Communication for Development

1. Communication for Development Riccardo del Castello Communication for Development Officer FAO, Rome

2. Outline • What is ComDev? • Key principles & functions • Historical background • Definitions and approaches • Video “Sharing Knowledge” • ComDev media and tools • Rural radio • Participatory video

3. Whatis ComDev? “Communication for Development (ComDev) is a social process based on dialogue using a broad range oftools and methods. ComDev is about seeking change at different levels including listening, establishing trust, sharing knowledge and skills, building policies, debatingand learning for sustained and meaningful change”. World Congress on Communication for Development, Rome 2006

4. Whatis ComDev? • Not a simple top-down flow of information to “passive” audiences - goes beyond information dissemination • Involves participatory methods and tools (traditional & local media, rural radio, ICTs) • Facilitates active participation and stakeholder dialogue • Special attention to media convergence and theenhancement of local capacities for planning and implementing communication processes • A process which recognizes audiences as discerning groups with differing needs and perspectives

5. Origins of Communication for Development ComDev as a research and practice field, has closely followed the evolution of Third World development paradigms (from top-down, western oriented theories about the causes of and solutions to “underdevelopment”, to the recognition of community participation as a key to sustainability. Non- linear evolution - different theories, concepts and practices that originated under different paradigms have continued to coexist and span the continuum from the diffusion/persuasion model to the participatory empowerment model.

6. Origins of Communication for Development Modernisation “Visualizes development in terms of a progressive movement towards technologically more complex and integrated forms of modern society.” Information moves out in a linear fashion from senders to receivers with relatively limited participation of the receiver. Change in ideas = Behavior change Rogers (1962), Schramm (1964) and Lerner (1958)

7. Origins of Communication for Development • Alternative models • Criticism from Latin American researchers (Freire, Beltran, Gumucio) - top-down methods tend to locate the problem in the underdeveloped nation rather than its unequal relations with powerful economies. • Assumption that Western models are appropriate for all parts of the world. • Development communication failed to address the real underlying problems in poor countries such as lack of access to land, agricultural credits and fair market prices for products

8. Origins of Communication for Development • Development programmes of the 1960s have failed due to… • Lack of information about the strategies being developed • Lack of trust and confidence about the process • No effort to promote continued engagement and regular feedback from stakeholders/partner • So-called participatory exercises too often mere public information campaigns

9. Participation in decision making • Passive Participation: Be told and follow. • Participation in Information Giving: answering questions. • Participation by Consultation: conclusions may be modified in the light of people's responses. • Participation for Material Incentive: Participate by providing resources, for example labour, in return for food. • Functional Participation: Participate by forming groups to meet predetermined objectives. • Interactive Participation: for joint analysis, leading to action plans. Groups take control over decisions. • Self-Mobilization: Participate by taking initiative independent of external institution to change systems. • (Jules Pretty, 1995)

10. In development… • Advocacy • Dialogue • ICTs for development • Stakeholder engagement • Involvement and participation • Development Communication

11. Defining communication for development • A multitude of terminologies • development support communication • development communication • participatory development communication • information-education-communication (IEC) • communication for social change • information, communication for development (ICD) • project support communication • rural communication • social marketing

12. Most common approaches Social marketing - the systematic application of marketing to achieve specific behavioral goals for a social good (immunization campaigns, sanitation, …) Advocacy – To promote a specific issue or agenda, generally at a national level. It is often directed at changing policies or supporting policy-making changes. Information dissemination and campaigns - The dissemination of information to fill specific knowledge gaps through media campaigns, often using a mix of different media. Information, education, and communication (IEC) - a broader set of tactical approaches aimed at disseminating information and educating large audiences. It is based on the linear transmission model where information is disseminated through a number of media.

13. Most common approaches Education and training - applied in programs requiring instructional design, usually based on an interactive modality, often at an interpersonal level. Educational approaches are generally aimed at increasing knowledge and comprehension, while training approaches are usually focused on improving professional skills. Institutional strengthening is directed at strengthening the internal capacities of an institution and eventually also at positioning and improving its image with external audiences. Social mobilization - a systematic effort to involve the community to take active part in the resolution of specific issues related to their well-being. (groups designated to participate in the decision-making process and to follow up on specific issues, such as monitoring the activities indicated by a project work plan).

14. Key ComDevPrinciples • Inform populations on new ideas and new techniques • Assess the needs of the beneficiaries • Adapt the message to the needs • Adapt the message, and the media to the targeted groups • Multimedia approach

15. Key ComDev Principles Fostering dialogue and mediation Convergence andlocal appropriationof technologies Strengthening local knowledgeand communication processes

16. ComDev Functions • Social – promote participation and collaborative action, dialogue and consensus building, facilitate situation analysis, decision making, planning and management, enhance local knowledge and culture, • Educational – provide training support in decision making, technical issues and knowledge exchange, enhance mutual learning. • Institutional - Improve linkages and strengthen dialogue between policy makers, institutions and small farmers / local communities, International organizations.

