Graduated in Economics (BA, Punjab University, India), Business Administration (MBA, University of Zimbabwe), Marketing Management and Research (Post Graduate, Delhi Institute of Management Services, India) and in Journalism (Africa Literature Centre, Kitwe, Zambia). Gender Training of Trainers Program for the Zimbabwe Women's Resource Centre and Network..
Jennifer Sibanda started her career as a Reporter in 1976. In 1990, she joined Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation as Head, TV Production, Public Relations & Research Services, before being promoted to Personal Assistant to the Director General, and then to Controller of ZBC. Since 1997, Jennifer is Regional Director of the Federation of African Media Women-Southern African Development Community. The project, funded by UNESCO, covers 12 countries.
Globalisation of communication systems, new information and communication technologies that are flooding the world are fast changing the media landscape the world over. However, in Africa, Radio is still the most appropriate communications technology, that is available to the majority of Africans particularly the disenfranchised rural communities, women and the youth.
Radio and Gender Issues in Africa
The poorest of the poor in the whole world is the African woman.
According to recent statistics, 80% of agricultural work in Africa is performed by women.
The paper will examine the implications to women's access to the radio. Whether their issues are being mainstreamed on radio. Does the radio give women a voice? And how amplified is this voice? The paper will also examine the structures of current media (radio) organisation - how gender friendly these are. Are they capable of addressing the women's agenda? Is there a need for a critical mass of women at these organisations especially at top management levels?
Radio Ownership and Listenership
The results of a survey that was carried out by FAMW-SADC on listernership will be announced and addressed during the presentation of this paper. The research study looked at some of the following issues:
Access to Rural Radio by Women (Constraints)
The above mentioned results of the survey also looked at the issue of access to rural radio by women. The research findings will also be used to highlight these issues. The constraints will be looked at, e.g. issues of poverty, issues of tradition and culture, issues of women's multiple gender roles, batteries/cell problems, breakdown of receivers.
Proposals and Mechanisms to Reach Women Audiences
The paper will examine attempts on community based media which seek to address women's issues e.g. community radio stations, Development Through Radio (DTR) projects and use of drama/theatre for development. The paper will highlight the successes that have been achieved by FAMW-SADC in this regard.
by Jennifer Makunike-Sibanda - Regional Director, Federation of African Media Women, Southern African Development Community (FAMW-SADC)
I would like to express my gratitude at the invitation to the privileged role of presenting a paper at the International Workshop on Farm Radio Broadcasting: "ICTs Servicing Farm Radio: New Contents, New Partnerships". May I take this opportunity to congratulate the organisers who are being guided by the able leadership of Jean Pierre Ilboudo, Rouah Carine and not forgetting all those behind the scenes for successfully bringing all of us together.
First and foremost, I wish to underscore the point that the convergence of information and communication technologies (ICTs) has to date brought to the fore the emergence of the phenomenon of creative divergence - this positions knowledge as the new prime resource in the world economy.
Secondly, there has been a noted tendency by countries in transition to a knowledge economy (k-economy) to forestall development which is identifiable with the satisfaction of human needs - namely, a needs-oriented development or people-centred development which should be a necessary condition for development.
Another critical condition for the transition to a knowledge economy is the imperative for countries developing and developed alike, to have in place a national information infrastructure (NII) within the global information infrastructure (GII). Becoming part of the GII requires the NII to have the following characteristics:
It is evident, however, that nearly all of the above characteristics are in themselves a set of impasse that most of the developing countries would find an uphill task to realise in the context of their generally weak economies.
The nation is becoming a wired state. Economies are becoming a knowledge-economy. Society is becoming a digital society. Communities are becoming a wired community. Individuals are becoming empowered more than ever before through these new technologies. This sadly continues to be a lopsided development which is being enjoyed by developed countries.
Television and the New Media are all aspects of the new digital revolution. It is my contention that the International Workshop on Farm Radio Broadcasting "ICTs Servicing Farm Radio: New Contents, New Partnerships" will humbly add voice to the need for the mobilisation of shared values, shared knowledge and shared experiences from diverse corners of the globe. The potential of radio in its nascent years is still as portent today within the emerging information/digital society and in the years to come.
Distinguished participants we constantly hear about the world being a global village as coined by Marshal McCluhan. I always wonder what the definition of this "village" is. In Africa our definition and concept of a village has as its underlying thesis, sharing; that is shared resources, shared values, shared information and knowledge, shared experiences and a shared vision. However, it is sad to note that in this, "global village" that is often referred to there are massive disparities with most developing countries being at the receiving end of this digital era.
The issue of the digital divide is a major and a real concern for developing countries particularly in Africa. The digital divide exists in many forms all primarily gravitating the lack, inadequacy or absence of people-centred development and a national information infrastructure and also includes:
The digital divide in figures shows us that:
This, indeed, is the sad state of affairs.
The rural populations, the urban poor, the illiterate and the marginalised are at the greatest risk of being left out of the information and knowledge revolution.
