Devcompage is a learning resource on development communication for students, teachers and development practitioners — extension specialists, field workers, and NGO staff. Anyone is free to use the materials in this blog, provided that the proper citation and acknowledgment are made. It contains reference materials from trustworthy communication sources, PowerPoint presentations, field photos and PDF files of reports and papers I have published with my research partners, discussions and personal insights about the work that I have done in more than 3o years, and my feedback to comments from readers of this blog.
Credits: Banner design by Lauro Atienza (International Rice Research Institute)
Dr. Monina Escalada is a communication scientist who has published several books and peer reviewed papers and had been awarded the “Article of the Year Award” by the Journal of Applied Communications in 1997. Her work has won several prestigious international awards including the 2007 COM+ Communication Award for communicating science for people and the planet, the World Bank Development Marketplace Award 2005, St. Andrews Prize for Environment 2002, Vietnam’s Golden Rice Award in 2002 and 2003. For her outstanding contributions to Vietnam, she was personally awarded by the Vietnam government a Medal for Agricultural Development in 2001. Dr. Escalada has served on the FAO Panel of Experts on Integrated Pest Control from 1991-1995 and the Center-Commissioned External Review (CCER) panel of the “Biodiversity for Livelihoods” program of the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (now Bioversity International) in 2006.
In the past 20 years, her research has focused on understanding farmers’ pest management decisions and practices, developing strategies in communicating to farmers and developing education-entertainment approaches. She has extensive experience working with national agricultural research systems (NARS) partners in multi-stakeholder partnerships and capacity building in participatory development, monitoring and evaluation of scaling up initiatives in resource management.
Dr. Escalada has made significant contributions in the design, monitoring and evaluation of the “Three Reductions, Three Gains” program in Vietnam. So successful was this scaling up initiative that it has received a 2004 Golden Panicle Award from the Vietnamese government. In April 2005, the Minister of Agriculture Dr Cao Duc Phat, officially endorsed “Three Reduction, Three Gains” as national policy and appointed a national committee to implement it in all rice areas. She conducted initial farmer experiments and introduced farmer participatory research to Can Tho University, south Vietnam. This concept spread throughout Asia. She also pioneered in the use of knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) surveys in pest management and developed various ways to measure farmer perceptions.
To learn more about her professional work, write “monina escalada” in your favorite search engine (Google, Yahoo Search or MetaCrawler (http://www.metacrawler.com), the “search engines of search engines”. This search will turn up some interesting bits about her.
Many of the on-the-ground workin this blog is drawn from multi-disciplinary work done with Dr. K.L. Heong, a senior scientist in the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI).
Dr. Heong conducts research in the areas of insect ecology, ociology of farmers’ decision-making, design and implementation of communication strategies and entertainment-education. Although Dr Heong is a biologist, he has ventured into applying social psychology in his work to communicate scientific principles in simple ways to rural farmers. His research has contributed towards significant changes in rice farmers’ attitudes and practices in plant protection in many countries. In Vietnam his work contributed to farmers’ insecticide reduction by 53% in several provinces in the Mekong Delta.
He is author of more than 120 scientific papers, 5 books and 2 CD packages. In 2000 his scientific publications earned him the higher doctorate degree of Doctor of Science (D.Sc) from the University of London.
29 responses so far ↓
Monina Escalada // January 29, 2008 at 6:03 pm
From Dario Cidro, by email…
Ma’am Moni, I will be regularly reading your Devcompage coz its really a great resource for us who are into extension practice. I hope vsu will not impose a restriction to limit readership of your weblog to your students only!
But at any rate, we are your students too so I guess it won’t matter. Thanks a lot for providing us a very rich reference website on devcom and rural development…
I have recently watched the movie “Into the Wild” and this is based on a nonfiction book by Jon Krakauer. The book is about a story of a young man who tragically died of starvation in Alaska. If you have time in one of your trips to Manila, please check this book and I really find it worth sharing. I think your students will enjoy it as well. There’s another book by Krakauer, “Into Thin Air”, and you may want to try it also. How I wish I could read them with your espasol and biko!
