In 2021, a study was conducted to explore the interrelations between farming systems and farms in the global food system. This study found that farming, in different parts of the world, is highly interdependent. However, its economic viability is a global problem. The major trends in farming were identified in the study based on three primary resources for agriculture; labor, land, and investment capital. Meanwhile, in less developed countries, different trends were observed. Find out more about the study here. 

References:

Giller, K.E., Delaune, T., Silva, J.V. et al. The future of farming: Who will produce our food?. Food Sec. 13, 1073–1099 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12571-021-01184-6

Photo source: AFA

Article contributed by Claudine Batimana, ComDev Asia intern

Using a randomized control trial (RCT) approach, agricultural, economic, and organizational trainings were done with a female empowerment aspect to evaluate its impacts on the farmers’ livelihoods and technology adoption rates. Information dissemination was participatory. With the gender-sensitive trainings in two of the treatment groups, adoption rates were higher. This highlights the importance of equitable access to extension programs to increase productivity for rural households.

Find out more here.

Reference: Dhehibi, B., Dhraief, M., Ruediger, U., Frija, A., Werner, J., Straussberger, L., & Rischkowsky, B. (2022). Impact of improved agricultural extension approaches on technology adoption: Evidence from a randomised controlled trial in rural Tunisia. Experimental Agriculture, 58, E13. doi:10.1017/S0014479722000084

Photo: (c) FAO

Article contributed by Charlene Esteban, ComDev Asia intern

The study used a nationally representative sample of rice growers and implemented a multivariate model approach. In the analysis, the factors that affect the technology adoption, its extent, and its policy implications for better dissemination in the rice sector were highlighted. 

The role of farmer organizations, agricultural extensions, and San Juan de Yapacaní (Bolivia’s rice technology hub) turned out to be the determinants which affect most of the farmers’ decision making. Knowledge dissemination of agricultural technologies further promoted by government policies and diffusion centers are therefore important to better Bolivian farmers’ livelihoods.

Find out more here.

References:

FAOSTAT. 2020. “Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.” Available at http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/.

Martinez JM, Labarta RA, Gonzalez C, Lopera DC (2021). Joint adoption of rice technologies among Bolivian farmers. Agricultural and Resource Economics Review 50, 252–272. https://doi.org/10.1017/age.2021.9

Photo: Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT on Flickr

Article contributed by Charlene Esteban, ComDev Asia intern

In line with the above information, journalists’ Twitter newsfeeds and blogs on the Mail & Guardian newspaper’s Thought Leader site were analyzed to determine which has the better potential between print and online media to reach the audience, especially when publishing information regarding the public debate on climate change. The study also analyzed the role of online and print media in covering climate change issues in different countries, including America and New Zealand. 

The study revealed that social media and online journalism coverage of climate change are almost the same. Meanwhile, print and social media usually cover climate change as an environmental, economic, or political story. Others, on the other hand, relate the said issue to more comprehensive development topics, government policies, and impacts on local communities. English is the primary language used when publishing climate change-related stories in South Africa. Hence, it is recommended that such stories must be translated into languages for them to reach wider audiences. Further details about the study can be found here.

Reference:

Bosch, T. (2012). Blogging and tweeting climate change in South Africa. Ecquid Novi: African Journalism Studies, 33:1, 44-53. DOI: 10.1080/02560054.2011.636825.

Photo: (c) FAO

Article contributed by Claudine Batimana, ComDev Asia intern

The Alliance was launched in 2018 and, to date, it has 20 members representing a wide spectrum of organizations, including UN agencies, international and national NGOs, academic institutions, and professional associations. These organizations use a variety of approaches related to social and behavior change, including communication for development, media for development, community engagement and participation, program communication, access to and freedom of information, entertainment education, social marketing, and other related strategies.

The Global Alliance is governed by a Chair and Secretariat, currently housed at UNICEF on an interim basis. It engages in political dialogue, coordination, advocacy, and evidence reviews to advance the scale and impact of social and behavioral change and works to advance the scale, quality, impact, and sustainability of these efforts.  

