Written by Cleofe Torres, College of Development Communication UPLB
A global desk study on evidence-based applications of ComDev, community media and ICTs in rural development is now on-going. In line with the five priority areas of action agreed upon by the participants to the Forum on Communication and Community Media for Family Farming (Rome, 23-24 October 2014), this joint research initiative is promoted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN and a group of leading Universities in the field of rural communication.
The study aims to do a comparative analysis of approaches and methods used to assess the impact of ComDev, community media and ICTs on agriculture and rural development. It will likewise take stock of illustrative cases where evaluation results have been used to improve the responsiveness, cost effectiveness and sustainability of Comdev and ICTs for rural development.
The project is coordinated by the Centre for Communication and Social Change at University of Queensland as part of a Global Research Initiative (GRI) on Communication for Rural Development and Social Change in partnership with FAO and the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR). Findings of the study will be discussed at the IAMCR 2015 conference in Montreal (July 2015).
The Universities involved and their focal region for the study are as follows: University of Guelph for Latin America; University of Reading for West Africa; Wageningen University for East and South Africa; University of the Philippines Los Banos for Southeast Asia; and University of Queensland for South, East and Central Asia.
An open discussion group will be set up in the CCComDev community to share preliminary findings and collect feedback and inputs from the community of practitioners and researchers.