Zacharia, Malima2019-11-112019-11-112019-06-24978-9966-116-68-0http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11810/5340This paper examines how poverty and lack of education among rural-based citizens living adjacent to forests in Tanzania impact on the efforts of the radio to communicate information on forest in a bid to influence community members to be responsive to forest conservation efforts. The study was guided by three research questions: To what extent do the communities view the impacts of deforestation in Tanzania? To what extent does education hampers the efforts of radio communication for forest conservation in Tanzania? How does poverty affects the communities to put into use forest conservation education provided by the radio in Tanzania? Data collection entailed content analysis of a series of ‘Urithi Wetu’ (Our Heritage) programme on TBC Radio, questionnaires and Focus Group Discussions. Yet, the study established that, contrary to the existing findings from different researchers that the radio is the most powerful mass-medium in creating environmental awareness and the most powerful in influencing the citizens to conserve forests, factors such as poverty and low levels of education among citizens living adjacent to forests in the rural areas limited the power of radio to influence conservation behaviour in Rufiji and elsewhere in Tanzania. It was established that many of the citizens with low level of education lacked the purchasing power to buy radio sets and, hence, had no access to radio broadcasting. As a result, they lacked forest conservation education and continued harvesting of forests in an unsustainable. It was also established that the poverty level of the rural inhabitants limited their capacity to shift to modern agriculture and their power to embrace the use of improved woodfuel saving stoves and improved charcoal stoves. In consequence, the majority of continued to over-rely on firewood and charcoal energy. As such, the government and other stakeholders should endeavour to empower the citizens economically first and then educate them. The farmers must first-of-all be supported to get modern agricultural production implements such as tractors and other agricultural inputs before being informed about stopping wanton cutting down of trees.enPoverty, lack of education, radio, communication, and forest conservationBook chapter