Each member of the Alliance contributes to one or more subcommittees to advance the Alliance’s priority work areas: Evidence for Impact, Policy Engagement, and Alliance Coordination and Management.

The Evidence Cluster of The Alliance is focused on compiling evidence from the Social and Behavior Change Communication (SBCC) field of work. On the other hand, the Policy Engagement Working Group advances the field of SBC by advocating for better funding, positioning, and recognition through engaging in high-level dialogue. Lastly, the Infrastructure Cluster works to drive the development and functioning of The Alliance through the development of organizational bylaws, new member onboarding, website development, and ethics. 

To know more about the Alliance, visit their website at globalalliancesbc.org.

Source: Global Alliance for Social and Behaviour Change. (n.d.). Retrieved from globalalliancesbc.org

About the book series (Lifted from the Springer website)

Communication for Social Change (CSC) is a defined field of academic enquiry that is explicitly transdisciplinary and that has been shaped by a variety of theoretical inputs from a variety of traditions, from sociology and development to social movement studies. The leveraging of communication, information and the media in social change is the basis for a global industry that is supported by governments, development aid agencies, foundations, and international and local NGOs. It is also the basis for multiple interventions at grassroots levels, with participatory communication processes and community media making a difference through raising awareness, mobilising communities, strengthening empowerment and contributing to local change. This series on Communication for Social Change intentionally provides the space for critical writings in CSC theory, practice, policy, strategy and methods. It fills a gap in the field by exploring new thinking, institutional critiques and innovative methods. It offers the opportunity for scholars and practitioners to engage with CSC as both an industry and as a local practice, shaped by political economy as much as by local cultural needs. The series explicitly intends to highlight, critique and explore the gaps between ideological promise, institutional performance and realities of practice.

Recent book titles in the series

The Evolution of Popular Communication in Latin America (2021)

Communication, Culture and Social Change: Meaning, Co-option and Resistance (2020)

Communicating for Change: Concepts to Think With (2020)

Community Radio Policies in South Asia: A Deliberative Policy Ecology Approach (2020)

For a complete list of the book titles in the series, visit the book series home.

Dr. Marcela Villarreal, Director of the Partnerships and UN Collaboration Division, FAO HQ, reported that “in the last 3 years, approximately 185 policies, laws, and regulations were approved worldwide, promoting family farming-centered approaches to mitigate the impact of COVID-19, to address challenges in agri-food systems and to support family farmers in achieving the huge potential that they have.”

In South Asia, the successful development process of the subregional action plan for family farming was presented by Dr. MD Baktear Hossain, ​​Director of the SAARC Agriculture Center, who emphasized the strengthening of family farming for achieving the targets of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Ms. Rose Ann Leonor from the Department of Agriculture of the Philippines said that the country’s national action for family farming is a multi-stakeholder engagement that highlights the participation of government agencies, inter-governmental organizations, civil society organizations, family farmers organizations, academics and researchers, and nongovernment organizations. 

The event also reiterated the critical role of family farmers in both facilitating effective responses to the pandemic (safeguarding their members and delivering alternative services), and transforming food systems into healthier, more resilient, and more sustainable ones.

“Family farmers provide solutions to address issues on climate change, biodiversity loss, poverty, inequalities, hunger, and malnutrition. Make family farmers your direct and equal partners within the UNDFF framework. We will make a difference!”, a call to action from Ms. Esther Penunia, Secretary General of the Asian Farmers’ Association for Sustainable Rural Development.

The 36th APRC was held on 08-11 March 2022.

To watch the replay of the side event, click here.  

