1. Communicating dogma in the face of climate change
Trees and Alligators of this World, cherish your differences
By Minielle Tall
Certain things in life are obvious. Common symbols we all agree upon. Daylight and
Nighttime will never get any human being confused about. Water - in its consistency -
will rarely be mistaken. And breathing, walking, or eating are likely to be performed the
same technical way whether in Glasgow, Kabul, Perth, Ndjamena or Santiago.
Common sense is innate. But how far shall one possibly go to decide what is common
sense? Have you ever been for instance in some parts of Turkey where apparently in
order to say “yes”, one has to shake his head from left to right (and not up and down). Or
maybe to Senegal where after a great meal, burbling soundly means that you are praising
the cook.
Undoubtedly, cultural coding makes us who we are. Thus, by communicating with others,
we have to make sure that this internal code will cohabits appropriately with the external
messages that we convey.
To cut it short, in order to set effective communication processes, chances are that we
have to develop the ethnographic and anthropological parts of our own selves. The
objective being not to pass the message to others at any cost. But rather to ensure
that it will have the same reasoning and values as the one we, as the sender, are
considering it has.
Talking about communicating adaptation strategies in the context of Climate change, I
was fascinated to see how things, in West Africa, went from “We, the Scientists, are
talking. Please, remain quiet and learn” to “We, the Scientists, are here to learn from
farmers and exchange experiences”. Humility? Well, I guess so. But this noble behavior
did not come alone.
Actually, it took several failed missions, for many to realize that communication was
involving different layers.
As communicators, we surely know better. And if we want to build trust that will be
strong enough to convince a majority of stakeholders and ignite changes, we have to take
enough time to get to know ourselves (the team we are in) and them (the audience) better
so that our strategy will lay on solid grounds and not only on common sense.
Sustainable development will never be sustainable enough if we set standards and
rules that are relevant only for those who came up with them.
As a popular African saying states “a tree long stayed in the river never becomes an
alligator”. This reasonably means that we need to agree on the fact that some of us are
Trees and others are not.

2. The point is certainly not to determine who is BEST or how shall one “educate” or
“convert” the other. But rather to acknowledge that we all are DIFFERENT and the way
we learn from each other is no exception.
So do we really want to standardize thoughts and ideas just to feel more comfortable or
shall we look at the differences and complexities which, once understood and taken
advantages of, will make us more complete?!
When it comes to climate change adaptation strategies in West Africa, common sense
strikes again and may drive us to set the usual clichés. It is then our responsibility, when
appraising action plans and messages not to create barriers… that we will be the only one
not to see.
Dogma usually starts this way.
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About the author
Minielle Tall has been a communication for development consultant for more than ten
year. Since 2009, she is focusing on Rural development and Climate Change Adaptation
Strategies in rural and urban regions in West Africa.
Her references in this area include regional or continental programmes such as CCAA
(DFID-IDRC), ACCC (UNESCO-UNDP), PRCM (UICN-WWF-FIBA) or CCAFS
(CGIAR).
minielle.tall@gmail.com

3. Communication & Social Learning:
The West African perspective
By Minielle Tall and …
I have never read Paulo Freire internationally acclaimed Pedagogy of the Oppressed …
But I believe in his concept of Conscientization which is, to me, the laying ground of
social learning.
Some people might in fact be quick learner while with others, magic will take more time
to operate. Not specifically because they are “dummies” (well at least let’s give them a
chance to prove us wrong!).
But mainly because their learning stages are different from yours or mine, does not imply
that he or she has to follow and obey the “common sense” rules.
About authors:
Minielle Tall is a communication consultant with ….
minielle.tall@gmail.com