2. Application of the process of drawing up a multimedia communication strategy

2.1 Analysis of the situation

Any communication strategy needs to be original, pertinent, appropriate and realistic. It should be based on a good analysis of the situation. This will make it possible to properly understand the development problem to be solved, the possible solutions, the context, the stakeholders involved, the existing communication resources, the available opportunities for resolving the problem and the constraints to be taken into account.

2.1.1 Fields for investigation

Explore the development problems to be solved

• Exact nature, signs of problem, importance and urgency

• Direct and distant causes: Behavioural, economic, socio-cultural, political or other (lack of appropriate (infra-) structure, bad quality of services...)

• Consequences of the problem and the persons affected or potentially affected: Children, pregnant women, workers ...

• Justification of the problem selected: Urgency, vulnerability, national policy situation...

• What has been done already for solving the problem, the results achieved, constraints, lessons learned

• Information which is lacking, and how to obtain it.

Example of a stated problem: According the results of the most recent nutritional survey, child malnutrition is high in rural areas. It accounts for 30% of the infant mortality rate and is caused principally by parents not providing their children with a balanced diet.

Study the context of the activity

• National or overall context: Physical, economic, political, administrative, legal, demographic, social and cultural.

• Existing development programme: plans and/or policies for development, population, education, health, agricultural, etc.; legislation, political declarations, strategies, previous activities and experiences, available organisation and resources.

Analyse possible stakeholders

• Institutional stakeholders

  - Identify organisations and groupings, whether public, privates or associations, which could be involved in planning and implementing the strategy, either as resources or as beneficiaries

  - Describe their mission, resources, experience, institutional durability, physical location, motivation, etc.

• Possible target group

  - Characteristics: Demographic, socio-cultural, socio-economic, legal status, functions, other...

  - Knowledge, beliefs, attitudes, social and mental perception of the problem, needs and expectations

  - Their normal communication practice.

Assess available communication resources

• Existing mass-media: Coverage, access, costs, programmes, effectiveness, etc.

• Other media: Group media, traditional media, new media (ICTs), etc.

• Other channels, places of communication, communication networks and languages.

At each level, it is very important to:

• Take gender specificities into account

• Identify the strengths and weaknesses, assets and opportunities and obstacles and constraints which could have an influence on the way the communication is used.

  - Assets and opportunities include: Available services, appropriate equipment, appropriate media and field personnel, political will, dynamism of NGOs or traditional associations, existence of a development programme with funding, a favourable attitude in the community, and existence of a national communication for development policy.

  - Obstacles and constraints include: Low literacy rates, unfavourable attitude on the part of the community, difficulty for most people in the target community to access modern media, poorly-trained or ill-motivated personnel, limited funds, and absence of a national communication for development policy.

The analysis of the situation will rely on formative research for collecting and analysing both existing data (also known as secondary data) and new data (aka primary data).

2.1.2 The methods and techniques of research for communication

There is a wide range of research methods and techniques in the field of communication for development. Each has its own merits and short-comings (see Table 2). Often, they are combined out of a desire to get a better focus.

Table 1: Overview of methods and techniques in communication research

2.2 Drawing up the strategy

With the analysis of the situation completed, the next step is to ensure that communication has a contribution to make to the given problem. This poses the fundamental question: Are the communication activities really necessary and do they have a contribution to make to the solution of the problem?

Of course, it is only if the problem has risen from lack of knowledge, or from attitudes, negative beliefs, or a lack of know-how that communication has a key role to play. If on the other hand, the problem has other causes (accessibility of products or services, purchasing power, or motivation of personnel, for example), communication will not be effective. Then the communication problems need to be selected according to such criteria as their urgency, importance, vulnerability, the people reached, the availability of adequate financial resources, etc.

The following box gives an indication of how to conduct an analysis of a communication problem.

The step from the analysis of the situation to the strategy itself often takes place during a workshop. There knowledge can be shared amongst the partners (results of studies are open to discussion and comment, and they can be further complemented by participants. Thus is developed a common minimum knowledge which can be used through the planning process). Further, the identification, selection and analysis of communication problems can take place.

2.2.1 The strategic framework

This has the following elementary elements (see also Table in Annex):

• Objectives of communication

• Targets

• Types of approach

• Key messages or ideas for messages

• Channels and media for communication.

