18 pages., This article reports on findings of a study that was conducted to establish the information needs of women subsistence or smallholder farmers and the various information sources they consulted to resolve their information needs. The study was qualitative,and a grounded theory design was used. Focus group interviews and observation were used to collect data from 14 women crop farmers and three women livestock keepers.The farmer-to-farmer extension (FFE) model was adopted to understand theinformation-seeking behaviours of women farmers and how they can be improved, if need be. The findings revealed that while the women crop farmers needed help with seeds, soil treatment and the protection of crops from pests and stray animals,they needed more information on drought preparedness and management, and,on how to transform from subsistence to commercial farming. Women livestock keepers needed information on livestock feeds, the treatment of various ailments, and disaster preparedness and management. In addition, they needed the reintegration of the extension officer.It also transpired that local libraries were not responding to the information needs of farmers.The main source of information was oral communication. The use of radio, television, cell phones and extension officers was limited.This study echoes other studies which propose it is important that libraries, non-government organisations (NGOs) and extension officers respond to the information needs of smallholder farmers, especially women.
14 pages., via online journal., The preservation, management, and sharing of indigenous knowledge is crucial for social
and economic development in rural Africa. The high rate of illiteracy (print-based) in
rural Africa and the exclusion of indigenous knowledge from Western education add to
the information gap experienced in rural Africa. Other challenges facing oral cultures are
the disappearance of traditional knowledge and skills due to memory loss or death of
elders and the deliberate or inadvertent destruction of indigenous knowledge. The
rapidly increasing use of social media and mobile technologies creates opportunities to
form local and international partnerships that can facilitate the process of creating,
managing, preserving, and sharing of knowledge and skills that are unique to
communities in Africa. This article proposes the use of social media and mobile
technologies (cell phones) in the creation, preservation, and dissemination of indigenous
knowledge and discusses the role of libraries in the integration of social media
technologies with older media that employ audio and audiovisual equipment to reach a
wider audience.
