CCComDev is a global platform for strengthening capacities, improving partnerships, and knowledge sharing in communication for development and rural communication services. It is a partnership among academic institutions, development agencies, and communication networks to strengthen the ComDev capacities of institutions, scholars, and practitioners of ComDev.

The event aimed to present the key messages surfaced from the regional studies and fora on advancing RCS for family farming conducted by the three regional ComDev initiatives – ComDev Asia in Asia, Yenkasa Africa in Africa, and Onda Rural in Latin America. It also served as a venue for the relaunching the CCComDev initiative and the inauguration of the FAO-IAMCR-CCComDev RCS Research Award.

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.

Register in advance: https://us06web.zoom.us/…/tZMtdOuuqjgjH9N3nyvQ9Nq4mUVHA

ComDev Asia, a regional initiative that promotes Communication for Development (ComDev) in the Asia-Pacific region, held a training on Participatory Video Production and Sharing to enhance the capacities of practitioners, development workers, and family farmers, and their organizations to appropriate and apply basic notions for the participatory use and sharing of video for development purposes. The training was held on November 7, 10, 16, and 21 and it was joined by 16 different organizations composed of farmers’ organizations, national government agencies, and a community radio organization in the Asia-Pacific region.

During the training, participants participated in discussion forums, wrote scripts, and prepared storyboards, proposed production plans, and finally produced a two-minute video on a topic they had chosen. On the last day of the training, participants presented their initial participatory video outputs, and panel members composed of the FAO ComDev Team, Digital Green, and UPLB College of Development Communication gave their feedback. Based on their feedback, participants were asked to revise their outputs in preparation for a mini-contest on December 21, 2022.

Reference: FAO & Digital Green (2022) Engage, film and share. A video for development practitioner guide. Unpublished manuscript.

Article contributed by: Vincent Allen Fernandez & Zane Andrei Cortez

Research shows that educational attainment is a huge factor and an explicit determinant of agricultural output (Wouterse and Badian, 2019). With this, it is evident that households in rural areas allot huge percentage of their income and resources in attaining quality education. This is because proper education develops knowledge; thus, improving farmers’ product decisions, new technology adaptations, information access and comprehensibility, input judgement, and the likes. Furthermore, investing in quality education results to long term economic and agricultural growth.

The study was conducted from a primary dataset of 901 rice-farming households – selected randomly – from 10 provinces and city in the Mekong River Delta, Vietnam. It aims to prove positive role of quality education to agricultural development. The findings suggest that public and private sectors’ investment in quality education will benefit rural households and the public consumers as a whole by increasing rice output in the long run and promoting continuous economic growth.

Reference: Ninh, L.K. (2021), “Economic role of education in agriculture: evidence from rural Vietnam”, Journal of Economics and Development, Vol. 23 No. 1, pp. 47-58. https://doi.org/10.1108/JED-05-2020-0052

Photo: (c) World Bank

Article written by Vince Allen Fernandez, ComDev Asia intern

They are participants in the regional workshop Southeast Asian Learning Framework on Inclusive, Integrated, and Innovative Public Policy Cycles for Family Farming advanced by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, led by its Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (FAO RAP) with Procasur, a Latin American consortium, and SEARCA’s Training for Development Unit led by Dr. Nova A. Ramos.

The 18 participants represent civil society family farmer organizations, governments, and academe from Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Philippines, Thailand, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam. Their workshop is the first in-person regional knowledge event SEARCA has hosted in Los Baños since the COVID lockdown in 2019.

Dr. Glenn B. Gregorio, SEARCA Director, highlighted in his welcome remarks the significant roles that smallholder farmers and farming families play in our agri-food system, especially during the periods that there were mobility restrictions due to community lockdowns during the pandemic.

Mr. Pierre Ferrand, Agriculture Officer (Agroecology) and Regional Focal Point for Family Farming Agriculture and Food System Support Group of FAO RAP, asserted the agenda of the United Nations Decade of Family Farming (2019-2028) and shared the strides that the movement has gained since 2019, including development and establishment of national action plans on family farming.