[When I was a kid, we used to eat biko with bulad! My grandmother would intentionally put just enough sugar to taste because of the dried fish that goes with the biko!]
merv // February 6, 2008 at 1:35 pm
Finally! something I could sink my teeth into… the devcom page is a great idea Ma’am Moni (we’ll what do you expect from a great person like her? hehe..) after reading Krakauer’s “Into Thin Air”, I suggest reading Anatoli Boukreev’s “The Climb” (Boukreev is the villain of Krakauer’s “Into Thin Air” which is not entirely true by the way) the tragic “Into the Wild” should have never happened if the guy in the movie and of course the book followed The First Law of the Outdoors: “NEVER CLIMB ALONE” also try reading Martin Dugard’s “Surviving the Toughest Race on Earth” and my personal favoite “Fall of the Phantom Lord” by Andrew Todhunter, this is the story of rock- climbing legend Dan Osman… Jah Bless you all
Monina Escalada // February 6, 2008 at 7:52 pm
Hi Mervyn. Thanks for the book review and your book recommendations. Will try to get hold of those books when I go to Manila. I’m glad you’re reading. I hope your classmates are book readers too.
BTW, pls read my comment in “how can we improve the quality of instructional materials”. it’s the one after anabelle’s comment.
Trel Borja // February 14, 2008 at 4:00 am
Dr Escalada, I’ve read your blog. It’s very reader-friendly. Professional and scholarly. Simply beautiful! Thanks for allowing anybody to access it. I agree with you. “Information is not a zero-sum phenomenon.” I learned a lot.
Trel Borja
Xavier University
Avril De Guzman // February 17, 2008 at 1:52 pm
Dear Maam Moni,
I think the blog is a great idea. I have even thought of creating one for my classes when I’m back (the blog I have now has been mostly about my day to day life, which has become part of my de-stressing mechanism from all those journal readings, hehe). I cannot wait to be back and be with students again, I look forward to working with you soon. =) I will take time to read your postings and I just know the material will be really helpful! Thanks, thanks!
Avril
Monina Escalada // February 17, 2008 at 5:10 pm
Avril Hi! I’m glad you dropped by Devcompage. The great thing about blogs is the interaction with readers. In fact, someone said that in Devcompage, both teachers and students converge. But apart from students and teachers, alumni and friends from all parts of the world also post comments which makes it truly a global village.
You can also visit my other blog: http://placesandfood.blogspot.com. That one contains many bits of useful advice about travel and food, like my easy-to-follow kitchen-tested recipes that you can try out in your kitchen in Iowa.
pearl hope // March 13, 2008 at 11:27 pm
good day!
im a devcom student in cebu city philippines,, i really like this page because it helps me in my studies.. i hope i can rely some of our subjects in your page.. thank you and More powers!
Monina Escalada // March 14, 2008 at 3:00 am
Pearl Hope, thanks. I hope tell your classmates about Devcompage. There’s still a lot of information in my treasure chest of devcom or masscom that I have not posted or uploaded, please feel free to leave a comment if you have any specific questions or if you want to suggest topics you want me to tackle. I might be able to help. Good luck in your studies.
H.M.Fathima Khanam // March 19, 2008 at 11:53 am
Dear Sir,
I take this opportunity to introduce myself as Ms.Fathima Khanam.H.M, working as Project Associate for Icfai University Press. I am part of the “Copyrights Cell” team handling issues related to copyright/reprint permissions from Icfai. I am writing to you to seek your permission to reprint the below mentioned article.
Your kind contribution would be of great help.
The details of an article are as follows
Article: Environmental radio soap opera for rural Vietnam
Authors: M.M. Escalada and K.L. Heong
Page extent of the article: Entire article( From 1 to 13)
Issue details: June 2007
Source/URL: http://devcompage.files.wordpress.com/2007/12/mescaladaheong-asia-radio-paper.pdf
Title of Publication: Devcompage wordpress
Title of Icfai’s Professional Reference Book: Communication for social change.(Book title is subject to change after the final review)
Expected Date Of Publication: June - 2008
About Icfai:
The Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India (Icfai) is a non-profit organization involved, primarily, in imparting quality education. Presently, Icfai offers more than 50 programs in almost all subjects of contemporary interest and utility. The motto of Icfai is Merit with ethics and a passion for excellence.
About Icfai University Press:
In order to survive and thrive in a rapidly transforming economic and business environment, executives and professionals need to continuously acquire emerging knowledge and skills. The Icfai University Press therefore brings out a portfolio of publications to make the much-needed knowledge available to its readers who include students, research scholars and working executives. Presently, the Icfai University Press brings out 18 magazines and 57 journals.
About Icfai Books:
Icfai Books is the initiative of the Icfai University Press to publish a series of professional reference books in the areas of accounting, banking, insurance, finance, marketing, operations, HRM, IT, general management and allied areas with a special focus on emerging and frontier themes. These books seek to provide, at one place, a retrospective, current as well as prospective view of the contemporary developments in the environment, with emphasis on general and specialized branches of knowledge and applications.