Based on data gathered from more than 30 interviews with key figures from the three initiatives, the following findings were noted by Jenkins and Graves (2019, pp. 5-6):

• Each collaboration is designed to facilitate concrete forms of resource sharing – of both human and technical resources – while minimising potential competitive friction among the individuals and organisations involved.
• All three collaborations feature diverse and dispersed networks, and are dedicated to creating connections, both virtually and in person, to allow for knowledge-sharing, skills enhancement, and mentorship. They also aim to engage participants as equal partners in editorial processes.
• Participants suggest that collaborative approaches have allowed them to report on topics they would not typically cover as well as engage with familiar subjects in more comprehensive ways. Many said they have also learned how to better incorporate data and multimedia elements into their reporting.
• Two of the collaborations embrace strategies that allow them to connect with communities to tell their stories. The Bureau Local and ‘L’Italia Delle Slot’ have worked to build partnerships with individuals and organisations affected by the issues they cover, while Lännen Media journalists aim for coverage with broad appeal that doesn’t favour particular localities.
• Despite their short tenures, these efforts have shown evidence of impact on a variety of political, social, and economic issues, due in part to distribution strategies in which national and local content is released simultaneously across an array of platforms.

For the complete report, please visit this page.

Source:

Jenkins, J., & Graves, L. (2019). Case studies in collaborative local journalism. Oxford, UK: Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism.

The assessment is part of the monitoring activities in the implementation of the UNDFF 2019-2028 of WRF in collaboration with FAO. The report presents the status of action plan implementation in 60 countries in Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Europe and Central Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean. It also identifies methodologies, tools, and mechanisms to develop UNDFF action plans.

In general, the report notes that there has been an increase in the number of countries engaged in the promotion of the UNDFF agenda from 2019 to 2021. Presented below is the status on the UNDFF National Action Plan (NAP) implementation of the 60 countries mapped for the assessment:

• Nine countries have adopted;
• 15 countries are in the drafting process;
• 27 countries are in the mobilization stage; and
• Nine have not yet initiated.

Moreover, several regional intergovernmental organizations, regional farmers’ organizations, and partners have been engaged in promoting the implementation of the UNDFF and the development of Regional/Sub-regional Action Plans (RAPs).

For more information on the UNDFF and its progress, visit the WRF UNDFF site.

Sections and Working Groups manage the content of most of the IAMCR conferences. Some of these groups organize events or publish books or journals outside of IAMCR conferences. In addition, several Sections and Working Groups host web pages on social media such as Facebook, or send bulletins or newsletters to group members.

Launched in 2018, the Rural Communication Working Group is one of the 18 working groups of IAMCR. It aims to provide a platform for scholars and professionals who are working in the field of rural communication. Beyond providing services in rural areas, the working group addresses key areas of communication in rural areas such as focusing on rural innovations and interventions, and social change and development that responds to the communication needs of rural populations in a sustainable and inclusive manner.

The working group adopts a broad understanding of rural communication that includes multi-stakeholder platforms, rural radio and other ICTs, agricultural extension services via farmer field school, SMS services, and other channels that improve access to rural telecommunications infrastructures.

Topics that are discussed within the Working Group include:

• innovative methodologies and new technologies for rural communication and extension;
• interdisciplinary multi-stakeholder actions and social learning;
• innovation system approaches and knowledge brokering;
• monitoring and evaluation for learning and institutional change;
• research and transdisciplinarity in rural communication for development theory and practice; and
• mainstreaming communication in rural development policies.

The working group was initiated by the Global Research Initiative for Rural Communication (GRI-RC), which aims to bring communication for development into the wider development agenda and practice. Initiatives of GRI-RC include incorporating and improving communication processes and services involved to strengthen rural policy frameworks. The group believes that communication is key to addressing important problems related to agriculture and food, and health and the environment in rural areas, in addition to the work of scientists who focus on technical innovations, sources, and distribution.

In partnership with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), GRI-RC hopes to collaborate in education and lead research into rural communication for development and social change. GRI-RC is composed of the following institutions from around the world: The Centre for Communication and Social Change, The University of Queensland, Wageningen University and Research, Van Hall Larenstein University of Applied Sciences, University of Guelph, University of Reading, and University of the Philippines Los Baños.

The working group also works closely with the Participatory Communication Research Section of IAMCR as this section has historically provided a home for rural communication subjects, especially in the global South. It is currently co-chaired by Rico Lie and Sarah Cardey.

Source: IAMCR. (2021). Rural communication working group. Retrieved from https://iamcr.org/s-wg/working-group/ruc