Communication for Development, Community Media and ICTs for Family Farming and Rural Development

"Communication for development, community media and information and communication technologies (ICTs) can help family farmers to acquire and exchange knowledge and information, strengthen rural institutions and give voice to their concerns, but only if they reflect and respond to the needs, objectives and conditions of farmers and their communities."

This 7-page policy brief resulted from a global online forum hosted August 25 to September 12 2014, in which participants from different countries discussed policies to support improvements in rural communication services (RCS) by responding to actual needs and by fostering better linkages between the different sectors involved. Hosted as part of the e-Agriculture Community of Practice and organised by the Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC), the forum was part of a series of virtual consultations and face-to-face participatory discussions. The overall feedback from the 'Communication for Development, Community Media and ICTs for Family Farming and Rural Development' forum was that "the starting point for improved rural communication services as part of agricultural policies should be to address the real needs of farmers and involve them in the different stages of the development process."

The brief outlines key observations emerging from the two-week online forum to help foster successful implementation of communication, information, and capacity development programmes in rural areas. Foremost is the requirement to put farmers at the centre of any initiatives and using participatory, bottom up approaches to ensure ownership and commitment. The brief also discusses recommendations related to using integrated approaches, ensuring relevant and quality content delivered in a medium accessible to farmers, and considering gender and diversity in programming. The brief also notes that a key success factor "in working with different communication technologies seems to be a well-functioning human network. The use of ICTs can help to support this process by enabling the exchange of information and knowledge and by establishing contacts, but only human action will really change behaviour." As such, technology is a means, not an end.

Forum participants in most countries reported a lack of appropriate policies to support improvements of rural communication services, and noted that developing the capacity of policymakers is essential. The brief outlines a number of recommendations for policy makers. These include ensuring the inclusion of youth and women, fostering and making use of research into what works, improving access, regulating the functions and relationships of the various ministries, institutions, and organisations involved in rural communication services, and intervening at both national and local levels. Overall, "the starting point for improved rural communication services as part of agricultural policies should be to address the real needs of farmers and involve them in the different stages of the development process. In this way, policymakers would be able to give voice to rural people and ensure inclusive and demand-driven communication services."

Additional note: The outcomes of the online forum fed into the international Forum on Communication for Development & Community Media for Family Farming (FCCM), organised from October 23-24 2014 by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in collaboration with AMARC. Over 100 participants gathered in Rome, Italy to showcase the potential of Communication for Development (ComDev) as a driver for innovation and family farmers' participation in rural development. They included farmer organisations, community media and communication networks, development agencies, governments, research organisations and academia, development and human rights non-govermental organisations (NGOs).

Click here for the FCCM webpage.

The full contributions from the various e-Agriculture forum dialogues can be accessed online in the e-Agriculture forum archive.

Click here to download the full policy brief in English in PDF format.

Click here to download the full policy brief in French in PDF format.

Click here to download the full policy brief in Spanish in PDF format.