For many years, under the definition of Communication for Development, FAO has emphasized the critical role that participatory communication plays in involving communities in rural development. Such a commitment to genuine participation requires openness to the different ways of understanding and resolving problems that emerge from the cultural, economic and agroecological realities of the communities involved. During the past three decades the Communication for Development Group in the Sustainable Department of FAO has integrated in several field projects the use of different communication approaches and media, and more recently new information and communication technologies (ICTs), for community based rural development. These experiences have shown that participatory communication processes can.
