The deadline for submission of proposals is 9 February 2023 at 23h59 UTC.

Rural Communication Services Research Award

In cooperation with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), IAMCR is offering four awards of 2,500 USD to authors of papers that advance our understanding of applications of “rural communication services” particularly in the areas of agriculture, family farming, natural resource management, climate change adaptation, food security, and disaster risk reduction and management. Special attention will be given to papers that consider elements such as participatory design of communication services in rural areas; appropriation of media by family farmers; institutionalization of communication services for rural communities; and evidence-based approaches for inclusive rural communication services.

Eligibility requirements: To be eligible for the award you must be a PhD student or early-career researcher/scholar and reside in a low or middle-income country in Asia, Africa, or the Latin America/Caribbean region (list of eligible countries).

The 2,500 USD is to be used to defray the cost of presenting the work at a special panel at IAMCR’s 2023 conference.

Interested authors must submit abstracts of their papers by the 9 February 2023 deadline, indicating that they wish to be considered for the FAO/IAMCR award in step 5 of the submission process, “Topics”. Authors of selected abstracts will be informed by 17 March and required to submit final papers by 5 May. The FAO/IAMCR Award selection committee will evaluate the eligible papers and announce the award winners no later than 5 June.

To know more about the call, visit the IAMCR Rural Communication Working Group conference page.

FAO, IAMCR, and CCComDev have agreed to collaborate to support the activities of the IAMCR working group to improve the understanding and the application of RCS to family farming and sustainable development.

The call is open to all organizations of family farmers, academic institutions, government, and the private sector. The topics should be aligned towards the promotion of a more efficient, resilient, and inclusive family farming. In particular, the priority topics are:

• Innovation and technological tools for family farming;
• Sustainable production in family farming;
• Financial services for family farming;
• More inclusive, efficient, and resilient markets and trade chains;
• Organizational and capacity building of family farming; and
• Public policies for family farming.

Ten proposals will be selected and will be developed in 2022-2023. The deadline for submission is on 31 July 2022, 11:59 PM (Santiago, Chile time).

For more information, visit the event page on the FAO Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean website.

The Forum was meant to:
• Share the findings and lessons learned of regional consultations regarding the implementation and institutionalization of inclusive RCS.
• Define opportunities, priorities and recommendations for advancing RCS in the context of family farming policies and the UNDFF National Action Plans.
• Agree about activities and next steps to support RCS, to foster collaboration and to enhance capacities in this field.

Watch the live recording of the forum here.

Register here: https://fao.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJcuceCtrDkqGdcgmyiAz-jxv8ibgtzuqh8S

YenKasa Africa initiative and FAO invite you on 30 June 2022 to the virtual Regional Forum on Rural Communication Services for Family Farming in Africa. The regional forum will be held from 15:00 to 17:00 CAT / CET with interpretation in English and French.  

Date: 30 June 2022                                                                  Time: 15:00 – 17:00 CAT/CET
Registration: https://bit.ly/3b0ucJJ                                      Language: French and English

This event is part of a consultative and interactive process based on a series of regional fora in Asia, Africa and Latin America that will culminate on 11 July 2022 in the global UNDFF Forum on Rural Communication Services.

In preparation for the global event, the Regional Forum on Rural Communication Services in Africa aims at engaging key stakeholders in the discussion on trends, experiences and appropriation of media and Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) for family farming. It also intends to promote Rural Communication Services in the region as part of the UNDFF process.

Objectives of the regional forum on rural communication services of 30 June 2022

1. Share findings of the regional study on Rural Communication Services in Africa, along with the
   evidence, lessons learned, conclusions and recommendations for advancing these services.
2. Promote mechanisms for policy dialogue, knowledge sharing and collaboration on Rural
   Communication Services.   
3. Promote the rural communication services agenda as part of the UNDFF process in Africa.
4. Define activities to support Rural Communication Services as part of family farming national action
   plans in selected countries.

The  regional forums are scheduled as follows: 28 June 2022 (Asia); 30 June 2022 (Africa), and 01 July 2022 (Latin America). These regional forums will then culminate with the UNDFF Forum on Inclusive RCS for Family Farming set to happen on 11 July 2022.

In addition, a series of UNDFF Regional Dialogue has been organized to give all actors the opportunity to connect and reinforce  multi-actor collaboration in addressing emerging topics and context-specific key challenges on a regional scale towards the implementation of the UNDFF. These regional dialogues will also culminate with the UNDFF Global Dialogue /Forum on 19-22 September 2022. 

To know more about these upcoming events, visit ComDev Asia, Yenkasa Africa, and Onda Rural. 

The Regional Forum aims at engaging key stakeholders in the discussion on trends, experiences and appropriation of RCS  for family farming and how to promote RCS in the region as part of the UNDFF process. 

The Regional Forum is a part of the consultative process being undertaken by the three regional ComDev initiatives in family farming supported by FAO –ComDev Asia, Yenkasa Africa, and Onda Rural– in preparation for the UNDFF Forum on Inclusive RCS to be held  on 11 July 2022.

To join the event, register here. The event will also be webcast at the ComDev Asia Facebook Page.

The first webinar was held on 24 March 2022 with participants from Brazil, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Vietnam while the second webinar was held on 26 April 2022 with participants from Madagascar, Nicaragua, and Tanzania. 

The series of virtual exchanges aimed “to promote the catalytic role of association and cooperativism in the economic empowerment and resilience building of rural women” by featuring the experiences and good practices of rural women’s cooperatives and associations. It is part of the project titled “Strengthening the capacities of farmers’ organisations to promote policy and legal frameworks for rural women’s economic empowerment and resilience through association and cooperativism, taking the opportunity of the implementation of the United Nations Decade for Family Farming 2019-2028 (UNDFF)“ funded by the Forest and Farm Facility (FFF).

Some of the organizations who shared their experiences are:

• Yen Duong Cooperative (Vietnam)
• Mitsinjo Professional Organization (Madagascar)
• Kinole Farmers Cooperative (Tanzania)

For more information about the webinar series, click here.

Photo source: World Rural Forum

The following are the courses that they offer:

• From Waste to Value: How to Tackle Food Waste
• Innovation in Arable Farming: Technologies for Sustainable Farming Systems
• Food and Nutrition: The Truth Behind Food Headlines
• Understanding Food Labels 
• Engaging with Controversies in the Food System
• Explore How Farmers Produce Food Sustainably
• Trust in Our Food: Understanding Food Supply Systems 

To learn more about these courses, visit the Free Online Courses page of the School of Agriculture, Policy and Development.