These professional books are based on relevant, authoritative and thought-provoking articles written by experts and published in leading professional magazines and research journals. The articles are organized in a sequential and logical way that makes reading continuous and helps the reader acquire a holistic view of the subject. This helps in strengthening the understanding of the subject better and also enables the readers stretch their thoughts beyond the contents of the book. These books are designed to meet the requirements of working executives, research scholars, academicians, students of professional programs and Indian and foreign universities. Around 40 books are sent to print every month.
The books are meant for the purpose of dissemination of knowledge and information and are sold at highly discounted prices. The publishing unit is, therefore, heavily subsidized by the parent organization involved in higher education. If you need any more information about Icfai Journals and Magazines, please visit http://www.iupindia.org. We have the pleasure of announcing that we have changed the look and feel of our web presence with a few additional features. The new URL of our web site is: http://www.books.iupindia.org.
In respect of the article for which, we now seek reprint permission, we shall be obliged if you would be kind enough to grant us permission to reprint the article in print media as well as electronic format in English or translated into other languages also, if required, for world wide distribution. For your kind information, the print run of the book would be normally 5000 copies in batches of 1000s.”
Please consider our request and grant us the reprint permission. Due credit, in the prescribed format, is always given to the copyright holder.
May we also request you to provide us with the following information for our use and records.
Name of Copyright holder
Specific credit line as you would like it to appear in the book
Eg: source:www.———©————–Reprinted with permission.
Address for sending complimentary book
According to our organization’s standard credit line policy, only the source and the details of the copyright holders are mentioned in the credit line and it appears at the footnote of the first page of the article.
Looking forward to an early response from you and thanking you in anticipation.
With best regards
Ms.Fathima Khanam.H.M
Project associate
Copyrights Cell
Icfai Research Center, Icfai University
4Th Floor, Stellar Sphinx,
Banjara Hills, Punjagutta, Hyderabad-500 082
Voice + 91-40-23423168/70-EXT-209
Fax No.:91-040-23435386
Email: fathimak@icfai.org
Monina Escalada // April 2, 2008 at 8:31 pm
Fathima, we have reconsidered and now give permission to Icfai University Press to reprint the article on “entertainment-education” for inclusion in your book, provided that due credit is given to the authors.
Ronny Adhikarya // April 30, 2008 at 4:41 pm
Dear Moni:
What a great initiative … in providing this much needed knowledge sharing & brokering service and forum in the “blogosphere”.
Kudos to you for promoting and sharing your “tacit” knowledge on development communication to the ever increasing number of development practitioners and thinkers.
I will also check on your other blog on places & food as I am presently also advocating “culinary” tourism and “culinary” journalism … Heh3x
All the best and with warmest personal regards.
Ronny
E-mail: Ronny@RAdhikarya.com
Skype: ronny4skype
Web: http://www.linkedin.com/in/ronnyadhikarya
Books: http://www.books.google.com/books?q=adhikarya
Jojo Agot // May 7, 2008 at 2:15 am
Ma’am Moni,
I don’t know if anybody noticed but your blog has had more than 11,000 hits from all over the world. I checked the ClustrMaps feature of the website and I’m pleasantly surprised to find out that many visitors came from as far as America, Central Europe, and Africa.
If my memory in geography can be trusted, I think some people from Iceland and New Zealand have also been reading devcompage- that almost covers North and South Poles!
The most number of hits came from the US (East Coast and California area), UK, India, the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia and NSW Australia.
Random hits include Japan, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Mongolia, Russia, North Korea, and the Caribbean.
Well, I need not bore you with geographical roll call; maybe I’m just saying congratulations, hahaha.
Monina Escalada // May 7, 2008 at 2:22 am
Jojo, you are an astute observer indeed. Yes, we have more than 11k readers from all over the world within a span of 6 months! I like the geographical spread I see in Clustrmaps and although my work is focused in Asia, it shows once again that science is borderless. The steady increase in the number of readers gives me instant gratification which inspires me to tackle relevant themes in keeping with the niche of Devcompage.
But loyal readers like you who think and post meaningful comments that lead to a discussion are what make a niche blog tick. I hope more readers will leave comments that will make the blog more interactive.