Define and formulate the objectives of communication

The term “objective of communication” is used to describe the expected final result of a communication activity, in terms of the changes or verifiable result in the given target group. This is summarised as being SMART:

• Specific

• Measurable

• Appropriate

• Realistic

• Temporal (being based on time frames).

The objective can be seen as follows:

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The communication should always aim at one of the steps in the process of change in or adoption of behaviour in a person, as seen below.

Steps in behavioural change

Selecting target group

After fixing the objectives, the next step is to select which parts of the population should be reached by the communication activities either because they are directly affected by the problem at hand, or because they play an important role to place in its resolution, or continuation. These ‘parts’ can be called target groups, audiences or beneficiaries, and they can be divided into two categories:

• Primary target groups, those who need to adopt an opinion, attitude or behaviour (example: Rural people who have to combat bush fires);

• Secondary target groups, those who can help the above to change their behaviour (example: Community leaders and field workers who have to try to persuade them to stop their bushfires).

The selection of priority target groups is important in order to avoid a dilution and dispersal of energy.

• Primary target groups are the people most affected by the problem; they form the group most susceptible to gain the most from a behavioural change and also the most susceptible to welcome the behavioural change which is being promoted, for instance.

• Secondary target groups are the people who could most easily adopt the message as it is; they are those who could best influence the primary target groups and to persuade them to take heed of the message and to respond in the desired way.

The maximum effectiveness of these communication activities can be achieved with a segmentation of the (target) population and dividing it into clear target groups, on the basis of available data, such as gender, social status, life-style, professional situation and the extent of their knowledge, attitudes and practices vis-à-vis the development problem to be solved.

Example of the sub-division of target groups

• Level 1: Rural communities

• Level 2: Rural communities in savanna areas

• Level 3: Young rural people in savanna areas.

Determining most appropriate approaches for each target group

Here it is a question of listing the communication methods and approaches, whether they be direct or related, which are deemed to be appropriate for reaching each target group and triggering off the expected changes. These include:

• Participatory community approach

• Inter-personal communication

• Counselling

• Education (household education, sex education, nutrition education, recreational education, peer-group education ...)

• Information

• Social marketing

• Social mobilisation

• Advocacy

• Training

• Functional literacy, etc.

Drawing up the key messages for target groups

The key here is to formulate the themes or ideas of the message aimed at a target group in such a way that it provokes the desired effect. The message should therefore flow logically from the stated objectives of communication and the desired changes at the level of each target group, taking fully into account its knowledge, attitudes and practices with regard to the problem at hand.

The definitive messages are developed later, at the stage of producing the communication material (see: the phase of strategy implementation). At this stage it is the themes of the message which need to be determined. In the case of more specific and limited strategies (as opposed to overall or national strategies) it is also possible at this stage to determine the tone of each message and the source from which it should be transmitted.

In terms of content, the message contains some of the following elements:

• The what and the why

  What is the change expected and what is the interest of the target group to adopt this change;

• The where, the when and the how

  Where to go, at what time and what has to be done for the behaviour to be adopted?

• The guarantee and support

  The elements which give the message its credibility.

Example: Bushfires impoverish the soil and this in turn reduces harvest yields. This can be avoided by making use of early fires, as is the practice in the neighbouring country.

The tone of the message requires a choice being made about the orientation, or the nature of the ‘call’, of each message so that it will have an optimum influence on the target group. Generally speaking, this choice is based upon the known characteristics of the target group and lessons learned elsewhere. Depending on these factors, a choice can be made from the following tones (or a combination of them):

• Emotional message (a call to such emotions as love, fear, anxiety, security) as opposed to a rational message (a call to logical arguments, or proof);

• A positive message (which shows that there is a favourable solution to the known risk) as opposed to a negative message (which presents the dark and threatening situation which would arise if the target group does not follow the desired course of action);

• A call to the group (group pressure) as opposed to a customised call (personalised arguments);

• Humorous message (humour makes a message pleasant, whilst still allowing a serious message to be transmitted) as opposed to a serious message (rigorous, plain talking);

• A single-minded message as opposed to a message with several points of view (in the form of a debate, or clashing ideas);

• A message with a definitive conclusion (i.e. The desired conclusion) as opposed to a message with an open-ended conclusion (allowing the target group to reach its own conclusion and make its own opinion);

• A repetitive message (which repeats the message several times) as opposed to a unique message (sent only once).

