History of Develoment Communication

Development Communication,

The art and science of human communication linked to a society's planned transformation from a state of poverty to one of dynamic socio-economic growth that makes for greater equity and the larger unfolding of individual potential.

The theory and practice of development communication continues to evolve today, with different approaches and perspectives unique to the varied development contexts the field has grown in.
Development communication is characterized by conceptual flexibility and diversity of communication techniques used to address the problem. Some approaches in the “tool kit” of the field include: information dissemination and education, behavior change, social marketing, social mobilization, media advocacy, communication for social change, and participatory development communication.

History

The theories and practices of development communication sprang from the many challenges and opportunities that faced development oriented institutions in the last century. And since these institutions existed in different contexts, different schools of development communication have arisen in different places over time.
Manyozo (2006) suggests that the history field can be broken down into those of six different schools of development communication, with the Bretton Woods school being the dominant paradigm in international literature, and the other schools being the Latin American, Indian, Los Baños, African,and the participatory development communication schools.
The growing interest for these kind of applications is also reflected in the work of the World Bank, which is very active in promoting this field through its Development Communication division and recently (June 2008) published the Development Communication Sourcebook, a resource addressing the history, concepts and practical applications in this discipline.

The Bretton Woods school

The "Bretton Woods school of development communication" is a term that has been applied to the development communication approaches that arose with the economic strategies outlined in the Marshall Plan after World War two, and the establishment of the Bretton Woods system and of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund in 1944. The descriptive term is not widely used in the field, but has been used to differentiate between different "schools" or approaches to development which have historically evolved, sometimes independently, at later points in history and in other parts of the world.Leading theorists under this school included Daniel Lerner, Wilber Schramm, and Everett Rogers. Due to his pioneering influence in the field, Rogers has often been termed the "father of development communication."
Originally, the paradigm involved production and planting of development in indigenous and uncivilized societies. This western approach to development communication was criticized early on, especially by Latin American researchers such as Luis Ramiro Beltan and Alfonso Gumucio Dagron, because it tended to locate the problem in the underdeveloped nation rather than its unequal relations with powerful economies. There was also an assumption that Western models of industrial capitalism are appropriate for all parts of the world. Many projects for development communication failed to address the real underlying problems in poor countries such as lack of access to land, agricultural credits and fair market prices for products.
Failure of many development projects in the 1960s led to it reconceptualizing its top-down methods. (Manyozo, 2006) The school has reviewed its approaches over the years and has been the most dynamic in testing and adopting new approaches and methodologies.
The world bank currently defines development communication as the "integration of strategic communication in development projects" based on a clear understanding of indigenous realities.
Institutions associated with the Bretton Woods school include:

• the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO),
• Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO),
• the Rockefeller Foundation,
• the Department for International Development of the United Kingdom, and
• the Ford Foundation.

Latin America

The Latin American School of Development traces its history back further than the Bretton Woods school, emerging in the 1940s with the efforts of Colombia's Radio Sutatenza and Bolivia's Radios Mineras. These stations were the first to use participatory and educational rural radio approaches to empowering the marginalised. In effect, they have since served as the earliest models for participatory broadcasting efforts around the world.
In the 1960s Paolo Freire's theories of critical pedagogy and Miguel Sabido's enter-educate method became important elements of the Latin American development communication scene.
Other theorists who have influenced this school include Juan Diaz Bordenave, Luis Ramiro Beltran, and Alfonso Gumucio Dagron. (Mayonzo 2006, Mayonzo, 2005)
In the 1990s, technological advances facilitated social change and development – new media outlets began to emerge, cable TV signal coverage spread over more regions, and as the presence of communication firms grew so did an echoed global trend from major corporations.

