TABLE
OF CONTENTS
Title page i
Approval page ii
Certification page iii
Dedication
iv
Acknowledgement
v
Table
of contents vi
List
of tables viii
Abstract
ix
CHAPTER ONE – INTRODUCTION
1
Background of the study 1
Statement of the problem 11
Purpose of the study 12
Research questions 13
Significance of the study 13
Scope
of the study 14
CHAPTER TWO – LITERATURE REVIEW 15
Conceptual framework 15
Concept of information 15
Concept of
development 19
Concept of community development 23
Characteristics of rural women 28
Information needs of rural women 31
Sources through which the women access information 34
Contribution of information to community development 39
Barriers to Information accessibility to women 41
Strategies
to enhance women access to information for community development 45
Review of related empirical studies 53
Summary of literature review 59
CHAPTER THREE – RESEARCH METHODS 61
Design
of the study 61
Area of the study 61
Population of the study 62
Sampling and sampling technique 64
Instrument for data collection 65
Validation of the instrument 66
Method of data collection 66
Method of data analysis 67
CHAPTER FOUR: DATA PRESENTATION AND
ANALYSIS 69
Data presentation and analysis 69
CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION, RECOMMENDATIONS
AND
CONCLUSION 82
Discussion of Findings 82
Implications of the Study 87
Recommendations 89
Limitations of the Study 90
Suggestions for further Research 91
Conclusion 91
REFERENCES 93
Appendix I 104
Appendix II 110
Appendix III 111
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1:
Percentage responses on the age bracket of the respondents
Table 2:
percentage response on the marital status of the respondents
Table 3:
Percentage responses on the educational qualifications of the respondents
Table 4:
Percentage responses on the occupation of the respondents
Table 5: Mean
responses on the information needs of the rural women
Table 6: Mean responses on their
sources of information
Table
7: Mean responses on contribution of information to community development
Table 8: Mean responses on problems encountered by the rural woman in
accessing information for community development.
Table
9: Mean responses on the strategies to enhance women access to information for
community development
ABSTRACT
The study
examined the information needs and access to rural women for community
development in Enugu North Senatorial Zone of Enugu State. Six research
questions were formulated to guide the study. The specific objectives of the
study are to: ascertain the information needs of the rural women, identify
sources through which the rural women access information, ascertain the
contribution of information to community development, examine the problem the
women have in accessing information and suggest ways to enhance women access to
information for community development. A descriptive survey was used for the
study. The population of the study consists of 1,809 registered rural women in
Community Based Women Organizations (CBWOs) in the three selected Local Government
Areas (LGAs) of the study, out of which 263 respondents were sampled. The
instrument used for data collection was questionnaire complemented with Focus
Group Discussion (FGD). The instrument was validated by three experts, two from
the Department of Library and Information Science, one from Measurement and
Evaluation all from University of Nigeria, Nsukka. The research instrument was
personally administered by researcher with help of research assistants to the
respondents within a duration of six weeks. In the analysis of the data and
information obtained through the research instrument and focus group
discussion, frequency percentage and weighted mean were used for the
quantitative data, while the information gathered from the FGD was
qualitatively analyzed using content analysis approach. The findings indicated
that women between the age of 35-44 are more in number followed by age range of
45-54, 25-34, and 65 years and above. Married women are more in number,
followed by widows, single mothers and divorced. Those with Non-formal
education are more than others in number followed by Primary, and Secondary
School Certification holders. The women are mostly farmers, petty traders, self
employed and civil servants. The women need information mainly on agriculture
and health. Their major sources of information include town crier, community
leaders and religious organizations. Timely and quality access to information
can empower the rural women to facilitate community programmes and projects.
There are obvious limitation to women access to information which include
basically lack of formal education and lack of awareness on where to get useful
information. Some strategies recommended include exposing the women to formal
forms of education, establishing Adult Literacy Centres in the communities and
establishing Community Information Centres that will help the women acquire
skills and knowledge base that can empower them toward actualizing development
goals.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
Women in any given society are known
to be primarily involved and engage in the building of the home. Women in
Nigeria are also known to be involved in agriculture and other economic
activities which are foundation to the development of the family and the
society. For this reason they should have access to relevant information,
knowledge and resources that can assist them to contribute meaningfully to the
general development of the society. Also
they are responsible for the provision of learning experiences to the children
of the family and can contribute to the improvement of the family standard of
living through their economic activities. Some women have through their
activities contributed to the development of their society, this is practically
demonstrated by women that are not only educated, but also have distinguished
themselves in various professions and public positions where they have made meaningful
economic contributions to the development of the society.
Obviously, this is the case of women
in Africa who have made enormous contributions to the pursuit of common good
and sustenance of the society. According to Ukwuoma and Njoku (2013), women in
Africa have a pride of place in terms of family upkeep and contributions to various
aspects of the economy. Further, they noted that African women whether educated
or uneducated, rural or urban based, engaged in gainful employment and
contribute directly or indirectly to the development of the society. They
constitute a sizeable number of the active population in agriculture and are
responsible for attending to early education of the nation’s children.