Examples of the tone of a message

Finally, at this stage the source of the message can be assigned. It will be the one which makes the message credible in the eyes of the target group: Expert, political authority, moral or religious authority, a peer, development worker, etc. This does require knowing the criteria of credibility in the area where the message will be passed.

Selecting channels and media for communication

In communication for development, the following channels can be used for delivering the message from its source to its final target group.

• Institutional channel: The recognised public and private bodies such as the political and administrative apparatus, the education systems, networks of development workers, NGOs, etc.

• Media and mediatised channel: Media bodies and ICTs such as television, radio, printed press, posters and Internet.

• Socio-traditional and socio-cultural channels: Opinion leaders (customary chiefs, notables, cadre, intellectuals, etc.) and other informal networks (neighbours, various groupings), the various forms and opportunities of traditional popular and inter-personal communication (collective work in the fields, vigils and wakes, talks, baptisms, markets, marriages, funerals, journeys, etc.)

• Commercial channel: The marketing circuits for common products such as boutiques, shops, bookshops, kiosks, pharmacies, etc.

For each target group, the channel(s) needs to be determined, along with the medium to be used. The medium is the instrument on which the message is affixed for its delivery or, in the case of advertising, the specific communication channel (such as a newspaper name): Audio tape or cassette, film, video cassette video, poster, brochure, magazine, stamps, calendar, exhibition, sign, banner, so-called gadgets (bags, key rings, hats, tee-shirts, cloth ...), a picture box, flip-chart, wall-cloth, wall mural, model, slide, painting, games, diagrams, theatre, CD-Rom, computer diskette, etc.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Each Communication Channel

With the above elements, it is possible to draw up a media plan - the selection of the media and the channels of communication as well as the accompanying arrangements - in a spirit of multimedia complementarity.

2.2.2 Operational plan for the strategy

At this stage, it is important to determine the elements necessary for the strategy’s implementation, and for managing and evaluating it. Of all these the following are among the most important: Institutional framework, production plans, capacity building, work organisation, monitoring and evaluation and budget.

The institutional framework of the communication strategy

Here it is necessary to design an institutional framework which can ensure the effective implementation of the strategy. This involves:

• The selection of the institution which can provide the leadership and coordination required during the implementation of activities;

• Determining the operational mechanisms of the institutional framework.

The institutional framework should be formalised in an official document (decree, order, note, and rule or project document) which will allow the stakeholders to collaborate and coordinate their activities on a clear foundation.

Related plans and capacity building

Production plan for communication material

The production of materials or media for communication is a relatively complex set of activities often involving significant resources and several partners: Content specialists (gender, agriculture, health, environment, etc.), communication experts, technical advisory services, members of target groups, production technicians and artists, media professionals, traditional communicators, researchers, centres for the production and reproduction of material, future (end-) users, etc. This requires the establishment of mechanisms for ensuring the participation of all stakeholders, or at least the vast majority: in light of this workshops are often held for the design of materials and training of various stakeholders, and a production plan is drawn up. The latter will list the various tasks associated in the development of materials, the production methodology, the time-frame for each task, and the resources needed (human, technical and financial) for completing work on each medium, as well as presenting the allocation of responsibilities.

Generally speaking, the development of material is organised in the following steps:

1- Design Of Material (Formulation Of Each Message For Each Medium Or Activity);

2- Production Of Drafts And Rough Designs;

3- Pre-Testing Of Drafts With Members Of The Target Group;

4- Finalising Of Texts And Designs;

5- Reproduction.

Plan for capacity building

The implementation of the strategy will sometimes require the setting-up of an appropriate infrastructure, equipment and human resources. In this case, it will be necessary to describe the equipment needed, as well as the profiles, skills and number of staff.

There may be a need to programme training for some stakeholders, to provide them with the knowledge, attitudes and skills required for the effective fulfilment of their role in the success of the strategy. This is the case with managers at the central and intermediary levels, field staff, beneficiaries, media professionals, traditional communicators or artists and designers. Here a training plan can be useful, describing the training needs, intended audiences, general goals and objectives, major axes of the content, responsible people, time-span and the necessary resources.

