Abstract

The research measures the effectiveness of communicating decentralisation to empower the local people to participate in their development in selected districts of the southern part of Malawi, with reference to the Information, Education and Communication (IEC) Strategy for Decentralisation in Malawi as case study. It was conducted after general observations that efforts to implement the IEC strategy appear unsuccessful in generating desired awareness and grassroots participation in their development. Hence, the study particularly examines the most appropriate channels; media and directions of communication that can help attain desired awareness, knowledge and understanding of decentralization process and the subsequent empowerment and development goals of the grassroots. It explores the right key players of communicating decentralisation and the effects of involving government, political party and community leaders in empowerment and development communication. It exhumes the essence of empowerment in relation to tangible and sustainable development of the local poor. In its endeavors to investigate the nature of communication for empowerment, the study has identified communication factors that empower or motivate people to participate actively in their development and has measured people’s levels of participation in the development that is chosen and communicated by the local people themselves and that which is decided or chosen by others. The study, which was both qualitative and quantitative, submits, among other things, that the IEC Strategy for Malawi Decentralization has not been effective in producing desired awareness, levels of knowledge and empowerment of both the stakeholders and the grassroots. It unveils that the relevance of development and people’s sense of ownership are distinct vii factors that stimulate maximum tangible and sustainable grassroots participation in development. While it shows that political or government leaders have played a less effective role in communicating empowerment and participatory development, the study also uncovers the local people’s need for a diagonal and direct bottom up communication in which native non partisan leaders would be key players of communicating development needs to the government. The research further asserts that interpersonal face-to-face channels are the most appropriate means for empowerment, change, and development communication.

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School	: School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Issued Date	: 2010

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