Want To Learn Intelligent Communication? WriteD

WriteD. 

The name of the workshop I'm thinking aloud for communicators of the Department of Agriculture (DA) with new Secretary, a Man of Science, William Dollente Dar. The name WriteD is meant to intrigue. The i is to signify inspiration, intelligence, intimate knowledge.

WriteD is memorable because it looks wrong as written and sounds wrong in tense; it should be written as, yes, Written, right? Yes and No. The name WriteD is actually an acronym: Writers for Development. This is a workshop to learn to write creatively pushing for National Development. 

I now define national development differently & practically, as this:

National development is the input/output of any program, project or initiative that redounds to the public good, being all of these at the same time: technically feasible, economically viable, environmentally sound, and socially acceptable – in one word, sustainable.

You need Science for National Development; so, to help Secretary Dar, to be able to "market" the idea of science for development, we need creative writers who understand how agriculture can help in bringing progress to everyone.

I must emphasize it, and it must be remembered, that Manong Willie, a title he prefers to be called, for familiarity as well as formality, has humble beginnings; he is a simple man but is also a learned man, steeped in both Science and Development. If we writers want to help him help our country, we have to know where he is coming from!

His formal background is the Science of Agriculture and related fields. He has a BS in Agricultural Education as well as an MS in Agronomy, both from the Benguet State University, and a PhD in Horticulture from the University of the Philippines Los Baños. 

His major & very long experience as a manager is also Science – he became the Director General (DG) of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), a sister agency of IRRI in the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). He was DG of ICRISAT for 3 terms, that is, for 15 years, from 01 January 2000 to 31 December 2014, definitely a CGIAR distinction. 

I know because I was international consulting writer of ICRISAT from January 2007 to December 2014. Based in Manila, to be able to write creatively and with credibility, I had to do my research diligently, if digitally. 

He has also been PH Secretary of Agriculture, under Erap; nonetheless, his language is steeped in Science. Here is a very short list of that universe:

1.  artificial intelligence

2.  balanced nutrient management

3.  climate change

4.  competitiveness

5.  countryside heroes

6.  crop diversification

7.  data analytics

8.  digital and disruptive technologies

9.  drone agriculture

10. entrepreneurship

11. farm consolidation & mechanization

12. financial literacy

13. food security vs sufficiency

14. grassroots-level innovation

15. inclusive development vs inclusive growth

16. paradigm

17. productivity & profitability (Ani at Kita)

18. research and development

19. resiliency

20. sustainability

21. value chain.

He calls himself a Servant Leader. Servants must follow the leader – understand his language, not simply mouth it, in order to support him!@517