Abstract

Rural communities have two information systems that have become uncoupled, systems of indigenous knowledge and those of external knowledge. These systems need integration and communities should be involved as decision-makers in the creation and maintenance of the information systems that meet their needs. This project will identify factors influencing information provision in six rural communities in Botswana, Malawi and Tanzania; and design an information provision strategy to enhance the process of rural development. Project participants will identify information needs of different groups; information-seeking behaviour of each group; the supply/demand situation of external development information; access to indigenous knowledge; and key issues of rural development towards which a strategy could be oriented. The project will assist national libraries and extension services to examine the role and training of information intermediaries in rural development.

Post-Project Summary

Researchers carried out a survey between July 1989 and August 1991 in Botswana, Malawi, and Tanzania on rural information needs, information-seeking patterns, the utilization of indigenous knowledge resources, and the role and perceptions of extension agents as knowledge brokers. In selected rural communities, 1 319 local men and women were interviewed. In addition, group discussions were held in the target communities; extension workers were interviewed; and government officials in ministries with a rural development portfolio were consulted. Researchers generated a report describing the perceived information needs and information-seeking habits of the rural communities; limitations of extension services; and the role of extension workers in the information exchange process. Three converging subsystems of information/knowledge were identified: exogenous information subsystem; the indigenous information subsystem; and an information subsystem created as a by-product of the rural development process in the community. A number of strategies for the implementation and creation of a rural development information support system were proposed, with researchers emphasizing the need for two-way communication between extension workers and farmers. Support continued in a second phase.

Recipient Institution(s)