The Impact of Communication on Community Development Mary Olufunke Adedokun *# , Comfort Wuraola Adeyemo * and Edith Oluwafunmilola Olorunsola ** * Department of Educational Foundations and Management, Faculty of Education, ** Institute of Education, University of Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria # Telephone: +234 803 480 6200, # E-mail: funkadedokun@yahoo.com KEYWORDS Participation. Mobilization. Information Dissemination.Interaction. Change ABSTRACT This research work examined the impact of communication on community development. It examined why effective communication is needed for rural community development to be sustained. The study made use of descriptive survey research. The population consisted of both men and women in the rural community of Akinyele local government area of Oyo State. A sample of 133 men and women were used for the study. Data collected were subjected to percentage analysis. The study revealed that effective communication would lead to active participation of members in community development. It was also revealed that when community groups are closely involved in communication strategy, it helps them take ownership of the initiative of development rather than seeing themselves as beneficiaries of development. Based on the findings, it was recommended that community leaders as well as community development agents should engage in clear communication so as to enlist the participation of community members in development issues. INTRODUCTION Community development is the process of helping a community to strengthen itself and develop towards its full potential. Communica- tion is a key component of sustainable develop- ment. Mobilizing community members for com- munity development purpose is important but members of communities can only be mobilized when communication is effective. Adequate com- munity communication leads to effective collabo- rative efforts in issue of development. Commu- nication will help engage citizens in develop- ment. To bring about social change among the marginalized and vulnerable population groups, participation must be fostered through commu- nication; as such will lead to the transformation of the community. This is to say that communi- cation is a central or the mediating factor facili- tating and contributing to collective change pro- cess (Sarvaes and Liu 2007). Effective commu- nication will help in the move of people from individual centered deficit model of learning, behaviour development and change to a collec- tive and community-focused model of participa- tion, appreciation and equity. Community is precipitated on the fact that daily interaction of citizens is essential to col- lective action and that effective communication serves to stimulate and direct such interactions (Communication and Community Development in http://www.communicationforsocialchange .org/maziarticles.php7id=272.) When mention is made of communication in relation to community/rural development, it means an interactive process in which informa- tion, knowledge and skills relevant for develop- ment are exchanged between community mem- bers and information providers either personally or through media such as radio, print, telephones and cybernetics. The aim of effective rural com- munication is to put rural people in a position to have the necessary information for decision mak- ing and the relevant skills to improve their live- lihood. In communication for development, rural people are at the centre of any given develop- ment initiative and so communication is used in this sense for people’s participation and commu- nity mobilization, decision making and action, confidence building for raising awareness, shar- ing knowledge and changing attitudes, behaviour and lifestyles (FAO 2006). Communication for development is defined as the planned and systematic use of communi- cation through inter-personal channels, ICTs, audio-visuals and mass media. - Communication is to be used to collect and exchange information among all those con- cerned in planning a development initiative with the aim of reaching an agreement on the problems facing development issue and seeking options for their solutions. - To mobilize people for development action and to assist in solving problems and mis-- understandings that may arise during deve- lopment plan. - To enhance the pedagogical and commu- © Kamla-Raj 2010 J Communication, 1(2): 101-105 (2010)