In Nigeria, women constitute 52% of
the entire population and about 45% of the women live in rural areas (Gambo,
2011). The rural women economic activities mainly range from petty trading,
vocational enterprises, handicraft, and farming to agro-processing. In support,
Onyenechi (2011) stated that women are also involved in producing agricultural
raw materials for industries. Almost all agricultural production and marketing
activities including animal husbandry are performed by the women. From these
economic activities by the women, income are generated which are deployed into
development projects in the society.
Though, the rural women are very
critical to the development of the society through their economic activities, they
are generally known to be suffering from some deprivations like illiteracy,
lack of access to formal education, lack of access to credit facilities,
inadequate participation in decision marking process, inadequate access to
employment opportunities and human right discrimination. Describing this situation,
Ukachi (2001), stated that rural women are mainly illiterate group of people
that can hardly read nor write and lack the necessary ability and experience
required to cope with the challenges arising from the society.
Rural women in the context of this
study are women who live in rural areas of Nigeria, most of whom do not have
formal education but engage in economic activities that can hardly earn them
and their families a decent living. According to Alosede (2012) rural women are
usually illiterates and lack access to formal education. Majority of the rural
women speak only the local language in their areas, though there is constant
communication with one another at family level and the general community. These
rural women because of their inadequate access to formal education and literacy
programmes, they depend on word of mouth and other traditional means communications
that could improve their living conditions and standards.
Ukwoma and Njoku (2013) discussed the
deprivation that women suffer in the society. For them, the rural women have
not been generally recognized by policy makers, development planners and
agricultural service deliverers in decision-making processes, even these that
concern the women directly. The women find it very difficulty more than the man
in gaining access to valuable resources such as land, credit and agricultural
input, technology, extension training and information services that could
enhance their production capacity. Information can help the rural women to make
informed decisions and reduce their level of uncertainty; it can also assist
them in their day-to-day activities and for economic development of the society.
Idiegbeyan-Ose and Akpoghome (2009)
stated that the rural women need information on areas like fertilizer
application, weed control, credit loan scheme application to farmers and other
information that would reposition them in terms of improving their lives and
situation. It is instructive at this point to note that for rural women to
contribute meaningfully in meeting the needs of the family and general society,
they need information. Baker (2011) captured it vividly by stating that the
rural women can only perform their primary role in their homes and society when
they have access to quality and sufficient information. This means that
appropriate and quality information is an indispensible resource that can
empower the women to make valuable and informed decisions about their
individual and collective needs.
In an increasingly globalized and
information driven world, information has become a necessity and valuable
commodity to individual, organization and societies in their existence. As such
information is considered as a vital resource alongside with land, labour,
capital and skills, which are necessary in any human activities. People need
information for their day to day activities and for development of their
environment. Weiss, Crowder and Bernardi (2000) describe information as the
cornerstone for successful social-economic development because it plays a key
role in decision making.
According to Opeke (2004) information
has received a wide spread acceptance as essential feature of production,
consumption and exchange in this modern world. The world has entered an era
where the source of wealth and power is increasing from information and human
mental creativity as compared to physical resources. As a matter of fact
information is a critical factor in the development process within any human society.
Thanuskodi (2012) viewed information as an important resource that contributes
towards the development of a nation. It provides the care for the development
of knowledge, the basis for innovation, the resources for informed citizenry,
and as a result becomes a key commodity for the progress of a society. Ogunrombi and Amudasa (2009) supported the
view that information is a source for the growth and development of an
individual, organization or a nation. This stand to reason that information is
a basic resource, which any persons, groups or communities can use to improve
significantly their living conditions and also it is very vital to development
processes.
According to Federal Republic of
Nigeria official Gazzette (2009) information is defined as an organized data
recorded in various forms. It is also a raw resource for knowledge. Information
is therefore a vital tool for the empowerment of the individual to enable them
take an informed decision or action for either self or community development purposes.
Information is a raw material for development for both the urban and rural
dwellers. The prosperity, progress and development of any nation depend on the
nation’s ability to acquire produce and use pertinent information. Apata and
Ogunrewo (2010) noted that information remains the lifeblood of any individual
or group of people, it is a valuable resource required in any society. Thus
acquiring and using information are critical in any human activities.
For the purpose of this study,
information means knowledge acquired through a process of interaction,
discussion, and other learning situation which an individual can use to perform
different tasks, make informed decisions and improve on existing human
conditions and material situations.
Human beings express diverse
information needs in their day-to-day activities. Every person needs
information for decision making; the type of information needed range from
common physiological to individuated psychological information needs. Nwangwu
(2009) stated that information need refers to the extent to which information
is required to solve problems, as well as the degree of expressed satisfaction
or dissatisfaction with the information. Reitz (2010) defined information need
as a gap in a person’s knowledge that when experienced at the conscious level
as a question gives rise to a search for an answer. After identification of
information needs, the information user embarks on a search for information.
