contact
Comments added by the Charity:
Farm Radio International aims to improve the knowledge of small scale farmers and rural people across sub-Saharan Africa using communication tools like interactive radio and mobile phones. We believe that when knowledge flows, and the voices of individuals are amplified and listened to, communities flourish.
Our goal is to both ensure people have access to information and to equip broadcasters across the continent with the tools to get listeners that information in new and innovative ways. Through this, we aim to help people grow more and healthier food, adapt to climate change, improve gender equality, access better healthcare and ensure those in humanitarian situations can access immediate information about their situations, but also contribute to conversations about how to best serve them.
Our current and past annual reports detailing our impact and audited financial statements are available at: https://farmradio.org/about/#
You can learn more about our work in the following videos:
This video provides an introduction to Farm Radio International’s work using interactive radio as a tool for international development (2 minutes): https://www.youtube.com/watch?
This video showcases a story from Cote d’Ivoire about how interactive radio has made an impact in the lives of local cocoa farmers (3 minutes): https://www.youtube.com/watch?
This video demonstrates how farmers use our radio innovations (interactive radio + mobile phones) (3 minutes): https://www.youtube.com/watch?
This podcast recording features Charity Intelligence's Managing Director, Kate Bahen, interview with Farm Radio International. Find a run-through of our results, impact and the phenomenal economic potential for our programs. (12 minutes): https://farmradio.org/q-and-a-
For more about Farm Radio International, visit farmradio.org or to hear more about our work on a regular basis, you can subscribe to our mailing list.
We are so grateful for the recognition given to us by Charity Intelligence. It is only made possible thanks to the support and trust of our donors, funders and partners. In working together, we can help millions of people in sub-Saharan Africa access the information they need to improve their lives.
Charity Contact
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Charity Email: info@farmradio.org
Toll Free Tel: 1-888-773-7717
Tel: 613-761-3650