Yesterday, a partner working on a climate change project targeting rural women farmers reached out to me for advice on communication.
Before I could offer any thoughts, she explained that their only “communication strategy” was PR — essentially, liaising with newspapers to publish reports about their meetings and activities.
In fact, her main reason for reaching out was to ask me to help connect them with a national newspaper that could cover their events.
I paused and reminded her:
For any development initiative to have meaningful communication — especially one targeting rural women farmers on climate change — you need more than media coverage.
I told her their organisation must have:
1. A clearly defined community engagement plan
2. A functioning feedback mechanism
3. Culturally relevant dialogue approaches
Speaking with her reminded me how often visibility is mistaken for communication in development work. It’s a common — but costly — error.
Communication in development must be participatory, inclusive, and audience-specific.
It should not merely announce activities. It should create space for listening, learning, and building trust — especially in communities where knowledge is shared orally and context matters deeply.
Yes, PR is useful. But on its own, it is not a communication approach — it is simply publicity.
I encouraged her to push for persuasive and participatory communication within her team — so they can stop talking about the people and start talking with the people.
This is just one of many examples I’ve come across where communication is treated as an afterthought.