2.1 Origin of research
2.2 Focus of research
2.3 Key definitions
This research sought to examine the sources, types and impact of agricultural information available to groups of grassroots farmers in developing countries with particular reference to the role of printed information. It combined an investigation of available information sources from the perspective of grassroots farmers in Uganda and Ghana, with an examination of the resource base and policies of organisations and groups producing printed information for farmers. The relevance and potential of locally generated materials, often in local languages, was of particular interest.
Against the background of a considerable shortage of all kinds of written materials suitable for newly literate people in most developing countries, the research sought to examine whether the coordination of literacy services with health care and agricultural services, could provide 'real' materials appropriate for new readers. The availability of all kinds of written materials which might enable adults to pursue new ideas and information, is very limited. Little research has been carried out to investigate the priorities, motivation, source of materials and limiting factors of those who continue to produce printed information aimed at grassroots level in developing countries despite resource constraints. In addition, there is also a need to understand the access, priorities and design preferences of their target audiences for printed information.
The research originated from the response to a readership survey of the newsletter Footsteps published by Tearfund UK, carried out in 1993, which indicated a surprising level of adaptation, translation and use of Footsteps articles by readers. Footsteps aims to support the work of development workers promoting grassroots community development in developing countries. It is available on a quarterly basis in four international languages; English, French, Spanish and Portuguese, with an overall mailing of 35,000 and a world-wide distribution. The content is aimed at national readers who are usually reading in a second language, so language is kept clear, straightforward and jargon-free. Articles in Footsteps assume that most readers have little access to resources or funding, so content is very practical and easy to implement. Ideas and information are shared and readers encouraged to question, experiment and discuss attitudes, practices and innovations which may be of benefit to them. Sample pages from Footsteps are included in Appendix A.
The readership survey revealed that over three quarters (78%) of survey respondents were using, adapting or translating material from Footsteps for training others. Some examples are given in Appendix B. Copies were being photocopied, used for workshops, made into charts or posters, used to provoke discussions, used as radio scripts and translated for post-literacy work or for use in locally distributed newsletters. Of particular interest was the finding that articles were being used as source material for training groups, radio broadcasts, local newspapers and post-literacy materials. There is a steady flow of requests from groups seeking permission to translate and print Footsteps articles. It was hoped that the present research would indicate whether information from Footsteps acts as a catalyst for such adaptation or is merely incidental to an ongoing process and, in addition, would assess the significance of the role played by relevant newsletters in enhancing information flow.
Members of CARD, Iganga, Uganda - an example of a group which passes on information from Footsteps.
This research used the Footsteps mailing list as an initial entry point for reaching both organisations producing printed information and recipients of such printed information. Growth in circulation of Footsteps has been largely by word of mouth resulting in an unusually diverse spread of readers world-wide working in church, non-governmental and governmental organisations, a variety of educational establishments and with a high proportion of national (in contrast to expatriate) readers. There is no doubt that the opportunity afforded by use of the Footsteps mailing list provided a unique entry point and explanation for the research. It helped ensure a good response to the postal survey. It opened doors which may have proved hard for a researcher without such a link. The degree of warmth, hospitality, acceptance and openness afforded to the researcher was a privilege which helped establish good rapport between local facilitators, research assistants and group members.
The research focused on the information needs of farmers operating at grassroots level in developing countries who represent the single largest employment category comprising 49% of the workforce world-wide and 66% within Sub-Saharan Africa (UNDP, 1997). The term grassroots is used to indicate farmers living at or near subsistence level on low income. Agricultural information materials appropriate for low external input, sustainable agriculture, in contrast to materials aimed at high input agriculture, would be most likely to meet their information needs.
The research sought to discover, from a sample of farmer groups in Uganda and Ghana, whether farmers would value printed agricultural information if it were relevant, in their own language and appropriate for their situation. It reviewed farmers present access to materials and the level of individual or group literacy required to access such information. It questioned the extent to which farmers' needs are taken into consideration and whether they are directly involved in the production of such material through sharing their own indigenous knowledge and experiences.
Most of the research which has been done in this area with an agricultural perspective, has examined the uptake of new ideas from individual sources of information, such as research stations, extension services or various media such as radio or video (Kebede et al, 1990; Rogers, 1995; McCorkle, 1994). Since Footsteps is sent directly to individuals, groups and organisations on request, the mailing list provided access to a wide variety of organisations and groups without the need to go first through 'official' channels, with the subsequent likelihood of influencing both the choice of farmer groups and the views of respondents.
A simple division between 'producers of information' and 'recipients of information' was not adequate to explain the diversity of roles encountered as the research progressed. Three distinct subdivisions of key groups were therefore made when analysing the postal survey findings and maintained during the in-depth research. These divisions were found useful in broadly classifying their aims, resource base and access to information sources.
2.3.1 Government Organisations (GOs) and Non-Government Organisations (NGOs)
This sub-division comprises larger organisations, including most government departments, training institutes, nearly all radio broadcasters and literacy programmes and many religious and development based NGOs with an annual income of over US $50,000. Some organisations are international, some national and some regional in focus. The term NGO is used for such a huge variety of organisations that it really requires further definition to be useful (Korten, 1990; Carroll, 1992; Suzuki, 1998). However, since ultimately the typology of NGOs is not the main focus of this research, the term NGO will be used for both religious and development NGOs, though wherever relevant the religious basis will be noted. The term GO will be used for government organisations.
2.3.2 Grassroots Development Organisations (GDOs)
Clark (1991) defines GDOs as 'organisations that are locally-based Southern NGOs whose members are the poor and oppressed themselves and which attempt to shape a popular development process'. Most are membership organisations and all work at grassroots level. Though some of these small organisations had an office within a town, their members were usually rural farmers. Few had enough funding for employing staff, hence work in the small offices established was usually voluntary and by members. In this research, this sub-division included small NGOs and some church based groups with a low annual income from between US $1,500 to US $50,000, which was in some cases enough to provide a salary for one or two individuals and fund a small office. These were normally registered with the government as an organisation. They differed from GOs and NGOs in terms of their income, the fact that they were all local and often indigenous in origin, and that all focused on improving the well being of local people.
2.3.3 Rural People's Associations (RPAs)
This sub-division includes local people's associations with few or no facilities, low or no income (less than US $1500 pa) and usually informal or unregistered. All of them were membership groups at grassroots level. The terms Community Based Organisations and Rural People's Organisations have been used by other researchers (Garforth and Munro, 1995; Winter, 1997). However, many of the farmer groups visited were neither registered formally as organisations nor community based. They were voluntary membership groups with no budget aside from members' contributions. The term 'Rural People's Associations' (RPAs) will therefore be used throughout as a more accurate descriptive term for these groups.
Office view -FURA- a GDO in Uganda.