Jojo Agot // June 27, 2008 at 12:05 am
i love the new look in the frontpage
Monina Escalada // June 27, 2008 at 8:12 pm
Jojo, you noticed! I’m glad you like the new web banner of Devcompage. It was designed by my friend, Lauro Atienza, of IRRI, who did it pro bono. It’s his gift for me.
Lanie // August 24, 2008 at 5:55 pm
Dear Ms. Escalada:
I salute you for putting up a webpage on development communication. I’ve been looking for one for the past few days and glad that I stumbled on this site.
I am also amaze to see that you provide advises (thesis, etc.) and post devcom-related materials that anybody can download or check for free! You are such a kind spirit, Ma’am! May God provide you with good blessings in life.
By the way, I am Lanie. I’m taking up my master’s degree in Development Communication. Although, my undergrate and professional experiences are communication-related, DevCom is a totally new and very interesting subject for me. I am very much serious to become an expert on this in the future.
However, Ma’am, since I came from other field of communication (Media and Corporate Communication), I would like to seek your advice on how I should start with this field.
Monina Escalada // August 24, 2008 at 7:14 pm
Lanie, thanks for visiting Devcompage. You asked how you should start in this field. Your doing a master’s degree in Development Communication is a step in the right direction. But beyond the academic preparation, you need to gain hands-on and/or field experience in devcom implementation and research projects. That way you will gain skills and insights that the books may not be able to tell you. You also need to publish your work in peer-reviewed journals. To be able to do this, you research must be designed with scientific rigor. Good luck.
Lanie // August 24, 2008 at 10:03 pm
Dear Ma’am,
Thank you so much for a very prompt response. Will do just that. Have a nice day po!
Jed Asaph Cortes // August 27, 2008 at 10:07 pm
Ma’am, I was just wondering…what really made you to start a blog like Devcompage. I had “cool and professional” as my initial impression but as browsed through the posts, links and comments, I realized that this is REALLY a great resource.
Even though I’m just starting out to experience DevCom, I nevertheless have a desire to learn more (sneakily ahead of my classmates, hehehe). Not that I’d like to be ahead of them for selfish reasons, I do invite them to take time to go the extra mile but they don’t seem to care about it (even inviting them to read Devcompage). Well, let me give them the benefit of the doubt for a number of possible reasons, like being busy, lack of internet access, or being unfamiliar to the blogosphere…hehehe
Now, I have my own blog from WordPress too. it’s jedcortes dot wordpress dot com and the idea of having that actually came to me after I visited devcompage. It is where I publish most of the many things that pop up in my mind especially those I think about most and discuss even with myself. Hahaha. It’s about anything that happens with my life that’s worth bloggable.
Ma’am, you can also visit the Amaranth’s blog. I am the one developing it but it was actually a composite idea of the staff… http://amaranthvsu.wordpress.com/ We’d really love to hear from you; we’re constantly looking for ways on how to improve the pub. We’re still wondering, too, if this blog will ‘make patok’ with the VSU students, but we just hope that this will also serve our purposes, especially audience feedback.
That’s all. Good day, ma’am!
Monina Escalada // August 28, 2008 at 5:19 pm
Jed, thanks for the link to the Amaranth blog. I visited it already and left a comment. You asked what made me start Devcompage. Well, it was my son, an IT graduate, who egged me on to start it. This was November 4, 2007 and I was about to send as email attachments my updated course outline and one week of readings to my students as I was going to be overseas on the first week of classes. He just showed me the way and when I got started I couldn’t stop. I started at 2 pm and six hours later, my son asked, “What are we having for dinner?” I replied, “Just call Hap Chan for Chinese food delivery.” Well, as of today, Devcompage has 20,415 hits. Not bad for a niche blog.
But Devcompage has evolved from being a course blog to one which helps not just my students but many others from other universities and organizations as well. That gives me a lot of professional satisfaction coz I have a treasure chest of field experiences and insights in media campaigns, monitoring and evaluation, and communication research methods that I’m willing to share with anyone. I hope you will continue to visit Devcompage and post a comment.
Clyta Borbon // October 15, 2008 at 9:46 pm
Good day, Ma’am.. I am a DevCom student from Xavier University(Cagayan de Oro). I am also one of Ma’am Trel Borja’s student. Thank you so much for posting this devcom page, i find it very useful and educational. I enjoy being a Devcom student because I find this as a very insightful course. I am graduating this year but I actually don’t know where I am heading after this but I would very much want to join in a work force that it related to my field where I could put my learnings into practice. Boy, am i glad that I browsed through your page, Ma’am. I hope you continue posting articles because i love reading them. Thank you!
