The project is being executed with the help of the the Central de Asociaciones de Pequenos Productores de Vallegrande (CAPA).

In Santa Cruz, Bolivia, a simple means of using the radio, with information sourced from the Internet and communicated through e-mail, has helped improve the lives of 14,500 families. These are families of peasant farmers who produce 70 per cent of the vegetables consumed in the city of Santa Cruz.

the creation of a radio programme called El Correo del Agricultor under the auspices of Instituto de Capacitacion del Oriente (ICO). In Bolivia, radio is an important form of mass media in rural communities. El Correo del Agricultor has helped change things around for farmers in the region by offering them information, such as the price list for the main agricultural products for that day.

A lady called Gisela Ojeda goes to the market very early in the morning to find out the prices. She then e-mails it to the radio station, who then broadcasts the information to the farmers.

Despite the challenges of those working behind the scenes of the radio programme, such as having to work through the night and go to the market very early in the morning, "the effort was worth making because El Correo del Agricultor soon obtained a great audience among the small farmers who began to listen to the program every morning. They even came to the offices of I.C.O. to ask for information or take leaflets and brochures with them" says Sonia, who is responsible for the broadcasting of the program.

The program has been broadcast on local radios every Monday to Friday since January 2001. As a result of the programme, the terms of negotiation between the middlemen and the producers have improved tremendously. This in turn has improved the income of thousands of families by at least 10 per cent. The number of farmers who take their produce to the market themselves has also increased.

Because of the program, the stories of the farmers from the region have become widely known. This has led to the publishing of a book called "Valles Crucenos. Diagnostico del sector agropecuario" (Valleys of Santa Cruz: Diagnostic test of the agricultural sector), published by Clovis Cardenas of the ICO