17. Video Documentary Sharing Knowledge FAO , 1996

18. ComDev Methodologies • Interpersonal / group communication • Traditional communication means • Mass media • Face to face meetings • Demonstrations

19. ComDev Methodologies

20. Factors influencing communication outcomes: • Power and control – Knowing how influence is distributed in a group • Ownership of the process – local customs, structures and systems should be consulted or referenced • Participation as an accepted cultural process – inclusion (or exclusion from a process) is dependent on cultural and social norms, beliefs and practices

21. Factors influencing communication outcomes: • Stakeholder involvement – international, regional national, local. (i.e. indigenous communication systems and mixed-media approach) • Uptake by individuals (and communities) – Each group takes up ideas and change differently: innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, lagers. Communication efforts should take into account their characteristics and timing. • Communication costs and benefits – processes require analysis from social, temporal and monetary perspectives, (i.e. selecting the most appropriate approaches for that specific context and objective)

22. ComDev Media • Community Rural Radio • Audiovisual Pedagogy and Participatory Video • Local appropriation of ICTs (Information and Communication Technologies) • Traditional and Local Media

23. Rural Radio

24. Rural Community Radio • Radio for the rural areas - broadcasting agricultural topics to a specific audience • Community Radio - differs from the other two predominant communication models: public and commercial • Rural radio and Community radio • FM radio stations established to broadcast to a local and predominantly rural audience

25. Characteristics of Rural, Community Radio • Access, public participation in production and decision making, audience support and financing. • The management of the station is in the hands of those who use it and listen to it • Structure facilitates participation (volunteer work, targeted topics, opportunity for training, audience feedback) • It has a local focus

26. Long standing commitment to the development of rural radio • 1966 -1988 radio clubs and support to rural radios in Africa (Congo, Mauritania, Guinea, Chad) • 1993 Re-launching rural radio activities in Mali • 1994-1995 Rural radio methodology in Niger and Guinea Bissau • 1996 International meetings on rural radio in 27 countries of Africa • Development of participatory interactive methodology • 1997-2001 4 local community radios in Southern Mali • 1997-2002 Assessment of ICTs potential to strengthen Rural Radio • 2000 Methodology for monitoring, evaluation and content analysis

27. Rural Radio • Management Steering committee – made up of community representatives • Staff Director, secretary, 2-3 technicians, producers, “animators” • On-air time 10/12 hours/day • Programming Agricultural topics, local and national news, culture, entertainment, personal announcements

28. Rural Radio Methodology • Integration: Rural radio stations must integrate a large number of concerns and themes related to rural development. • Interdisciplinarity: Rural radio production teams must represent and engage a range of topics and approaches

29. Rural Radio Methodology • Interactivity: Programming is based on the concerns of the rural world and is developed in the form of an ongoing dialogue with the community. • Sustainability: Appropriate and effective legal, institutional and administrative framework are required for the proper management of the rural radio stations.

30. Impact Outreach: Increased participation of community members to radio activities and programming. Content: Programming more responsive to audience needs. Awareness: “HIV-AIDS, hunting licenses, fuelwood regulations, gender issues…” Capacity building: Technical, radio station management, social analysis Sustainability: Institutional framework and direct contribution of community. Ownership and partnerships

31. Video Documentary L’alberocheparla La Radio Rurale in Mali FAO/Tipota movie company 2008

32. Participatory Video • A set of techniques to involve a group or community in creating their own film to explore issues and voice concerns. • The process is more important than the product itself. • It makes issues visible by enabling a or community to take action to solve their own problems and to communicate their needs and ideas to decision-makers/ other groups • A highly effective tool to engage and mobilise people, and to help them shape their own forms of sustainable development based on local needs.

33. Participatory Video • Steps in PV • Participants rapidly learn video skills through games & exercises. • Facilitators help groups identify & analyze their important issues • Short videos & messages are directed & filmed by participants. • Footage is shared with the wider community at daily screenings. • A dynamic process of community-led learning & exchange is set in motion. • Communities always have full editorial control. 

34. Video Documentary Participatory Video In Gambia and Sierra Leone Nov. 2011

35. ComDev in FAO - OEKR • Office of Knowledge Exchange, Research and Extension (OEK) Focal point providing normative / technical advice in ComDev to FAO units and member countries OEKR Mission To contribute to the strengthening of inclusive agriculture innovation systems that respond to the needs of small producers by: • providing policy advice to member countries and donors; • promoting partnerships at all levels; • supporting capacity development for rural knowledge institutions and decision makers.

36. ComDev in FAO – PriorityAreas • Natural Resources Management, Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction • Food and Nutrition Security • Agricultural Innovation Crosscutting issues: • Capacity Development • Knowledge Sharing • Gender & Equity Issues

37. Rural and Agricultural ComDev Network (RADCON) • Objective • Strengthen communication links among rural actors,to benefit farmers and agribusinesses at village level • Internet-based, community-oriented agriculturalknowledge system active in Egypt since 2004 • Results • 50 resource-poor communities, 96 extension centers,52 research institutes and 5 faculties of agriculture covered • 115 facilitators trained to engage local communities in generating and sharing knowledge through the system • online and offline support provided to facilitators by a network of mentors and subject matter experts www.radcon.sci.eg

38. Food Security Programme (FSCA/PISA) in West Africa • Overall objective • Build capacity among farmers organizations to increase sustainable production and food security, mainly through improving agricultural processes and marketing • 7 countries:The Gambia, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Senegal and Sierra Leone • FSCA/PISA ComDev component • Support knowledge and information sharingon new practices, technologies, lessons learned • Enable farmers to articulate their needs in the context of local community development • [rural radio, participatory video, village gatherings] www.fcsa-pisa.org

39. Thank you!