A Different Take on Development Communication

Applications
Development Communication is defined along two, at times antithetical,

Perspectives or families of communication approaches (Morris 2005; Servaes

2003; Waisbord 2000)
Diffusion and participation.

It addresses two basic factors that should be present in any initiative:

The stakeholders needs and rights to be fully informed about development

initiatives (monologic mode) and their needs and rights to have their voices
heard and,
To play an active part in the initiatives decision-making process (dialogic
mode).

The two main communication modes or families of approaches are defined and
contrasted according to their basic scope.

The diffusion mode is identified with monologic communication, reflecting the

most common conception of communication, or better, information. It is
concerned with disseminating information and sending messages to specific
audiences.
The participatory mode is associated with dialogic communication, based on
the horizontal two-way model of communication.
Monologic modethe monologic mode is broadly equivalent to the diffusion
perspective and is based on the transmission model.
Dialogic modeThe dialogic mode is closely associated with the participation
perspective and based on the communicative or horizontal model.
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The impact of the communication intervention can be assessed by

carrying out a baseline study before the intervention, and then a similar
survey after the intervention. The difference between the pre- and postsurvey should provide the measurement of the impact, or change that is
due to the communication intervention. Communication to Define and
Design Development Projects.

Kaufmann (2006: 19) states that civil liberties, voice, and participation
mechanisms are thus not only very important because of their fundamental value
but also due to their instrumental value as key to socio-economic development
outcomes.

The literature review indicates that the failure of development projects and
programs is attributable to a number of causes (Hornik 1988; Mefalopulos 2003),
from poor design and lack of peoples support to open opposition to the projects
objectives and related activities.
Despite the sophisticated research methods developed in different sectors
and fields, the most commonsensical approach often is also the most effective
talking and listening to local stakeholders.
The act of listening to different voices and of exploring risks and opportunities
is crucial for the effective overall design of the project as well as for that of the
communication strategy.

Communication specialists are facilitators of the process, rather than playing

the role of experts in specific content issues.
Communication should be used to validate the knowledge of sector
specialists and compare it with that of local stakeholders, to ensure that
critical factors are not being overlooked.
Communication to Inform and Promote Behavior Changes

There are instances of such approaches used successfully in sectors such as

family planning
health, and
agriculture

But overall they have not succeeded in providing systematic solutions to key
problems and, in many cases; they have proved inadequate to address broader
development needs, especially in the area of planning (Melkote and Stevens 2001).
Most communication approaches aimed at informing or persuading
individuals to change behaviors are usually associated with the diffusion family
(that is, linear transmission of data and messages), and these can include
approaches such as

social marketing,
advocacy,
campaigns, or
edu-tainment

Such models, while praised by some as cost-effective and persuasive ways to

promote change with large audiences, have also been criticized by others for
their linear, deterministic, top-down approach, often overemphasizing the
influence of media and neglecting the bigger social framework in which
change occurs.

If used professionally as part of a broader effort, communication methods and

media can play a key role in informing stakeholders and promoting specific
changes in the level of awareness, knowledge, attitudes, or behaviors of key
audiences
When used in ongoing projects, communication approaches are often linked
to the monologic mode, to inform and change behaviors, but on certain
occasions other approaches can be used as well.
The power of information and proper persuasion can be instrumental in
inducing behavior and social change, but only when the broader cultural and
social context are taken into account.

BOX 2.1 The Importance of the First Mile

The First Mile Project in Tanzania promoted the use of communication
technologies, and especially mobile phones, to provide information about market
prices to farmers. Thanks to this information, farmers significantly improved their
income. Before the project farmers could get about US$100 per ton of rice; after the
project started farmers were able to get around US$600. This project combined
communication technologies and a learning environment where farmers
experiences and knowledge were shared and their capacities enhanced, which
helped the long-term sustain ability of the project (World Bank, CI, and FAO 2007).
BOX 2.3 Communication to Inform and Change Behavior
The following are two examples that demonstrate the successful use of
communication to inform or persuade people to change behaviors. The first
concerns information dissemination in which data transparency and ease of
availability for the public leads to significant results in a relatively short time. In
Uganda, a public expenditure tracking survey in primary education revealed that
only small portions of the grants made were received by schools (Reinikka 2001).
Various reasons were given, but it was evident that a major problem consisted in
the secrecy of the information about the disbursements that were not made
public. Furthermore, the grants-releasing process was seldom audited or monitored
and this aggravated the problem. This situation, affecting mostly the poorest
schools in the country, was addressed successfully through a communication
initiative that first raised public awareness about this issue. Once out in the open,
the central government took a series of actions to address it, including publishing
regular updates on the dispersal of funds in local newspapers, broadcasting this
information as news on local radio, and requiring primary schools to post grant
information in places accessible to the public. Simply making the information
available was largely responsible for greatly decreasing waste and inefficiency in
the system and seriously reducing the problem overall. The amount of funds
reaching the schools grew from 13 percent in the early 1990s to 80 percent in
2001.The second instance, also in Uganda, was the application of communication

approaches and methods in the Nutrition and Early Child Development Project
(NECDP) aimed at improving childrens nutrition and health. The primary audience
addressed by the communication was parents, and the objective was to induce
voluntary changes in their behaviors that would be beneficial to the children. The
NECDP followed basic steps to create conditions leading to change and utilized a
multimedia approach to increase parents knowledge and to achieve specific
behavior changes to improve childrens health and nutrition standards. The
communication campaign adopted by the project applied a mix of media and
methods that resulted in the intended changes. Evaluation studies confirmed that
the project achieved significant results in the targeted health and nutrition areas
(Cabaero-Verzosa 2005).