Planning of activities

The planning of activities consists of the identification and description of activities, time-span and - possibly - the place where they will be undertaken, resources, the person or organisation responsible, and the expected results. Some of the specific tools which can be derived from this exercise are mentioned bellow.

• Schedule: A list of activities organised by time, in the form, for example, of a Gantt diagram

• Work plan: This describes the place, the people responsible, and eventually the expected outputs. In the case of communication campaigns, a more detailed ‘plan of campaign’ is drawn up

• Management plan: In addition to the elements listed in the work plan, the management plan indicates the resources required for the implementation of the strategy.

The most common types of activities are:

• Formative research

• Strategic planning

• Establish institutional capacities

• Train key stakeholders and facilitators

• Develop communication material and pre-test

• Launch communication activities

• Undertake communication activities

• Monitor and evaluate the strategy.

Plan for monitoring and evaluation of the strategy

At the planning stage, the monitoring and evaluation of a communication strategy can be described in a detailed plan (see table in the Annexes) or can be included in a logical framework matrix of a development programme. This matrix describes the internal logic of a programme or project by hierarchising its objectives in rows and the elements necessary for its monitoring and evaluation (objectively verifiable indicators [OVI], means of verification, risks and assumptions) in columns. It clearly shows the coherence between communication activities and the development programme in which they are applied. There are several models of logical frameworks in the world, including the following.

Logical Framework Matrix

Comments

• The goal describes the reason-why of the activity and the general objective how the communication will help to achieve the goal, whilst the objective of the communication describes the expected result in terms of changes in knowledge, attitudes and behaviour.

• The objectively verifiable indicators and the means of verification are described further below.

• The risks represent the changes which could compromise the achievement of the objectives (for example, political unrest) and the assumptions describe the major hypotheses to be taken into for fixing the objectives (length of funding for a development programme, for example).

The focus of monitoring and evaluation

Generally speaking, monitoring and evaluation can focus on the process, on its products, on results, on impact and on the financial section. In communication for development, four essential questions arise:

• Has the strategy been developed according to known norms, and is it relevant?

• Do the messages arrive, or have the messages arrived, at the target groups?

• Are the target groups changing, or have they changed, in terms of knowledge, beliefs and attitudes?

• Has the behaviour of target groups changed, or is it changing, in line with expectations?

1) The evaluation of the process and the products provide the answer to the question: What happened, and how? These data will help to improve the process in progress, or to design similar activities in the future. Normally it covers the following aspects.

• Design of activities: Were the approach and strategy followed relevant, appropriate and in line with norms? Did the institutional framework function as expected? What progress was achieved in terms of durability?

• Activities: Did the planned activities take place as planned (in relation to the nature of activities, implementation schedule and expected products)? If not, what lies behind these differences? What was done to remedy the problems thus identified?

• Resources (inputs) like personnel, financial flows, information flows, material flows and technical support in terms of quantity, quality and opportunity.

• The products resulting directly from the programme activities in both quantitative and qualitative terms; their use is necessary for meeting the results ascribed by the strategy. This can include a consideration of seminars and workshops held, people trained, materials produced, people reached, etc.

2) The evaluation of results and impact serves to appreciate the effects achieved by the activities and products in terms of changes at the level of the target group, the development programme involved at the environment:

• Evaluation of results covers the progress made in relation to the goals of the activity, and its consequences in terms of knowledge, attitudes and practice;

• Evaluation of impact covers those changes which affect the development programme or its environment following the results attained by the implementation of the communication strategy. This could be, for example, the number of clinic visits or vaccinations during or after a campaign, the number of hectares which have been reforested and the school attendance rates of girls.

Indicators of monitoring and evaluation

An indicator is a value which expresses the nature of a change, describing its size or quality, and make a judgement in regard to concerns about relevance, impact, effectiveness and efficiency of an activity. It can be quantitative or qualitative. It has to be objectively verifiable.

