Making Waves: CESPA
Stories of Participatory Communication
for Social Change
TITLE: Centre de services de production audiovisuelle (CESPA)
COUNTRY: Mali
MAIN FOCUS: Rural development
PLACE: Bamako
BENEFICIARIES: Rural Population
PARTNERS: Ministry of Culture
FUNDING: FAO, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) (income-generating since 1994)
MEDIA: Video
In a country often so dry and austere, the garden in the middle of the CESPA building in Bamako looks like an oasis. Somehow it symbolises the very perspective of the project, which aims to create many oases of participatory communication in the remote, rural communities of Mali. The garden is protected by the square building surrounding it, inspired by old architectural models that make much sense considering the harmattan the dusty winds that blow furiously during each year's winter. I've seen the skies turn dark and red, clouds of dust and sand suspended over the North of Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Chad and other Sub-Saharan countries. The desert is slowly but implacably extending towards the south. Every year a few metres are lost to the sand dunes that may be beautiful to see, but only signify death and poverty. The cattle perish, the few trees that are left disappear under sand, and the communities dismantle their villages and migrate. Not even the Niger River, which imposingly draws a gigantic 4,180 kilometres arch across four countries, seems to reverse the process. Though on second thought maybe its waters are the only barriers impeding a more destructive process. Mali still has a rather humid region south of Timbuktu, where the Niger River generously flows into the Faguibine, Do, Niangay, Débo and Korarou lakes, but even here the land is not willing to produce as much as needed.
Mali usually ranks at the very bottom of the list in the United Nations Human Development Report. Projects, such as CESPA contribute so as to improve the economic situation of rural communities, by supporting the people to better organise for development and to develop innovations in agriculture. They can then make the best of the existing land, while fighting erosion and desertification, and protect the natural resources. The video tools utilised by CESPA aim to promote dialogue and develop new communication channels. If the objective were to only produce audio-visual training packages on technical issues, the long-term objective would be defeated. Only a communication process, which promotes community participation, can restore confidence in the future of rural Mali.
By the end 1988 the government of Mali signed an agreement with FAO and UNDP to establish CESPA a programme inspired in a series of experiences, methodologies and technical achievements that FAO had led in Latin America, namely CESPAC (Peru) and PRODERITH (Mexico). These had been successful in training, mobilising and organising the rural population with the use of audio-visual tools, specifically video. The general objective of CESPA (Centre de Services de Production Audiovisuelle) was to expand the training of peasants in view of facilitating the implementation of the new government social development policies, based on the participation of rural communities. The project aims to use multimedia communication tools and innovative participatory approaches to facilitate the development ofnew techniques for agriculture, and for improving community management capability and increased participation.
Other than bringing in new knowledge and technical alternatives to enhance agricultural production, CESPA aims to research, gather and disseminate traditional knowledge, local development initiatives, and cultural values of rural communities. Video is perceived as a means to facilitate these exchanges and establish a fruitful dialogue between the traditional ways and the modern improvements.
During the first three years of the project, considered as a pilot phase, CESPA concentrated on developing its own institutional capacity to use video for training and production of educational packages. The main concern was to adapt to the context of Mali the visual pedagogy principles developed by Manuel Calvelo and his followers in various rural development projects in Latin America.By the end of this period, 3 "audio-visual pedagogues", had already been trained and integrated into the project. The emphasis given during the training was on participatory communication.
By 1993 a second phase started with CESPA becoming an autonomous entity, independent from the government and from official funding sources. The new status links the life of CESPA to its capacity to generate its own financial resources, thus becoming an income-generating communication service provider. To adapt to its new role, CESPA started by upgrading its video equipment. This change was meant to capture the regional market of video documentary production destined for television channels. CESPA also expanded its technical capability to other areas of multimedia communication, including audio cassettes, posters and photography. UNDP funding decreased as CESPA generated its own funds by producing institutional videos for NGOs and international cooperation agencies. The production of pedagogic packages for training on technical issues remained as a key activity of CESPA over the years. Research at the community level, dialogue with peasants, assessment on cultural and traditional practices, as well as the input from specialised technical staff, make up the substance of the video productions. Post-production, however, is mostly done in Bamako at the CESPA centre, with little participation from rural communities. A rough editing is usually tested in rural areas before the training package is released.
As of 1999, 22 pedagogic packages had been completed, using arious languages of Mali. The main topics include health, agriculture, environment, livestock and management. In addition CESPA produced 116 motivational videos and spots, 23 cultural programmes on local traditions, 20 institutional videos, as well as theatre sketches and news magazines for television.
