The cost of staying on air

Community radio stations in Zambia and Zimbabwe are fighting to survive. Here's how they are managing.

Donor funding for media development has always been stretched.

Add a shrinking Official Development Assistance envelope and more organisations competing for the same money, with a growing consensus that media plurality matters, and the arithmetic gets difficult fast.

There will never be enough project funding to sustain every media outlet that deserves to exist. Community media feel this most acutely.

But these deeply local outlets also have something others do not: they are fully embedded in their communities.

People know the presenters who are speaking up for better services and announcing good and bad news.

Local businesses depend on these stations. Traditional leaders listen. That relationship is an asset, and a number of stations in Zambia and Zimbabwe are starting to treat it like one.

From December 2025 to January 2026, our team researched the financial and compliance costs of running independent media outlets, and the strategies these outlets have developed to sustain their operations financially. Our team interviewed broadcasters, regulators, donors, and media associations in Zimbabwe and Zambia.

All costings are indicative and based on interviews. The creativity and innovation found in addressing tough finances - from crowd-funding to thinking outside the box in the use of buildings, land and solar panels - were shared by the organisations on condition of anonymity.

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