Lexington Books Re-Imagining Development Communication in Africa

Re-imagining Development Communication in Africa is organized into three sections or parts, the first focusing on the past and the history of development communication scholarship; the second analyzes theoretical issues, and finally a third section that looks at country cases. The first part provides several perspectives on the historical development of the field as it pertains to Africa. Some of these look at ideological, indigenous contributions, and the particular importance of gender issues. The second section provides a critique of development communication theory and provides a more cultural appropriate alternative. Additionally, the book applies existing theory to practice in African communities. This leads to the third section of the book which focuses on development communication in some country cases such as in Cameroon, Kenya, Nigeria, and Rwanda. Review The book is an interesting and important addition to the growing body of work on development communication in Africa. Its uniqueness is in the wide range of topics that touch on the historical evolution, extant theories, and case studies of communication in the service of development. Students and practitioners will find this a useful resource for advancing research and practice.--Charles Okigbo, North Dakota State University About the Author Dr. Chuka Onwumechili is professor of Communications serving as Interim Dean for the School of Communications at Howard University in Washington, DC. He is an accomplished scholar with several books and peer-reviewed journal articles. His work has involved development communication particularly in the area of telecommunications. Among his several published works are issues dealing with universal access and building critical mass. He once served as Vice President for the Digital Bridge Institute (DBI) in Nigeria where his charge included developing labor for the growing telecommunications industry in the country. Dr. Ikechukwu Ndolo is an experienced scholar in the area of development communication and has consulted with both the British Department for International Development (DFID) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Nigeria. In 2009, he worked with DFID in helping to strengthen the Nigerian Bureau for Public Reform’s capacity to disseminate public sector reform messages. Dr. Ndolo who currently heads the Department of Mass Communication at the University of Nigeria in Nsukka, Nigeria is widely published. Additionally, he has also developed audio productions mostly in the area of development. Among these are his audio productions sponsored by UNICEF in the areas of immunization, breastfeeding mothers, and compliance with prescription of health workers, among others.