Communication for development: a new field for the Network thematic groups to explore

"Participation is becoming a crucial element for our era", assured a report on Human Development written in 1993 by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). "And participation requires communication," noted the FAO Director-General, Jacques Diouf.

Almost ten years later, this foresight concerning the vital role that communication plays in development has become a widely accepted reality and supported by numerous experiences. Today, we can say that most development projects include the element of communication in one or more of its various dimensions. Communication, which is often associated with the technical training to boost productivity, also has a most important social function in providing cohesion between communities in terms of their objectives for development, making them conscious of their identity and of their potentials, as well as facilitating not only the dialogue between those working in cooperation but also the active participation of the beneficiaries in the development projects. At the FAO headquarters, there is a team devoted to the application of approaches, methods and instruments of communication with regard to rural development. This is the Communication Group for Development of the Extension, Education and Communication Service (SDRE) of FAO. From now on, this team will also provide support to thematic groups of the Network in order to strengthen communication for rural development and food security.

Communication can directly influence problems of:

-- Sustainable development: what was established for this end in Rio 1992, reflected in the different points of agenda 21, could become reality only through a profound change in the attitudes and behaviour of everyone. Only the mass-communication media, well used, can have direct effects on such generalized behaviour today.

-- Rural poverty: in a world in which emigration towards the cities has attained frenetic rhythms, rural communities run a steadily higher risk of being left isolated. Communication between local communities and those who design the policies at the national level is of vital importance to prevent the institutional abandonment of those communities.

-- Malnutrition: Increased productivity is not the only key to meet this problem. The spread of information on healthy diets and dietary habits are components of the problem that we cannot dismiss.

-- Gender: Communication for development can enable better participation of women in rural development and decision making, strengthen their technical and social skills, as well as foster the opportunities for self-expression. This is shown by experiences such as the National Environmental Conservation Strategy of Pakistan, a FAO project on integrated natural resource management, in which participatory communication activities were promoted through the use of photography (putting together photo albums and organizing photo exhibitions and contests). Through these activities, women were able to analyse problems that affect their environment and exchange their views, needs and concerns, making their voices heard on how to improve the use of natural resources.

Many examples throughout the world illustrate how communication is key to human development: to plan and schedule better, to promote popular participation and community mobilization, to change lifestyles, to improve training, to provide rapid dissemination of information, to gain the support of decision-makers, etc.

The formulation of policies for rural communication at the national level can definitively place communication on the development agenda. The Thematic Groups of the network appear as an optimal platform for debating these policies as well as facilitating the exchange of experiences and the cooperation in matters of communication for development. As a beginning, SDRE provides the network with a number of materials related to communication in decentralization processes, popular participation, extension-systems reform, systems and networks for rural development, rural radio, communication for sustainable management of natural resources, Information and Communications Technologies for Rural Development and the digital divide, among other things.

At the same time, as far as possible, SDRE is willing to lend technical assistance to specific requests that reach our network. You can also consult the website www.fao.org/sd/KN1_en.htm or access the content of the Cd-Rom with the publications in http://www.fao.org/sd/cddirect/cdpub/intro_en.htm.

For more information, please contact: JeanPierre.Ilboudo@fao.org