Academy for Educational Development (AED)

December 29 2005

According to the draft communication strategy developed by the Academy for Educational Development (AED), many small farmers in rural Vietnam are currently unaware of what they can do to protect themselves and their birds from avian influenza (AI also known as avian flu or bird flu). They pick up lots of inaccurate information and many still believe AI is not a problem that affects them directly. The challenge identified by AED is to raise their awareness and highlight the steps that can be taken to protect against AI.

According to the document, in most rural areas in Southeast Asian countries, farmers value their community spirit. They know everyone
in their village and find out quickly when something important happens. They care about how others in the village look at them and often work towards a good reputation. Building on this, the communication strategy aims to to provoke a sense of collective responsibility at the village level - if a flock gets infected, it won’t just wipe out an individual farmer’s birds, it will most likely infect all the birds in the village and put everybody in the community at risk.

The communication materials being developed feature two children observing the desired behaviours. In doing so, the designers aim to not only capture the message but also illustrate that these steps are not difficult to put into practice. For print materials, illustrations that are bright, colourful, attractive and easy to understand are used. For radio broadcasting, the line delivered by the narrator will rhyme (like a haiku) in the local language while maintaining the key message. AED aims to make the message 'catchy' and allow the listener to easily grasp the message.

Following are the key messages developed for the various materials to focus on.

"AI can infect the birds in your village right now but you can stop it from happening if you do the following:

1. New poultry and unsold poultry that are brought back to the farm from the market should be kept separate from other poultry for at least 2 weeks
2. Chickens and ducks should be separated and kept in a fenced area or enclosed building away from other animals and wild birds."

Please click here to download a PDF document with examples of posters and radio spots being used in Vietnam.

A complementary PowerPoint presentation entitled "AI Behavior Change Communications in Southeast Asia" outlines the Southeast Asian strategy in general and identifies specific messages suggested for Vietnam.

To request more information about the draft strategy described above or to receive the PowerPoint presentation on behaviour change communications in Southeast Asia, please contact AED, details below.