This, therefore, means that such communication technologies cannot be accessed by rural communities and thus puts radio on centre stage. In Africa, radio is and will continue for a long time to be the most appropriate communications technology that is available to the majority of people in developing countries, particularly the disenfranchised communities, women, children and the youth.
As you might know the poorest people are women, however, the poorest of the poor is the African woman. The much quoted UN statistics remain as true today, as they were when they were formulated over a decade ago:
As far as the global networks this woman does not exist as her situation and condition is according to these networks is not newsworthy.
Development policies that do not seek to address women's issues are destined to fail. The entrenched stereotypes, roles, values, customs and institutions that are moulded in the name of culture or through our patriarchal structures continue to impinge on women's participate in the development processes. The education and training of women and girls on the use of new communications technologies and many other areas, should be placed high on the agenda of development agencies. We know that the social costs of structural adjustment policies have weighed heavily against women and girls.
A study on the products of radio stations clearly shows that programmes are packaged based on the assumption that the audience is similar and behaves in the same manner. In most instances the dominant culture of the source of the production and/or the culture, tradition and value systems of the producers background or country prevails. The media products continue to reinforce the stereotypes that view women as cooks, housemaids, sex objects, indecisive, dependant, emotional, weak and not capable of leading.
A survey in a questionnaire format was carried out with a number of women from different communities and countries to specifically establish the following:
Given the importance of radio in terms of community development, the study further sought to establish:
The sample size was 3000 and covered four countries.
It was established that 67.8% of women owned radio sets compared to 28.9% who did not. The figure below shows the distribution of ownership.
The majority of respondents (84.4%) stated they listened to radio, compared to a minority of 8.9% who did not and a remaining 6.7% who stated that they sometimes listened. The table below shows this distribution,
Category |
Number of respondents |
Percentage |
Listen |
2 448 |
84.4 |
Do not |
258 |
8.9 |
Sometimes |
195 |
6.7 |
Total |
2 901 |
100.0 |
A cross tabulation of radio listening versus ownership established the following results:
Do listen |
Do not listen |
Sometimes listen |
Total |
|
Own a radio |
1 900 93.4% |
34 1.7% |
100 4.9% |
2 034 100% |
Non owners |
600 69.2% |
166 19.2% |
101 11.6% |
867 100% |
The table shows that 93.4% women listened to radio, compared to 1.7% who did not, leaving 4.9% of those who sometimes listen to the radio. Even among respondents who did not own sets, 69.2% listened to radio against 19.2% who did not, with 11.6% of those who sometimes listened. The results therefore, portray strongly that the majority found time to listen to the radio at any point during their daily lives, even if they did not own the radio sets.
The figure below illustrates the distribution of station selection,
Approximately 57.8% respondents indicated that they independently chose their favourite radio stations, compared to 16.7% who stated they followed their husband's choices, with only 13.3% who made their choices in consultation with their husbands. However, 12.2% respondents stated that they had no choice and this group included mainly those respondents that did not own a radio set.
It was of great interest to the study to establish whether the respondents were interested in starting a community-based radio project. And the responses highlighted that the majority, 95.6% showed tremendous enthusiasm stating that this could be used as a means of highlighting their problems and activities publicly. They felt that the community-based radio project would evidently be a means of education and will positively lead to community development. Those who indicated that they would not want to start a community-based radio project were 4.4%, because the vast majority of their community would not be able to listen to radio, as they would be engaged in their farming activities.
In my organisation which works in ten out of fourteen countries in the Southern Africa Development Community we have sought to empower the marginalised rural woman by giving access in and through the radio in a project called the Development Through Radio (DTR) we have trained rural women to produce their own radio programmes which are then broadcast on national radio. The project was first initiated in Zimbabwe and has since been replicated in Zambia, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa, Angola, Kenya, Uganda and is currently being implemented in Mozambique and Nigeria. It will be piloted in Sierra Leone within the coming few months.
My organisation has also launched two community radio stations in Malawi and Mozambique. These are proving to be very important structures in the communities where they are operating. Our national associations Malawi media Women's Association (MAMWA) and Mozambique Media Women's Association (MOMWA) are working hard to ensure that women's voice are amplified in these community radio stations.
The new possibilities of rejuvenating radio content by pairing radio with the Internet can serve to enhance the output of radio stations. There are now examples of radio communities sharing a part of their audience area with analogous "Net Communities" hence helping to bridge the digital divide.
Transcending or mitigating the digital divide demands a higher visibility for information and communication technologies in the political agenda of countries and in the global governance of all pertinent world fora. To date concerns have been articulated in a number of world fora, including:
Distinguished participants, let it be known that unless technological and of course other disparities are addressed Africa and other developing countries will continue to be irrelevant on technological issues that matter, economies will continue to be backward and the countries will continue to remain a liability to the rest of the world. Women and children who are already marginalised will find themselves in a worse situation and the cycle of poverty will continue to be reinforced amongst this group.
As we deliberate on these issues the ultimate goal for us all is to always keep in mind that development in the digital era should and must be people- centred with radio and women forming the heart of the centre.
