I find it much harder to get merit in the local forum because there is less activity.
Well, that certainly depends on what local board you are talking about.
There are some locals where there are lack of merit sources or lack of activity. But in local where there is a good activity and some merit source, it is a good place to get merit.
My local board, portuguese, lacks activity... I am the merit source there, and there are very few new posts per day to merit...
where there is not only lack of activity but also there is no local merit source who can read local language and give merits on good posts. However i will take this learning to my local board and will share with them that we should support each other.