Learning coordinator Dr. Luiz Caudio M. Campos of Procasur explained that the workshop aims to enhance the conceptual, methodological, and instrumental competencies of men and women leaders and technical teams from Southeast Asian family farming actors to influence the cycle of emergence, design, formulation, implementation, and evaluation of effective public policies that address the new challenges facing the rural sector and food systems.

(This article is originally published in SEARCA Website)

In the field of agriculture, it is necessary for farmers to receive timely and relevant information daily to help them assess their activities, avoid wasting of resources, and promote agricultural growth and development. 

The study conducted by Bachhav (2020) was conducted through a survey involving 175 farmers in Maharashtra, India. Results show that the majority of farmers require information on crop production, seed availability, and fertilizer availability. This set of information allows farmers to take on the right action plan to maximize all of their available resources.

Moreover, in connection to farming activities, the study shows that market information on agricultural production is the top information that farmers demand. The availability of this information allows them to control their production based on the ratio of consumers’ demand over the available supply.

Lastly, their fellow farmers top the list as the major source of information to rural farmers. Knowledge is passed from one person to another. Newspapers, government offices, and Community Information Centers (CIS) are also considered as source of information which helps for the betterment of the agricultural industry.

Reference: Bachhav, Nitin Bhagachand, “Information Needs of the Rural Farmers : A Study from Maharashtra, India: A Survey”. Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal). 866. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2043&context=libphilprac 

Photo Reference: Singh (https://researchmatters.in/news/how-do-indian-farmers-adapt-climate-change-amid-socio-economic-hurdles)

Article contributed by Vincent Allen Fernandez, ComDev Asia intern

Dr. Rhodora Ramonette DV. Custodio, the focal person of CCComDev, first presented updates on CCComDev implementation and future plans. Some of the project updates she shared was the website migration from the Joomla to WordPress, the finalization of the revised CCComDev strategy, and the monthly publication of CCComDev Newsletter. Moreover, the plans for next year include the re-evaluation of website contents to cater more to its intended users, putting up the updated training map, establishing contact with regional ComDev platforms, and establishing the CCComDev Community of Practice.

Prof. Custodio also discussed areas of possible collaboration with UoR, which include writing of RCS blogs, improving the social media strategy for promotion of the site and its contents, creation of CCComDev Steering Committee, organizing an international webinar on rural communication services, and administration of CCComDev-IAMCR Research Grant.

Applying C4D theory with wider participatory practices, UoR’s C4D master’s degree centres around the production of realistic and specified practical assignments. Forcing students to consider each step of the communication strategy process, from planning and design to evaluation and research, it takes into account the relevance of varying communication methods to rural communities across the world. Practical assignments ask students to research, design and present a communication strategy targeting rural indigenous populations in The Philippines’ Aurora region, as well as a radio programme and supporting communication strategy for rural farm workers in Tanzania, with all assignments placing participatory practices at their core, using real-life stakeholder interviews from the regions to ensure learnings remain as authentic as possible and outcomes applicable to the real world.

Over recent years, UoR have also managed to establish a close working relationship with key representatives in the field of C4D. With links to the C4D department at the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), invited students are given the opportunity to witness firsthand the work being done to progress rural communication services at a global level. Recently graduated students were able to spend time at the FAO headquarters in Rome, contributing towards the United Nations Decade on Family Farming initiative and engaging with important representatives from across the targeted Africa, Asia and Latin American regions.

The UoR is a beacon in the progression of C4D learnings and under the guidance of industry professionals with decades of global C4D experience, is continuing to support with the understanding of how communication can act as a force for change, both in individuals and wider societies as a whole. With a growing academic hub and ever-increasing field trips, research projects and networking opportunities, a new audience of people representing both the Global North and South is being encouraged to move into the development sector. UoR also offers a series of free online courses (add hyperlink) focusing on matters relating to food, farming, nutrition, and sustainability. All of the courses can be accessed via their website here and completed at a pace suitable to the learner.

To know more about the C4D Master’s Degree, visit https://www.reading.ac.uk/ready-to-study/study/subject-area/international-development-and-applied-economics-pg/msc-communication-for-development.

Photo from: University of Reading website

Written by Charlie-Seaton Reid, FAO Intern