Written by: Anastasia Zammit, FAO
In recent years, communication has proven to be crucial for family farmers dealing with development challenges such as new market and employment conditions, climate change and environmental degradation, growing world population and higher food demand. It is with this in mind that colleagues working in the agricultural and communication sectors have been invited to come together at FAO Headquarters in Rome, Italy from October 23-24 for the Forum on Communication for Development and Community Media for Family Farming (FCCM).
It will aim showcase the role of Communication for development (ComDev) methods and tools as a driver for innovation and family farmers’ participation in rural development strategies.
In preparation for the Forum a small group of organizations and partners came together in the form of an Advisory Group. Participants from a variety of organizations lent their expertise, including:
- World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC)
- UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
- Commonwealth of Learning (COL)
- La Via Campesina
- Technical Center for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA)
- Global Forum on Agricultural Research (GFAR)
- United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)
- International Telecommunication Unit (ITU)
- BBC Media Action
- Association of Progressive Communication (APC)
- International Institute for Communication and Development (IICD)
- International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)
- International Association on Media and Communication Research (IAMCR)
- Fundacion Comunica
- World Rural Forum (WRF)
- World Farmer Organization (WFO)
- International Planning Committee on Food Sovereignty (IPC)
- International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)
- World Association of Christian Communication (WACC)
- The Consortium of International Agricultural Research Centers (CGIAR)
- Farm Radio International (FRI)
- GSMA Mobile for Development
- Inter-American Institute for Cooperation in Agriculture (IICA)
- World Food Programme (WFP)
Other participants from across regions, from organizations such as Victorian Farmers Federation Australia, SAMWAKI (a rural women’s group based in South Kivu) and a number of La Via Campesina members such as Taiwan Rural Front, the National Coordination of Peasant Organisations Mali and Coordinadora Latinoamericana de Organizaciones del Campo will also be joining, to name only a few.
Please consider joining these colleagues and discussing by contributing or commenting on this blog section, Tweeting your comments or questions to @FAOcomdev using #FCCM or by watching the sessions via livestreaming.