Cluster III. Good governance: where the strategy aims at developing structures and systems of democratic governance that are participatory, representative, accountable and inclusive and
3.16 ICT for socio-economic development in the rural areas of Tanzania: review of empirical studies empirical studies
livelihoods strategies. Soriano showed that, while the intensity of the changes experienced cannot support the claims about the transformative role of telecentre on the rural poor, the changes have some positive implications on certain aspects of rural poverty and livelihoods capital assets. In terms of financial capital, telecentre services led to better earnings and more production. In human capital, the benefits accrued include e-literacy integration and knowledge-sharing while in social capital it led to the creation of venues for community integration and knowledge-sharing.
Some of the issues addressed by Soriano (2007) were also addressed in the present study. For instance, as with Soriano‟s (2007) study, the current work used the sustainable livelihoods framework of analysis to explore the link between ICTs and rural livelihoods. However, unlike the present study, Sorianos‟s (2007) research only dealt with the link between ICT services provided by the telecentres and livelihoods. The present study went a step further, to investigate the link between livelihoods and other ICTs services such as mobile phones.
3.16 ICT for socio-economic development in the rural areas of Tanzania: review of
Nielinger found that there was a general lack of guidance with regard to the opportunities provided by the internet. Nielinger concluded that ambitious claims on the role of ICTs are rarely in line with reality. The basic dynamics of rural ICT utilisation is often misconceived.
In another study, which was carried out in and around three internet cafés in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and one Multipurpose Community Telecentre (MCT) in Sengerema, Mercer (2005:
1) took issue with the ICT for development discourse and suggested that the geographies of inclusion and exclusion created by the internet are more complex. Mercer revealed that for Tanzania‟s information and communication technologies (ICT) elites, the internet will shape the population into knowledge and market-seeking, productive citizens, stimulating national growth. However, for internet café users and non-users, the internet has become a marker of modernity, a way for people to indicate their relative level of development. Internet use is currently dominated by leisure, communication and information relating to global popular culture. Mercer demonstrated that development interventions, which turn the symptoms of poverty into technical problems to be solved with technological responses, are inherently flawed, since the failure to deal with the causes of poverty means that the majority of Tanzanians continue to be excluded from the „information society‟.
Mercer‟s (2005) findings indicated that the experiences with the use of ICTs and services provided by telecentres vary from one community to another. The findings show that not much has been done to investigate specifically the extent to which ICTs impact various aspects of the livelihoods of the people. The population in Mercer‟s study involved a total of 279 customers from the three internet cafés in Dar es Salaam and 265 customers from the internet café at the Sengerema Multipurpose Community Telecentre all of whom completed open-ended questionnaires. In Sengerema, semi-structured interviews with customers and focus group discussions with non-customers were held and 299 town residents were interviewed to contextualise the questionnaire responses.
Unlike the present study, which mainly deals with rural areas, Mercer‟s study in 2005 involved populations from urban as well as rural areas. The definition of ICT services by Mercer was limited to internet services only. In the present study, other ICT services provided
by telecentres, such as computer training, community radio services, marketing information services and mobile phone services were also included.
Another study on socio-economic impacts of mobile communications on households, rural communities and small businesses in South Africa, Tanzania and Egypt was conducted by Samuel, Shah and Hadingham (2005). The study was a survey research, where data was collected using face-to-face interviews with 252 respondents from 10 rural communities and 140 small businesses in South Africa. The study involved 11 rural communities, with a total of 223 respondents and nine small businesses in Tanzania. In Egypt 150 small businesses were surveyed. Some of the objectives the research sought to address were: factors that influence ownership, use and non-use of mobile phones, uses of mobile phones and the social and economic impact of mobile phones on communities and small businesses in Africa.
The results of Samuel, Shah and Hadingham (2005) study indicated a very high awareness of the potential to use mobile phones for communication and very high perceived accessibility, even in very poor rural communities. The results were that 97 percent of the Tanzanian sample stated that they could access a mobile phone if they wished to, whereas only 28 percent could access a landline somewhere in the community.
The impacts of using mobile phones, as found in Samuel, Shah and Hadingham study, were social in nature, while others concerned employment or business. The social impacts were very important, both in South Africa and Tanzania. They include greater contact and improved relationships with family and friends. This was one of the most significant benefits identified by the surveys. Other benefits highlighted include reduced travel costs and help in job searches. In Tanzania, a high proportion of respondents (57 percent) felt that a major impact from mobile phones was faster and improved communication, as the majority of the people had no access to any other kind of a phone before the advent of mobile phones.
Lack of access to electricity was mentioned as a potential barrier to the uptake of the mobile phones and other technologies. In the case of Tanzania, many communities had limited or no access to electric power. Samuel, Shah and Hadingham (2005) found that respondents with electricity are more likely to own a mobile phone and those without electricity are more likely to borrow someone else‟s. Unlike Samuel, Shah and Hadingham‟s (2005) study which
researched the socio-economic impacts of mobile communications on households, rural communities and small businesses, the present study investigated mobile phones as well as ICTs services provided by the telecentres and studied their socio-economic impacts on rural communities.
