es ADESH erienc ANGL xp B t, ojec A pr earning and e L ETRR of the P PETRRA - an experiment BOOK: 6/10 in pro-poor Communication - agricultural getting messages to stakeholders research Edited by Noel P. Magor, Ahmad Salahuddin, Mamunul Haque, Tapash K. Biswas and Matt Bannerman Poverty Elimination Through Rice Research Assistance (PETRRA), 1999-2004 a project funded by DFID, managed by IRRI in close collaboration with BRRI Book 6. Communication - getting messages to stakeholders Communication brief no. 6 Communication - getting messages to stakeholders Alastair Orr, Fatima Jahan ASe.e Smaal,a Shuhdadilian ,A Mrif.a HNaaqbuie, Jaankdi rNulo eIls lPa.m M Paegteorr INTRODUCTION section. There was a broad two-pronged approach: Communication or getting messages to stakeholders grew in importance over the targeting the government (GO) and life of Poverty Elimination Through Rice non-governmental organisation (NGO) Research Assistance (PETRRA) project; policy makers, donors, research to the point that it was given output-level managers, scientists, and extension status on the logical framework. In other managers; and words it was essential for PETRRA to targeting the end-users of the achieve its purpose-level objectives. innovations, namely, farmers and GO- It could be asked why has communication NGO extension workers. become so important? Public-funded research is for improving the livelihoods of poor households and there has been a THE MAIN MESSAGES growing demand for accountability in delivering impact from that research. At PETRRA SPs can be divided into three one level, the agricultural research categories and each category had its own community has neglected to communicate message to communicate to its audience: its importance in the fight to reduce Category 1: Technology identification, poverty. At another level, researchers have development and validation SPs; not considered the packaging of their Category 2: Uptake methods research research in simple messages for farmers SPs; and and extension service providers. The evolution of Department for Category 3: Policy SPs. International Development (DFID) For category 1, the technology SPs, the policy in development has given greater messages developed were kept simple for emphasis to lesson learning and easy communication with farmers and communicating with stakeholders. That field level extension workers. Cost provided a supportive environment, but effectiveness and suitability were also the actual discovery by sub-project (SP) important criteria. The participatory partners of the effect of good methods that were used for technology communication led to considerable development actually provided an early experimentation and an excitement platform for emphasising communication amongst partners to actually market their as participating farmers became informal learning to others. extension agents. The SP equipped these PETRRA started in September 1999. people with extension materials for PETRRA did not develop a technology that they had a very real role comprehensive communication strategy in developing. The potential contribution until February 2002 through assistance of the respective technology was from IRRI Los Baños public relations something that was also communicated Communication brief no. 6 Communication: getting messages to stakeholders with policy makers and research during the project period. There were managers. four English newsletters and one Bangla For category 2, uptake methods research newsletter published. SPs, the extension methods being innovated were described in flow charts National & regional communication on posters. There was experimentation fairs with participatory video for women, PETRRA used the fair to bring all the SP picture songs and going public as means partners under one umbrella and enable of improving communication. In them to share their results in one location. addition, the extension methods were This helped build linkages. Since documented in a story form in the PETRRA dealt mostly with technology international publication 'Innovations in and research, it was important that the rural extension: case studies from general people along with GO-NGO Bangladesh' (Van Mele et al, 2005). policy makers were also informed and Category 3 were the policy SPs and for linked with its activities. Keeping this in these, policy dialogues were used to gain mind, two central communication fairs the attention of policy makers concerned were organised in 2002 and 2003 as part with agriculture and poverty reduction. of the communication strategy. The dialogues were supplemented with PETRRA encouraged its SPs to organise the provision of briefs in which the policy the fair at two levels - national and research was highlighted along with regional. At the national level the recommendations. communication fair in 2002 and 2003 primarily targeted policy makers, donors, CHANNELS OF COMMUNICATION GOB, media and like-minded organisations while at the local level the The following highlights the different village fair brought together primary and media used for communication: intermediate stakeholders like farmers, extension workers, local government Newsletters Two newsletters were published semi-annually, separately in English and Bangla, to a large extent re-using materials (quarterly report summaries, press and photo releases). As the English and Bangla newsletters had different target audiences, the contents did not mirror each other, but there was considerable overlap. The target audience for the English newsletter Interface included policy planners, donors, and national and international NGOs; the Bangla newsletter Dhanadhanya targeted literate farmers and extension workers. These newsletters contained PETRRA's latest innovations and learning along with news and views on important upcoming events. All the enlisted stakeholders received PETRRA newsletters (English & Bangla) 2 Communication brief no. 6 Communication: getting messages to stakeholders representatives, rice actors etc. Regional fairs on seed drying and storage technology were organised by Agricultural Advisory Society (AAS) in collaboration with local farmers at Shait Kahon village of Pakundia upazila under Kishoreganj district about 100 km. north-east from Dhaka. A village fair was organised by the On-farm Research Division (OFRD) of Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI), Rangpur office in collaboration with the local farmers at new approach to organising and delivering Saidpur village of Pirgacha upazila, development aid. Rangpur, north-west region. A two-day agricultural technology communication The one-day fair in 2002 was held at the fair on agri-technologies developed by the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute participating farmers was organised by (BRRI) campus inaugurated by the AAS at Sreemangal, Maulvi Bazar, in the honourable minister for agriculture. This north-east region. Shushilan also fair was limited to the researchers, organised a village fair in a village in farmers, SP participants and agriculture practitioners. Kaliganj upazila in 2002. The fair was organised as part of the Shushilan The two-day fair in 2003 was a special method of technology dissemination. event as it coincided with the first-ever PETRRA SP partners also attended holding of the IRRI Board of Trustees' different agriculture fairs organised (BoT) meeting in Bangladesh. The nationally and regionally by other honourable minister for agriculture M. K. agencies. Rangpur Dinajpur Rural Service Anwar inaugurated the fair. The IRRI (RDRS) in collaboration with the north- BOT Chairperson, Angeline S. Kamba, west focal area forum scheduled a final along with other trustees and IRRI fair in the first week of August 2004 to director general, Dr. Ronald P. Cantrell which all PETRRA SPs and other local were present in the inauguration. The offices of different agricultural agencies inauguration ceremony was attended by some 500 guests in the Ball Room of were invited. This became a regional Hotel Sheraton. The BOT had an policy dialogue for discussing the focal opportunity to see the many exciting area forum concept. The honourable state technologies coming up in Bangladesh. minister for agriculture participated and endorsed the focal area forum approach. There were 47 stalls covering activities taking place in technology development, The objective of the national research on dissemination pathways and communication fairs was to inform methods and policy research. PETRRA, interested persons and organisations of the its SPs, BRRI, Bangladesh Agricultural PETRRA portfolio of ongoing research, Development Corporation (BADC), experiences and results to date. It also Bangladesh Rice Foundation (BRF), and provided an opportunity for stakeholders Forum for Information Dissemination on engaged in PETRRA subprojects to touch Agriculture (FIDA) also provided display base with each other and to see how co m prising books, posters, brochures, their SPs fitted into the larger picture. In leaflets, technologies and research addition it allowed donors and prospective outcomes. Some 80 male and female donors to learn more about this innovative farmers participated in the fair along with 3 Communication brief no. 6 Communication: getting messages to stakeholders researchers to discuss their experience. As M. K. Anwar the honourable minister for part of the fair, a seminar entitled agriculture was the chief guest on the 'PETRRA and the poor' was held at the occasion while Mirza Fakhrul Islam same venue in the afternoon of the