1) Common categories of indicators in communication for development

1. Number of messages and communication materials produced, by type, during a given period

2. Number of messages and communication material distributed, by type, during a given period

3. Percentage of members of the target group reached by the messages

4. Percentage of members of the target group who correctly understand a given message

5. Percentage of members of the target group who expressed knowledge, attitudes and beliefs which were part of the messages

6. Percentage of members of the target group who have acquired skills included in the messages

7. Percentage of members of the target group who discuss the messages with other categories of people

8. Percentage of members of the target group who have adopted the behaviour put forward in the messages

9. Changes in the scale of the development problem (rates of occurrence, for example).

2) Examples of indicators for the process and products

• Number of led discussions

• Number of trained workers correctly using the counselling technique

• Material produced in line with required quality standards

• Number of broadcasts made

• Actual distribution of messages in the planned periods

• Percentage of the target group exposed to messages

3) Examples of indicators for results or impact

• Percentage of the target group favourable to family planning among young people

• Percentage of the target group correctly using a sowing technique

• Adoption of legislation promoting the access of women to higher level jobs

• Rate of vaccination coverage

• Rate of reforestation.

Means of verification

This section deals with the sources of verification (media carrying necessary information) and the methods and techniques for obtaining the information.

1) Examples of verification sources

• Internal reports, annual reports of institutions, study or research reports, epidemiological reports ...

• Available statistics in public services, programmes or institutions; general population censuses

• Media (through an analysis of content)

• Texts: Laws, decrees, orders, directives, programmes, protocols, etc.

• Delivery receipts and waybills, etc.

2) Examples of methods and techniques of monitoring and evaluation:

• Collection of statistics; review of documentation

• An analysis of the content of the media and means of communication; regular checks of materials at typical points of distribution; tracking the media/ press book

• Field visits; meetings, encounters, occasional seminars

• Focus groups; survey of a sample by questionnaire; panel; individual or group interview, observation.

In all cases, a combination of the means of verification, within a research context, will give the most reliable results. It is also important to note that the monitoring and evaluation of projects which are funded by donor agencies has to respect specific directives.

Budgeting the strategy

In order to assess the costs of the strategy, it is necessary to review and list activities and the resources required for their implementation, and evaluate all categories of expenditure:

• Research activities, monitoring and evaluation activities (salaries/fees, travel expenses, supplies, processing and analysis of data, publication of reports, feedback workshops on results, etc.);

• Training (fees, training material, organisational expenses, provision for participants’ costs, transport, etc.);

• Production and dissemination of material (design workshop, fees/salaries of technical staff, copyright, authors’ rights, artists’ fees, travel, fungible costs, reproduction costs, distribution and dissemination costs, etc.);

• Communication activities in the field (equipment, travel, salaries, field expenses, costs of special events such as press conferences, open days, etc.)

Where necessary or where possible, the budget should be allocated on an annual basis.

2.3 Validation of the strategy

2.3.1 The strategy document

It is for the strategy document to describe the following points:

• The context, justification, methodology for drawing up the document, a summary of the situation analysis including development problem(s), summary of research results

• Problem of communication, what behaviour should be promoted

• Strategic framework including objectives of communication, targets, messages and channels

• Description of major activities arising from the strategy

• Institutional framework

• Related activities like capacity building and production of material

• Monitoring and evaluation

• Budget and sources of funds

• Annexes

  - Training plan
  - Production plan
  - Plan for monitoring and evaluation and/or logical framework matrix
  - Work plan or management plan
  - Detailed budget
  - Description of positions.

2.3.2 The process of validation of the strategy

Once the strategy has been drawn up and its operational plan has been designed, it is necessary to validate them all. This involves the totality of the principal institutional stakeholders with a major role in its implementation, development partners and the competent authorities (in the case of a national strategy, the government.) The process of validation can take place in a workshop and then be formalised by an official order (a decree, order or note). The strategy can then receive funding; it can be disseminated and implementation can get underway.

2.4 General overview of the planning and implementation of the communication: practical considerations

The following remarks are intended for those people who have been entrusted with planning and drawing up development projects and who, having taken note of the information contained in directives, are interested in obtaining more information on the planning and implementation of communication activities as well as the advantages and disadvantages of various media.

2.4.1 Major elements in planning communication

Analysis of the situation and research on communication

No communication activity can succeed if there is no understanding of how the community which will be reached by the project perceives its own problems and the development options being proposed, and if their aspirations, their practices in obtaining and exchanging information, and their perceptions of the credibility of selected media and personal contacts are not properly grasped.

