A COMUNICAÇÃO COMO ESTRATÉGIA PARA O DESENVOLVIMENTO RURAL E TRANSFORMAÇÃO SOCIAL

UMA ANÁLISE DA INICIATIVA DIGITAL LAZOS

Abstract

This article discusses what is understood as development and presents Lazos, a digital initiative of the +Cotton project and the Latin American cotton sector that is strategically based on communication for development (CfD). Lazos was created to promote spaces for dialogue and exchange around the four aspirations of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO): better production, better nutrition, better environment, and a better life. Theoretically, our perspective is based on CfD, the communication that focuses on social transformation. We answer the following question: do the communication processes promoted by the Lazos initiative have the necessary characteristics to boost development? To answer this question, we formulated our analytical category based on the five indispensable conditions for communication that seeks to promote social change, elaborated by Gumucio-Dagron (2011). The objective is to reflect on the performance of the Lazos initiative about the social exclusion in rural areas concerning the visibility of local knowledge, promotion of dialogue, and horizontal exchange of knowledge. As results, we perceive that CfD represents potential for social change, especially in terms of networking spaces, dialogue and participation. About Lazos, we believe that the digital initiative has the necessary characteristics to promote development and, due to its formulation context, blends vertical features with innovative proposals.