Asian Transformations in Action - Api-fellowships.org

COLLAGES OF BETTERMENT 191The communication methods at the higher levels focuson group communication and publications, such asmeetings, launching events, seminars, demonstrationsof methods and printed media. The main purposes ofgroup communication are to create awareness, increaseknowledge and convince target groups to adopt theirpractices.For political leaders, policy advocacy and campaigns arethe most effective strategies. SEARICE’s staff regularlyattends committee hearings and lobby political leaderson the issue of farmers’ rights at the provincial level.They also had an initial discussion on farmers’ rightswith one of the Congressmen in the province and lobbyfor church support of farmers’ rights.Furthermore, SEARICE participates in and supportsCBDC’s regional and global policy and mainstreamingactivities. For instance, it participates in the meetingsof the regional partners and attends conferences andpolicy workshops for farmers at the regional level,contributes news to CBDC’s website and its globalvideo documentary, writes papers and reports toadvocate CBDC’s policies for global mainstreaming,and also participates in CBDC policy events andregional trainings.Communication methods at the regional level includemixed specific media and electronic media such aswebsites, video documentaries and publications. Theimportant point of communication at the regionaland international levels is to create “a community ofsentiment.” It means that SEARICE tries to createa group that imagines and feels things together byparticipating in regional partners’ meetings and theproduction of electronic media. These communicationmethods are not limited to the national level; they aretransnational. Using these channels, SEARICE and itspartners create communities in and of themselves fromdifferent landscapes that have a common ideoscape offarmers’ rights to biodiversity resources and move fromshared imagination to collective action. This media alsohas become massively globalized; that is, it is active acrosslarge and irregular transnational terrains (Appadurai1996). The table below summarizes the communicationpatterns being employed by SEARICE.The process of constructing the meaning of farmers’rights to biodiversity resourcesSocial movements are not just shaped by culture;they also shape and reshape it. Therefore, the processof meaning construction is one cultural strategy ofsocial movements for changing power relations andlegitimizing their identities. Symbols, values, meanings,icons, and beliefs are adapted and molded to suit themovement’s aim and frequently are injected into thebroader culture via institutionalization and routinization(Johnston and Klandermans 1995, 9).SEARICE has been constructing the meaning offarmers’ rights to biodiversity resources through threeprocesses: public discourses, persuasive communicationand consciousness-raising during episodes of collectiveaction.Strategy Target groups Messages CommunicationmethodsBehavior developmentcommunication(users/clients)Social mobilization/Behavior developmentcommunication(partners in thecommunity)AdvocacySocial mobilization(partners in servicedelivery)Farmer -partners• Men• Women• Other farmers• Other NGOs• Academics• Youth• Political leaders• Opinion leaders• NGOs• Media producers• Regional partnersTechnical• Conservation• Development• Sustainable agriculturalpracticesPolicy issues• Farmers’ rights• GMOs, hybrid rice• Intellectual propertyrights• Technical messages• Policy issues• Policy issues that affectfarmers• Technical messages• Policy issuesTable 1: Communication patterns of SEARICE.Interpersonalcommunication• Personal media• Specific media• Farmer field school• Training• Exchange visit• Meeting• Policy discussion• Seminar• Printed mediaGroup communication• Training• Exchange visit• Meeting, seminar• Participatory research• Collaboration• Lobbying• Seminars• Printed media• Orientation program• Seminar, joint events• Study tour, workshop• Printed /electronicmediaAsian Transformations in ActionThe Work of the 2006/2007 API Fellows