Development action with informed and engaged societies

After nearly 28 years, The Communication Initiative (The CI) Global is entering a new chapter. 

Following a period of transition, the global website has been transferred to the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in South Africa, where it will be administered by the Social and Behaviour Change Communication Division. Wits' commitment to social change and justice makes it a trusted steward for The CI's legacy and future. 

On the transfer, co-founder Victoria Martin expressed her pleasure to see this work continue under Wits' leadership, knowing that co-founder Warren Feek (1953–2024) would have felt deep pride in The CI Global's Africa-led direction. 

As Wits, we honour the team and partners who sustained The CI for decades and look forward building from that strong base. This includes co-founders Warren Feek (1953-2024) and Victoria Martin as well as La Iniciativa de Comunicación (CILA), which continues independently at lainiciativadecomunicacion.com with links to The CI Global site. We are also eager to forge new partnerships and entertain new ideas as we consider how best to contribute to social and behaviour change in our rapidly evolving environment.

If you are joining the International Social and Behaviour Change Communication (SBCC) Summit in Panama, please join Wits and CILA on Monday, 22 June, to share your thoughts and suggestion for the relaunch of the Communication Initiative. We will be in Pacifica 5 from 12-1:25 for the Refuel, Reflect, and Renew Lunch Series: The Communication Initiative: celebrating a driving force for Communication for Social Change and the way forward. We will reflect on the legacy of Warren Feek and family in creating the Communication Initiative, consider the contributions of CI over the years and then turn our attention towards the future in this dynamic session. 

If you are unable to join us in Panama, we still want to hear from you. Please contribute your thoughts by following this link: https://redcap.link/CommunicationInitiative2026 or reaching out to ci_surveys@commint.com

You can also follow the QR Code:

 https://redcap.link/CommunicationInitiative2026

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Together to Market: A Series of Radio "Spots" to Promote Group Marketing by Farmers [CD-ROM]

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SummaryText
"Together to Market" is a CD-ROM of a series of short radio programmes of "spots" which aims to stimulate interest among small farmers in farming groups to market their produce more effectively. It was made as a collaboration between the Natural Resources Institute of the University of Greenwich, the BBC, Radio Lira, Foodnet (part of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture and also of the Association for Strengthening Agributlural Research in Eastern and Central Africa), the non-governmental organisation (NGO) Community Enterprises Development Organisation (CEDO) and the Ugandan Government's NAADS and PMA Secretariat. The series was made as part of a project funded by the Department for International Development's (DFID's) Crop Post-Harvest Research Programme, which is aimed at increasing involvement with the market on the part of small farmers in Uganda.

The spots have at their core excerpts from interviews carried out in October 2003 with people involved in different ways with farmers' groups in Rakai, Masaka and Masindi Districts in Uganda, including members and leaders of groups, local farmers (both male and female), traders, extension workers, community leaders, leaders of farmers' associations both locally and nationally, a member of parliament, a radio presenter, and people involved in promoting group marketing in these districts. They tell about the successes, pitfalls and excitement of setting up farmers' groups, through their own personal experiences.

The purpose of the series is primarily for broadcast on local radio stations to promote the formation of groups and group marketing among farmers in areas where this is not yet developed. The series was made in English, with voice-overs of interview excerpts in other, local languages. However, the intention is not only to broadcast in English but also to make versions in languages used in different areas, for broadcast in those areas. The first broadcast was in Lira District in Uganda, in a Luo-language version as well as in English, between December 2003 and March 2004.

The spots are between 5 and 10 minutes each and are suitable for broadcast within longer, live programmes focused on discussion around the topic of the spots. It is intended that they should be able to be used in conjunction with training in group formation for farmers, or in an educational context, either formal or informal.

Please see contact information below for more details about the spots or to request a copy of the CD-ROM.

Click here to listen to the radio programmes online on the Livelihoods Connect website.

Click here for a Power Point Presentation outlining the project that generated the radio spots.
Source

Liner notes from the CD-ROM.