Food Security and Farmers’ Political Participation in Rural Communication, a Strategy of Sustainability Communication: Analysis of Sub-District Level Farmers’ Political Behavior in Bangladesh

This chapter proposes that rural communication, which delves into micro-level analysis such as farming communities in rural areas, can effectively facilitate sustainability communication in rural regions, thereby fostering a sustainable agricultural sector. Understanding farmers’ political behavior and attitudes is essential for strategizing sustainability communication in rural contexts. Hence, this chapter offers an overview of food security, sustainability, political participation, rural communication, and sustainability communication concepts. Furthermore, the study investigates the effects of communication on farmers’ political interests, political efficacy, and political participation. The study’s results support the notion that political interest positively influences communication variables. Rural communication exhibits a negative association with political efficacy and challenges the notion that increased consumption of political information leads to higher political efficacy. Political participation is significantly correlated with rural communication, with communication frequency exerting a greater impact on political engagement than communication source reliability and use. Face-to-face interactions emerge as the most influential communication component in enhancing farmers’ political participation.