The behavioural expressions collectively known as information seeking
behaviours resemble problem solving or decision-making process where an
individual identifies possible sources, differentiates and chooses a few
sources, locates or makes contact with them and interacts with them in order to
obtain the desired information.
Lwoga, Christine, and Patrice (2011), noted that information needs in
development context relate closely to a person’s occupation, the level of
socio-economic development, and local agro-ecological conditions. Information
needs of the rural poor relate especially closely to their occupations and
their basic survival goals. While physiological needs give rise to basic and
often shared information needs. Individual needs vary from one person to
another.
Proper identification of the rural
women information needs will reduce uncertainty and enable them to identify
alternative solution to problems. Also adequate provision of information will
also enable them to acquire more knowledge that empowers the women for
wide-ranging activities geared towards meaningful development. However, it is
frustrating to note that rural women most often are incapable of accessing
various information resources and services, even where such needed information
is available (Zaid and Popoola, 2010). Some of the factors that have been
identified as constraints to access and/or utilization of information by the
rural women are illiteracy, poverty, lack of infrastructural facilities and
interest. Kamba (2011) mentioned some of the limitations as inadequate basic
infrastructure (electricity, telecommunication, roads transportation) low
literacy level, lack of suitable information services and lack of technical
competencies as among the barriers to delivery of information services in the rural areas of developing countries. Most
rural areas in Africa are not electrified, thereby reducing access in most
rural communities to information exchange and communications.
Obviously, communication and
information infrastructure established by the government has also been
concentrated in urban areas. Rural roads in Africa are often impassable during
the raining season, making it difficult for timely delivery of print
information resources needed for day-to-day decision making. Mahiwasane (2008),
noted that timely delivery of print information services is of limited value
due to the high illiteracy level.
Study by UNESCO (2010), showed that
sub-Sahara Africa had 153 million people who lacked the basic literacy and
numeracy skills needed in everyday life. Information usage may be limited by
accessing irrelevant information and by poor information evaluation skills.
Literacy levels of information seekers also limit the usage of information. For
effective information usage among rural communities, it is important to
investigate in detail how specific groups of rural people access and use
information for meeting their daily information needs. A study by Dorsch (2000),
identified lack of time, inadequate access to information sources, lack of
skills, lost of information and geographical isolation as the major barriers to
effective use of information. Moreover poor reception, quality of instruments
used and difficult technical language limit the usefulness of audio-visual
information services. In support of
this, Abraham (2009) noted that information packaged and disseminated through
modern channels present difficulties in terms of capturing and understanding
capabilities to the rural people and this frustrates practical usage of such
information. Consequently, this obvious gap in accessing information, cuts the rural people off from socio-economic
opportunities that can empower them towards improving the living conditions and
their social environments. It is plausible to say that availability of
information through any source does not mean access to such information. Hence,
the key to meeting the information needs of rural women is making needed
information not only available but also accessible. Baker (2011) captured this
viewpoint which states that for the rural women to perform their roles and
responsibilities in their homes in particular and generally in the society,
there is the need for them to have access to quality and sufficient
information. Information is therefore important for members of any society in
maintenance of productivity and self independence. Okiy (2003) stated that
information is an important ingredient in development process, people in rural
areas whether literate or not should have access to any kind of information,
which will help them to become capable and productive in their social and
political obligations. The discourse so far delineates the interface between
information as resource and development. Information does not only form the
foundations for development but also facilitates its process. When people get
access to veritable sources of information, which relates to life needs, they
became empowered to improve on their living conditions and the common
good.
Development as a concept is
multi-dimensional which can be seen in different sphere of human life and
existence. Kamba (2009) stated that development is a capacity defined by what a
people can do with actual or potential resources, which they have to improve
the quality of their living standard and social well being. This view point
expands the meaning of development by relating it to human social well being
and welfare.
For the purpose of this study,
development is seen as by which an
indivudal process of individual and/or community improves on their standard of
living and social well being through effective use of available resources both
physical and human. Development in this study will be narrowed to community
development given the fact that community development as a concept is
implicated in the study. Community development is a structured intervention
that gives the community greater control over the conditions that affect their
life. Community development according to Aina (2003) is a conscious and
deliberate effort aimed at helping communities recognize their needs and to
assure responsibilities for solving their problems thereby increasing their
capacity to participate fully in the lives of the nation. Community development
here means a planned process aimed at improving the quality of life of the
people and expanding their natural knowledge, skills and abilities towards
shaping their future and achieving success in life’s endeavours. This stands to
reason that community participation and involvement are the critical factors to
successful community development programmes or project. Both human and material
resources are mobilized and deployed into the process.
In this study, the women are used as
the reference social group because of their of wide-ranging contributions in
community development programmes, especially in the rural areas. In discussing
development at the community level, the role of women has been gaining great
at