In Mali, 8 percent of the population lives in rural areas. Half of the country extends over the Sahara and the other half is mostly part of the Sahel. Regular rains benefit only six percent of the total territory in the most southern part of the country. The six million rural dwellers of Mali live mainly on agricultural and livestock production. This rural population is composed of at least ten major different ethnic groups, largely Muslim.
The whole country depends on seasonal rains; therefore it has always been very vulnerable to the changes in weather conditions. Natural disasters have haunted the country in the last decades of the past century: the long drought of the 1970s resulted in a mounting dependence on external financial support.
Though several governments since the 1960s had proclaimed that their priority would be rural development, they all failed to achieve any progress. Strong military regimes, as well as democratic governments, did not succeed in organising the rural population in the perspective of developing agriculture. As in other countries, governments in Mali fell short of mobilising community participation.
Only a few significant efforts made by the socialist government in the 1960s survived political changes: a handful of community radio stations and rural training centres. When CESPA was created, it took advantage of the experience of various institutions and communities in working within the framework of participatory communication.
CESPA has trained a new generation of rural development communicators. The core group of 16 staff members is according to FAO reports conversant in all stages of the process: research, concept development, scriptwriting, production, post-production and utilisation of the pedagogic packages at the community level. Another group of 248 (by the end of 1998), from various institutions working in rural development is now skilled in the use of the methodology for training peasants.
Several examples of social change induced by CESPA are quoted in the FAO case study report. For instance, the relationship between peasants and the rural banks that lent them funds was tense and characterised by a lack of mutual understanding and knowledge from both perspectives. A pedagogic package on credit is said to have diminished the gap by explaining the mechanism of banking procedures.
CESPA has become a reference of communication policy for rural development. It is said that no other institution in Mali knows so well the problems of rural development and the potential of local participation. Moreover, because of its philosophy of development and its methodology of intervention in rural areas CESPA is considered one-of-its-kind not only in Mali but in the West Africa subregion.
The language of development in Mali has changed under theinfluence of CESPA activities. The jargon of communication for development is not unusual in official speeches, institutional reports or seminars. Government institutions have created posts of "communication advisers". The concepts of participatory development have extended its roots within the development society of Mali.
Although it may not reflect on social change, the success of CESPA as a company that generates revenues to sustain itself is considered by FAO an important accomplishment. Since 1994 the revenue of CESPA grew steadily and UNDP funding decreased proportionally. NGOs and international cooperation agencies contracted services from CESPA to produce institutional and informational materials.
The methodology to produce training materials and "pedagogic packages" in CESPA remains similar to the one implemented in similar programmes in Latin America. The first stage is research at the community level, to define the general and specific topics that will be developed for training, and to absorb the community perception on each topic. Local knowledge is then contrasted with specialists in view of enriching both perspectives. The research team lends special attention to cultural patterns and values, as well as to the problems that are prevalent in the rural area where the training packages will be applied.
At the next stage, the pedagogic concept is developed, contrasting the information on local knowledge and practices, the technicians' experience and facts, and the prevailing cultural codes. Only then is a script developed. The video recording takes place in a rural setting, with the participation of selected peasants as "actors". The post-production process includes the development of supporting materials such as audio cassettes and printed manuals for both trainers and participants. These additions were incorporated by 1998.
Ideally, in the last stage of production, the rough editing of the video is presented to the technical staff for review, and also tested at the community level for reactions from peasants. Subsequently the final cut or editing is done and the video and pedagogic package is then available for training activities.
Training itself is a participatory process, with discussions and practical exercises being central components. The process starts with the agreement with community representatives on contents and logistics. The training is done at the village level and the trainers remain in the rural setting for several days, thus interacting with peasants even outside of the formal sessions. CESPA also trains development workers of cooperation agencies and NGOs interested in using the"pedagogic packages".
In 1993 as CESPA became an income generating initiative, its original orientation certainly changed in spite of the best intentions to continue providing support to rural communities. Only the continued technical assistance from FAO, while it lasted, kept CESPA closer to its original objectives.
The upgrading of video equipment, for example, took this tool out of the hands of those using it at the community level for training purposes. Clearly, the process became less important than the product, and the dependency on external contracts grew, leaving in the shadow community-based work. CESPA might have been very successful in becoming a self-sustained institution (though UNDP funding was still necessary), but it increasingly distanced itself from participatory development.
Though the production of "pedagogic packages", remained important, the process only involved community participation at very early stages of research and collection of information. The production and post-production processes are in the hands of professionals that often do not have enough contact with rural communities.
The author visited Bamako by 1993, at the initial stages of CESPA "Le Centre de services de production audiovisuelle (CESPA, a case study by N'golo Coulibaly. FAO, Rome 1999.
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