• Login
    View Item 
    •   ResearchSpace Home
    • College of Humanities
    • School of Social Sciences
    • Information Studies
    • Doctoral Degrees (Information Studies)
    • View Item
    •   ResearchSpace Home
    • College of Humanities
    • School of Social Sciences
    • Information Studies
    • Doctoral Degrees (Information Studies)
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    Access to gender and development information by rural women in the Tanga region, Tanzania.

    Thumbnail
    View/Open
    Kiondo_Elizabeth_1998 (17.66Mb)
    Date
    1998
    Author
    Kiondo, Elizabeth.
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Abstract
    Rural women play significant roles in both food and cash crop production, however, the majority of them lack access to productive resources, including information. To enhance the process of development and to ensure that rural women participate in and benefit from rural development processes, it is important that productive resources such as land, technology and information are made accessible to them. The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which rural women access gender and development information. It therefore investigated how the rural information delivery system is organised and operates in order to gain an understanding of the factors which hamper the accessibility of information to the majority of rural women. This understanding will enable rural development planners and information professionals to design and implement information services which are accessible to all members of the rural community. In conducting this study in the Tanga region of Tanzania, a sample of 773 households was drawn from an estimated 155,863 households to acquire a sample of rural women. A structured interview protocol was used to collect data from the rural women. A total of 64 human information providers out of a total of 90 targeted to be included in the study, was interviewed. Data was also collected through document reviews and informal discussion with key informants at regional and district levels as well as through personal observations during field work. The findings of the study indicate that at least 40 percent of rural women are still functionally illiterate and at least 30 percent head rural households. Tt:1e majority of them still live in poverty with limited incomes. On the other hand the information providers are predominantly male, constituting a male/female ratio of 3: 1. The information needs of rural women are practical and strategic in nature. Information providers used are mainly friends and relatives, village leaders, health extension workers and hospitals and clinics. The communications used in information exchange processes are oral in nature with face to face communication being the main channel used. Formal sources of information such as printed and audio-visual sources are rarely used. Furthermore, this study has shown that socio-economic factors impact on levels of access and use of information providers. Information made accessible to women is mainly health information, followed by community affairs which is mainly about community problems discussed at village meetings. Very few women benefit from rural training programmes and information on development projects because these are limited to specific project areas. Information delivered is therefore not adequate to satisfy rural women's needs whereas information accessed is moderately relevant as far as their health information needs are concerned. The main barriers to rural women's access to information include: workload, attitudes of information providers, customs and traditions and non availability of other sources such as printed and audio-visual sources, as well as low income and relatively low education levels of women. This study has identified several weaknesses in the rural information delivery system which need to be addressed. It is therefore recommended that in order to make information readily accessible to the majority of women, there is a need (i) to formulate gender sensitive policies and institute mechanisms for implementation, which should include the training of information providers in gender issues in services-provision; (ii) to make available adequate financial resources to support rural information seryices; (iii) to use a variety of sources of information to cater for ; the heterogenous needs of users; (iv) to have a political will not only to address gender issues but also to sensitize entire rural communities to gender issues.
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/10413/4485
    Collections
    • Doctoral Degrees (Information Studies) [88]

    Related items

    Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.

    • Information and communication technologies and sustainable livelihoods : a case of selected rural areas of Tanzania 

      Chilimo, Wanyenda Leonard. (2008)
      Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have, in the recent past, attracted enormous attention as important tools for socio-economic development. However, the role of ICTs in fostering development and addressing ...
    • Information seeking patterns and telecentre operations: a case of selected rural communities in Tanzania. 

      Chilimo, Wanyenda Leonard.; Ngulube, Patrick.; Stilwell, Christine. (Elsevier, 2011)
      Information needs assessment is critical in developing and running relevant information services. This article explores the information needs and information- seeking patterns of the people living in communities surrounding ...
    • Information behaviour of rural women involved in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Chamwino and Manyoni Districts of Central Tanzania. 

      Manyerere, Juliana James. (2015)
      The study investigated information behaviour of rural women involved in SMEs in Chamwino and Manyoni districts of central Tanzania. The following research questions were addressed: What is the information behaviour of rural ...

    DSpace software copyright © 2002-2013  Duraspace
    Contact Us | Send Feedback
    Theme by 
    @mire NV
     

     

    Browse

    All of ResearchSpaceCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsAdvisorsTypeThis CollectionBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsAdvisorsType

    My Account

    LoginRegister

    DSpace software copyright © 2002-2013  Duraspace
    Contact Us | Send Feedback
    Theme by 
    @mire NV