ComDev Asia held a meeting with its Steering Committee members last 13 December 2022 to present updates on the implementation of the 2022 Participatory Communication Plan (PCP) and identify ways forward for 2023. It was attended by Dr. Maria Stella Tirol, Assistant Professor Rosa Plipinas Francisco, and Ms. Zane Andrei Cortez from the UPLB College of Development Communication; Dr. Mario Acunzo, Ms. Silvia San Marco, and Ms. Sophie Treinen from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO); Ms. Esther Penunia of Asian Farmers’ Association (AFA), Ms. Megha Desai of Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA), and Mr. Suman Basnet of World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters – Asia Pacific (AMARC-AP).
Assistant Professor Francisco shared highlights of the progress of 2022 PCP based on ComDev Asia’s three lines of work:
- Participatory Communication & Awareness
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- News and feature articles, short videos, photos, radio magazines and other communication materials are produced and shared in the CDA digital platforms (website, Facebook, and Twitter), including content shared by steering committee members.
- Support to the UNDFF Campaign – Radio Initiative led by AMARC-AP under the aegis of ComDev Asia was provided through consultation with FFOs and PO for the content of the radio program and visibility of the campaign materials through the ComDev Asia website.
- Rural Communication Services (RCS)
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- Capacity Development
- A Virtual Training on Participatory Video Production and Sharing was conducted on November 7, 10, 16, and 21, 2022. The training aimed to enhance capacities of practitioners, development workers and family farmers and their organizations to appropriate and apply basic notions for the participatory use and sharing of video for development purposes.
- Two (2) COP forums on RCS have been created on the CDA website as an offshoot of the technical webinar on RCS and the RCS regional forum. A COP for the participatory video training was created via the Comdev Asia Facebook Group. Direct technical assistance in Communication for Development was provided by CDC and FAO to farmers’ organizations (AFA), FFF projects (FECOFUN and
- VNFU), and countries with family farming national action plans (NAPs) (Philippines).
- A study on trends in RCS appropriation in 17 countries in Asia-Pacific have been completed and a technical webinar was conducted on 07 June 2022 to validate the conclusions of the study. On 28 June 2022, a regional forum was then held to share the results of the study and consultation.
- Capacity Development
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Moving forward, Dr. Acunzo emphasized that for 2023, what needs to be focused on is how RCS is promoted at the country level and to identify services and systems that could be provided to countries especially those with NAPs like Philippines, Indonesia, Nepal, and India.
Dr. Tirol mentioned that some of the things that the team would like to continue next year are to produce campaigns that will promote approved NAPs and share news on family farming issues and experiences; put emphasis in assisting countries with NAPs in terms of implementing a strategic communication plan and provide technical assistance to FFF projects, AFA, and SEWA; and follow up on the outputs of the Participatory Video Production Training, as well as its sharing and utilization.
Ms. Petunia on the other hand shared that for next year, AFA together with FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific will develop a case study on the process of developing the National Committee on Family Farming and the NAP of the Philippines which could be used by civil society organizations and governments as reference when they plan the execution of a multi-stakeholder committee and design and formulate the NAP. Moreover, she called for strengthening communications on the solutions that family farmers provide on the interrelated crises on COVID-19 and climate change.