India

The history of organised development communication in India can be traced to rural radio broadcasts in the 1940s. As is logical, the broadcasts used indigenous languages such as Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati and Kannada.
Independent India'ss earliest organized experiments in development communication started with Community Development projects initiated by the union government in the 1950s. The government, guided by socialistic ideals of its constitution and the first generation of politicians, started massive developmental programmes throughout the country. While field publicity was given due importance for person-to-person communication - also because the level of literacy was very low in rural areas - radio played an equally important role in reaching messages to the masses. Universities and other educational institutions - especially the agricultural universities, through their extension networks - and international organisations under the UN umbrella carried the dev-comm experiments further.
Development communication in India, a country of sub-continental proportions, acquires many connotations. On one end of the spectrum are the tools and techniques locally applied by charitable and not-for-profit organisations with very close inter-personal relations among the communicators and on the other end is the generic, far-off, one-way sort of communication emanating from the government.
The need for development communication continues since a large population, over 600 million, lives in rural areas and depends directly on agriculture. Poverty is reducing as percentage of population but still over 200 million are very poor as of 2009. They all, and the urban slum dwellers, need government support in different forms. Therefore, communication from the government remains highly relevant. In addition to the traditional ways, a new form of communication is being tried by the union government to support its developmental activities, though at a limited scale. Called Public Information Campaigns, public shows are organised in remote areas where information on social and developmental schemes is given, seminars and workshops are held, villagers and their children are engaged in competitions, messages are given through entertainment shows. In addition, government organisations and corporates involved in rural businesses display their wares and services in stalls lining the main exhibition area. This approach brings various implementing agencies and service / goods providers while the information providers encourage the visitors to make the best use of various schemes and services available. Some state [=provincial] governments have also adopted this model to take their development schemes to the masses.
Community radio is another new medium getting a foothold in rural India, though in patches. NGOs and educational institutions are given licence to set up a local community radio station to broadcast information, advisories and messages on developmental aspects. Participation of local community is encouraged. As community radio provides a platform to villagers to broadcast local issues, it has the potential to elicit positive action from local politicians and civil servants.

Africa

The African school of development communication sprang from the continent's post-colonial and communist movements in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Development communication in Anglophone Africa saw the use of Radio and theatre for community education, adult literacy, health and agricultural education.
In 1994 the FAO project "Communication for Development in Southern Africa" was a pioneer in supporting and enhancing development projects and programs through the use of participatory communication approaches. The FAO project, placed under SADC, developed an innovative methodology known as PRCA - Participatory Rural Communication Appraisal, which combined participatory tools and techniques with a strong communication focus needed to design strategies enhancing projects' results and sustainability. FAO and SADC published a handbook on PRCA and this methodology is still widely used today in various projects around the world.
Meanwhile, radio was being developed as a means of promoting rural development in Francophone Africa, with sponsorship from the Bretton Woods school institutions. (Kamlongera, 1983, Mlama, 1971, Mayonzo 2006, Mayonzo, 2005)

University of the Philippines Los Baños

The systematic study and practice of Development Communication in the Philippines began in the 1970s with the pioneering work of Nora C. Quebral, who, in 1972 became the first to come up with the term "Development Communication." In at least some circles within the field, it is Quebral who is recognized as the "Mother" of Development Communication.
Quebral's work with the University of the Philippines Los Banos' Office of Extension and Publications evolved into today's College of Development Communication, which in 1971 became the first to offer degree programs at the Doctorate, Masteral's  and Undergraduate degree levels.
Aspects of development communication which the CDC has extensively explored include Development Broadcasting and Telecommunications, Development Journalism, Educational Communication, Science Communication, Strategic Communication, and Health Communication.
Cybernetics approach
Another area of exploration for the CDC at UPLB is the aspect of development communication relating to the information sciences, the decision sciences, and the field of knowledge management. In 1993, as part of the then Institute of Development Communication's Faculty papers series, Alexander Flor wrote a paper on environmental communication that, among other things, proposed a definition of Development Communication expanded from the perspective of cybernetics and general systems theory
If information counters entropy and societal breakdown is a type of entropy, then there must be a specific type of information that counters societal entropy. The exchange of such information - be it at the individual, group, or societal level - is called development communication.
OBJECTIVITY
The fundamental objective of   DSC, is to communicate the latest skills, knowledge and innovation to the agriculturists so that by adopting them the agriculturists may increase their output manifold. In this connection three vital groups are identified which are as follows:
(1) Innovation   or Knowledge   generation.
(2) The political   leaders or    government   of the state.
(3) Users of the knowledge or   agriculturists.
A very close interaction is necessary among the three groups as mentioned above, to achieve the success of development support communication.
International Communication - the intellectual field that deals with issues of mass communication at a global level - is sometimes also called development communication. This field includes the history of the telegraph, submarine communication cables, shortwave or international broadcasting, satellite television, and global flows of mass media. Today it includes issues of the Internet in a global perspective and the use of new technologies such as mobile phones in different parts of the world.

Causes and Effect Of development Comm.

Understanding ‘causes’ and ‘effect’ is an important stage of development. It involves understanding the connection between an action and a consequence.  For example, looking at and reaching for their cup then looking at their parent, and repeating this until their action (looking and reaching) results in the consequence . It is an intentional action.