Often, such information is available at the time of when the project is being drawn up. If they are not available, it is important to obtain them, since they shape a good number of the characteristics of the communication plan, in particular the type of message, the media and channels to be used, and how and when.

Research in this field will also determine which obstacles lay in the path of the attitudinal change and behavioural change intended to result from the project innovations.

Studies on KAP and research of this nature are known to bring some development planners to a state of apoplexy since they require a period of several months, whilst the planners are designed project.

In reality, the situation is not quite so extreme. It is often possible to conduct rapid surveys and appraisals on carefully selected representative samples of the population affected by the project, and these in general provide sufficient data to be able to proceed.

The institutional framework

The institutional framework for communication for development is a factor that needs to be examined most carefully. Actually, it is an area of work which blends several disciplines: science, since communication makes much use of the social and behavioural sciences, psychology and dissemination theory; art, since communication draws upon talents and skills in the media; and professions, since it makes use of a very varied range of equipment and technical means.

There can be, thus, no type of organisation which fits every conceivable situation, especially since Communication for Development has to reach out to all sectors affected by rural development to fulfil its potential. While it is beyond doubt that ministries of information have necessary infrastructure for dissemination it has to be said that they do not always have the staff required for development communication; the opposite can also be said in the case of ministries of agriculture.

The idea of creating Communication for Development services at the national level is not yet common currency. In many countries, however, it would be a logical option to take, in institutionalising communication within the struggle against under-development. This could be in the form of a department for social communication attached to the Office of the President or the Office of the Prime Minister, or indeed to a ministry for rural development.

As has been shown in large-scale development projects, it is often a viable option to establish a special communications unit within the project itself. Experience has shown that the level of investment in the communication element can, if well-organised and effective in operation, reach 8% to 15% of the total budget of a large project.

The institutional framework of smaller projects, where the creation of a communication unit is not justified, requires more consideration. One option would be bringing together several projects working in the same sector, or in different sectors if they all work with the same rural communities, and thereby create a communication unit which would serve all interested parties.

In some countries, the technical ministries (for example, of agriculture, health or social affairs) do have information or communication units which can provide inputs for communicating with rural development projects. These units, however, may need to be strengthened in terms of materials and human resources, or may need substantive guidance, or training of staff to deliver an effective contribution to the project. The provision of assistance to these units could take the form of their own communication projects as mentioned above.

Inventorising communication resources

One essential part of planning in communication is to take proper stock of all available communication resources, in terms of quantity, quality and impact. When a shortcoming is discovered, it is necessary to estimate the steps required to bring the resource in question up to level required for meeting needs.

In a developing country, there are often insufficient resources for conducting socio-cultural research and KAP studies. However, this does require a sound methodology which is appropriate to specific needs, such activities have been satisfactorily undertaken by field workers of public bodies, by social science students, by staff of marketing and advertising agencies, or by NGO workers, all chosen for their aptitude for this kind of work. Normally, a period of orientation and a brief training programme is required. In general, the interpretation of results from the field has turned out to be more difficult than the collection of data. This part of the research work can require calling in specialists.

Climate conditions and the technical environment

Climate conditions can have a strong effect on the progress of communication activities. When travel in the project zone, for example, is severely restricted for several months in the rainy season, then the mass media (such as radio) can play a greater role than film shows for groups. Similarly, when the ambient temperature regularly reaches 40°C, it is hard to use video cameras, except at dawn and dusk and in the cool season. It may not be possible to produce the necessary films for the project.

The technical environment is also of great importance. For example, it is not very practical to use an audiovisual which requires laboratory work that cannot be undertaken within the country. There can also be a problem with state-of-the-art materials which cannot be maintained locally. These are all factors to be taken into account when drawing up the communication plan.

What type of communication?

The nature of the communication plan will be influenced by the type of media selected to be used most on the project. It should be recalled that communication for development encompasses several types of activities, notably communication for a participatory approach in mobilisation, for a smoother implementation of the project and for grassroots training. These activities are all suited, case by case, for different media, each in terms of its specific approach.