Monina Escalada // October 16, 2008 at 9:38 pm
Thanks Clyta for the encouragement. Good luck in your future career in devcom.
Supriyanto // November 6, 2008 at 1:07 pm
Dear Ms. Escalada,
My name is Supriyanto. I work as an IEC-BCC officer at American Red Cross (Health Department) in Banda Aceh office, Province of Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam - Indonesia. Currently we still develop communication materials (such as flipchart, calendar, sticker, posters, PSA) for our program. We will use it to delivered health knowledge and practice in community thorough household and community discussion.
I would like to ask you about the institution in South East Asia or Asia that provide training or workshops on IEC BCC development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. I have checked IEC-BCC materials productions training at Asia-Pacific Development Communication Centre in Thailand (http://www.dpu.ac.th/adcc/course.asp?action=view&id=39), but it has been closed.
I have searched another institution in Indonesia and South East Asia region that provide similar training, but I still haven’t found it. If you have any information on IEC BCC development training/workshops, especially located in South East Asia or Asia, please kindly refer to me. Thank you very much for your help and attention.
Best Regards,
Supriyanto
Monina Escalada // November 9, 2008 at 12:07 pm
Supriyanto, the Kasetsart University International Center for Development Communication (http://www.eto.ku.ac.th/icdc/) in Bangkok offers training courses for a fee. I checked its training calendar and found these courses which might be relevant to you:
Behavior change communication planning (US1,400)
Participatory monitoring and evaluation (US$1,400)
IEC messages and materials development (US$1,500)
To attend these courses, you have to allocate funds for travel and hotel accommodation. I have not been to any of these courses so I can’t tell you how good they are. While international training has its value, in-country training offers greater value as it addresses trainees’ real situations and needs. One option is to engage the services of a reputable communication consultant for a week or so and a customized training can be designed and implemented that will meet your needs.
Let me know your thoughts on this.
Supriyanto // November 10, 2008 at 12:52 pm
Dear Ms. Escalada,
Actually, we have hired the consultant to design, implement, monitor and evaluate our BCC program. I need IEC BCC or health communication training to improve my knowledge and skill. Ok, I’ll check and contact International Center for Development Communication of Kasetsart University. If you have further information on similar training or workshops, please kindly refer to me. Thank you very much for your information and suggestion.
Best regards,
Supriyanto
RobKSA // November 19, 2008 at 4:56 pm
Everyone seems to be calling you “ma’am” so without searching for it, do you teach and if so where po? And also without searching (lazy me!) what’s the difference between devcom and other such as marketing communications? The reason is my daughter is in 3rd year HS and I intend to enroll her at the UA&P in “Masters in Communications” which is basically geared towards marketing communication. Thanks and I really like your site, it’s one of those that really one that intends to share (walang bola yan!)
Monina Escalada // November 19, 2008 at 5:30 pm
Hi RobKSA, those who call me “ma’am” are communication students. I teach development communication (devcom) at the Visayas State University in Baybay City, Leyte. I used to teach mass comm in UP Diliman in the mid 70s but moved here after graduate studies at the University of Hawaii, to the dismay of my boss. But as this About page shows, besides teaching students, the bulk of my time is spent in designing, monitoring and evaluating communication campaigns in natural resource management — agriculture, environmental sustainability — in Asia. I’m passionate about what I’ve been doing.
Devcom, mass comm and marketing communication use the same theories, principles and techniques. They only differ in their application. In devcom, the focus is to apply communication to achieve development such as the Millennium Development Goals — achieve universal primary education, improve health, reduce child mortality, promote gender equality, eradication of extreme poverty and hunger, combat HIV/AIDS, malari and other diseases, ensure environmental sustainability, and develop global partnership for development.
Devcom uses marketing communication and mass comm principles to promote positive social behavior or advance development practices through media campaigns meant to create awareness, change attitudes and improve practices in agriculture, environment, health, etc.
Sending your daughter to UA&P for a “masters in communication” degree is an excellent idea. Marketing communication is a field with wide application in the private sector and international development agencies.
RobKSA // November 19, 2008 at 5:43 pm
Thanks ma’am moni, I think I can call you mam now as I learned a lot from your answer. I now have a site that I can refer my daughter to in the future. Thanks again and more power!
Monina Escalada // November 19, 2008 at 6:51 pm
RobKSA, don’t call me ma’am moni, just moni. That’s the name I use in my Marketmanila comments. If you call me ma’am, you might have to sit for the midterm and final exams. Hahaha — moni
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