Integrated approaches to development action through communication strategies

A side event at this weeks IFPRI conference 'Leveraging Agriculture for Improving Nutrition and Health' looks at ways that "communications can help bring agriculture, nutrition, and health closer together."

Download the background paper by Warren Feek who argues:

"When looking at the question of leveraging agriculture for improved nutrition and health from a communication perspective, it is vitally important to clarify where the main challenges lie. The problem is not at the community level; the issue is how international development action is organized overall.

Development efforts can benefit greatly from 1) prioritizing a set of communication processes that ensures that the voices, ideas, perspectives, and plain common sense of people in local communities are included and amplified, and 2) promoting effective communication among development stakeholders in order to enhance coordination and cooperation across different vested interests and issues.

Action based on these two processes will generate the greatest outcomes; through effective communication, the efforts and energies of development agencies and local populations will result in accelerated action that breaks down unhelpful divisions, including those among agriculture, nutrition, and health."