2.4.2 Major aspects and implementation steps in a communication activity

1. In an ideal situation, a start would be made with a communication process aimed at ensuring the participation of the population in the planning of development activities in the area a rural development project plan is given its final shape. This may not always be possible, and it would be useful to reach an agreement on what steps can be undertaken and to define them clearly. In an initial stage, such audiovisual tools as recording and playback of videos can be used to help farmers to regard themselves as partners and decision-makers in the selection, organisation and undertaking of development activities. However, the same results can be obtained by people with a high degree of sensitivity through personal contacts alone, on condition that they are prepared to spend time listening to rural people and to try to understand their vision of the future.

2. Having once determined the overall set of development activities, it is important to identify the various social groups who have a role to play in their achievement. These can be the target groups; each group has a different role to play and they will need to be approached with different messages and in different ways.

3. The objectives to be attained are defined in terms of each specific group, as far as their attitudes and behaviour are concerned. (For example, this can be in terms of a better understanding of the role and greater use of fertilisers by small farmers, the positive involvement of teachers in talking of vegetal nutrition and the use of fertilisers with their students, or a greater and better informed promotion of fertilisers by community chiefs and leaders, etc ...)

4. Audience research can be undertaken by means of such techniques as KAP studies and group interviews. These take the form of discussions with groups representing a target group, such as a group of fertile women, rural health agents or farmers who practice subsistence farming in similar areas. They can bring together between 6 and 12 people at one time, and should be focussed on a specific topic chosen by the researchers, using a well-prepared manual, but the actual discussion can be as free and wide-ranging as possible.

5. A communication plan is then drawn up for each target group, identifying the routes to be taken, the materials to be produced, and by whom and when.

6. The design of the message then follows. This is in fact a decision, based on the study of the target audience, about how to present best a given message to a given target, taking into account all the concerns and special sensitivities of the group. If it has emerged, for example, in a given area that the major concern of women farmers in between two harvests is how to feed their family, then more will be achieved with an agricultural message such as how to sow rice in rows rather than scatter-sowing. In another context, the prime concern may be how to generate additional cash income; then the message should home in on this aspect.

7. With regard to production of materials and testing them, it should be noted that the materials should always first be produced in a preliminary version and tested with small representative groups of the target groups. These preliminary tests, and subsequent modifications, are often neglected, in part because they are thought to take lot of time (which is not always the case) and in part because their producers do not have sufficient reserves of humility to expose their materials to the criticism of their intended audience nor the required flexibility to change them if the target group does not understand or appreciate them.

8. The next point of attention is training for field staff in the use of the communication materials and in the techniques of interpersonal communication.

9. This is followed by the implementation of the communication plan through the production and use of the materials.

10. The process of implementation is intricately and continuously linked to that of monitoring and evaluation. Even when preliminary tests have been conducted regularly, on-going monitoring and evaluation can serve to point up when communication activities are not achieving the desired results and when misunderstandings are hindering progress.

11. Information obtained through the monitoring process can be fed back to the implementation process. This means, in other words, that the type of message and materials are revised several times if necessary in order to respond correctly to the needs identified in on-going monitoring and evaluation, and until the time is reached when the communication work has been properly understood and appreciated. In the jargon of communicators, this process is known as «formative evaluation».

12. A closing evaluation of the impact of the process, and of problems encountered should be conducted at the end of each communication activity, so that the lessons learned can be incorporated into on-going activity.

2.4.3 Various media in rural development

No media is in itself any better than another, since the circumstances and requirements of each development project will determine the choice of media to be used. The choice of media can be heavily influenced by surveys about which media are accessible to the community, which are credible, which are genuinely available and those which could really be installed. However, it must be remembered that a message presented in a slightly different form and being delivered by different channels is the one with the greatest impact and the one which make the greatest contribution to behavioural changes. This means, in consequence, that multimedia approaches will usually be the most effective.

It should be stressed, however, that behavioural change rarely comes through one single media. Most people need to talk things through with someone else with more experience than themselves, before making their own judgement and experimenting with an innovation. In effect, this means that all information has first to be properly assimilated and evaluated according to its usefulness and relevance to the particular problems of the receiver before s/he takes any action. One essential part of this process is a direct interview.

Advantages and disadvantages of various media

Principal traditional media (for development)

Principal modern media (for development)

-- = Weak

x = Good

xx = Very good

- = Low cost

+ = Costly

++ = Very costly