Paper presented at The Society for International Development Eleventh World Conference, New Delhi, India, Nov. 14-17, 1969, This paper explains the critical importance of communication in the development process. It describes a generalized agricultural communication system, and it discusses a strategic approach to purposeful communication. Then it illustrates the communication problem in a typical less developed area with an example from West Africa. Finally a series of propositions are offered as guides to those who would build a strategy for communication in the development process. Mass communication media development is interdependent with development of many other aspects of national life. The lesser developed societies are moving forward with increasing use of radio and television, film, newspapers, magazines and books. In the rural "folk-village" societies, communication is an essential vehicle for development. The willingness and ability of any group to accept change tends to be directly related to the volume of their communication with the outside world.
