Document Type
Book Chapter
Publication Date
1980
Publisher
Praeger
Abstract
During the past several years the nonaligned nations have held several symposia concerning the flow of information among different countries of the world. They confirmed, not surprisingly, that they were informationally,* as well as economically, dependent upon advanced countries-especially the United States. To promote a new economic order, they agreed, first, to take control of their information systems, both to stem the tide of one-sided news, cultural programs, and other kinds of information coming from advanced capitalist countries and to turn their information resources internally toward promoting the social and economic welfare of their own people, especially the masses of poor people in rural areas (for example, Ma Ekonzo and Basri 1976).
Not many years before, the U.S. Congress had directed the Department of State (U.S., Congress 1975) to create a priority in foreign assistance for the poorest countries and the poor majority in these countries. A similar priority was proposed in 1973 by Robert McNamara of the World Bank, the development assistance loans of which reached a record of nearly $9 billion in 1978 (World Bank 1978). A significant amount of money from the World Bank has been spent on rural development to help raise productivity of small farmers and to meet basic human needs for food, shelter, education, and health services.
One point of convergence among both nonaligned countries and international aid agencies is a growing belief in the importance of information, education, and communication (IEC) to promote goals of increased material welfare and improved social services for the rural poor of low-income countries. It is not enough to create more schools or even adult, nonformal education schemes if the immediate needs of people for information in their everyday lives are not met by access to this information through some kind of communication system.
Given this increased interest in an IEC approach by countries and development aid agencies, a careful examination must be made of some basic assumptions of this approach and the evidence on which it rests. A later section of this chapter will examine the information environment of the rural poor, the constraints facing the contribution of IEC projects, the evidence for their effectiveness, and, finally, some recommendations for policy development in the area.
Chapter of
Communication in the Rural Third World
Editor
Emile McAnany
Recommended Citation
McAnany, E. (1980). The Role of Information in Communication with the Rural Poor: Some Reflections, in E. McAnany (ed.) Communication in the Rural Third World. New York: Praeger, p. 3-18.