In another survey, Goodman (2005) probed the link between mobile phone ownership and use and social capital in rural South Africa and Tanzania. The survey used a questionnaire, which was administered to 252 respondents from 10 rural communities in South Africa and 223 respondents from 10 rural communities in Tanzania. In both surveys, the mobile phone was the communications tool that most people had easy access to. In addition, results from both surveys showed a high degree of sharing mobile phones, suggesting that the devices are a social amenity as well as a communications tool. These two phenomena of the mobile phone device are important contributors of social capital.
Goodman‟s study in 2005 found that there are some links between social capital and mobile phone ownership and use in rural communities in South Africa and Tanzania. Mobiles were being used intensively in both surveys for contact with close friends and family. The study concluded that, within the parameters of the two surveys, mobiles were facilitating participation in social networks, helping to maintain both strong and weak links, including participation in community group activity. They were thus allowing people to invest in and draw on social capital.
As in Goodman‟s (2005) study, the present work looked at the link between mobile phones and social capital in rural areas. Goodman (2005) study was limited to that aspect only (social capital), while the present study investigated the link between other capital assets and mobile phones, as well as other ICT service provided by telecentres.
An investigation into the economic impact of telecommunications on rural livelihoods and poverty reduction was conducted by Souter et al. (2005). The study was conducted in rural communities in three developing countries, India, Mozambique and Tanzania, using field research methodology. An extensive questionnaire survey was administered to adult household heads and other senior household members in selected rural communities in these
countries, concerning their use of telephony and other ICTs. In each country, three research locations were chosen and the research was undertaken in thirty villages clustered around these locations.
In each location, about 250 adults, mostly heads of households, were interviewed at length about their household circumstances, communications requirements and behaviour, their use of telephones and their attitudes towards telephones. In addition, 100 and 150 small-scale business people were interviewed at each location. Seven hundred and forty five respondents were interviewed in India, 813 in Mozambique and 734 in Tanzania. In the case of Tanzania the three locations were Sengerema district, Hai district and Njombe district. The research used the sustainable rural livelihoods as a framework for the analysis of the impact of telecommunications on livelihoods.
The research showed that there was a consistent pattern of telephone behaviour in the three countries. Telephones were considered very important for use in emergencies and extensively used to maintain social networks, especially contact within the family. It was valued more for saving money than for earning money. The telephone was valued more by richer and better- educated people than by the poorer, less-educated or more marginal members of society, especially where financial value was concerned. It was considered unimportant for information- gathering.
Souter et al. (2005) revealed that face-to-face communications were the most important communications medium for specific information on issues such as farming, business and education. Hardly anyone in the sample populations had yet used the internet. On the impact of the telephone on livelihoods, the findings showed that the impact of the telephone on social capital is considerable. The telephone was important and considered to have high value, in all three countries, for social networking, particularly within the family. The impact of the telephone on economic activities was mixed.
Souter et al. (2005) found that the telephone was considered to have value by a high proportion of users when it comes to saving money (for example, by substituting for transport
or postal costs), but it was not considered to have value by most users for earning income. The telephone was found to be having minimum impact on information-gathering. Face-to-face communications were found to be the overwhelming medium of communications for information-gathering.
Souter et al. (2005) said where telephones were valuable in improving livelihoods they were benefiting higher status groups most and the most marginalised groups least. Souter et al.
(2005) predicted that the rapid growth in telephone ownership is likely to increase the number of beneficiaries considerably over the next few years, but the most marginalised could be left behind.
As with the current study, Souter et al. (2005) used the sustainable livelihoods framework to study the link between ICTs and rural livelihoods. However, unlike the present study, that used a wider definition of ICTs, the emphasis of Souter et al. (2005) was on telecommunication only. The study used quantitative methods while the present study used qualitative methods.
Myhr and Nordström (2006) conducted a study on livelihood changes enabled by mobile phones, using Tanzanian fishermen as a case study. Data for the study was collected by interviews with fishing boat captains in Dar es Salaam and Mwanza. The purpose was to investigate what impact mobile phone use had on the livelihood indicators which include empowerment, opportunity and vulnerability to risk. Thirteen semi-structured interviews were conducted with captains of commercial fishing boats at the two locations.
Myhr and Nordström (2006) showed that increased access to information enabled by mobile phones brought positive effects to all livelihoods indicators. Mobile phone use empowered the fishermen, both through increased bargaining power and increased control over external events. Mobile phones provided increased knowledge concerning market opportunities and a possibility to work more efficiently. Mobile phones gave fishermen the possibility to take measures to decrease the risks they are exposed to, such as emergencies at sea. The negative effects of the use of mobile phones were found to be negligible.
Myhr and Nordström (2006) concluded that positive effects to livelihoods indicators enabled by mobile phones are most likely not isolated to Tanzanian fishermen. Communication through mobile phones can bring similar advantages to other groups that had earlier been excluded from the communication system. As with the study of Souter et al. (2005), that of Myhr and Nordström (2006) is based on mobile phones, to study the link between ICTs and livelihoods.
Bjørn and Stein (2007) investigated regional aspects of internet use in Tanzania, in order to understand the extent of the digital divide within Tanzania. The study sought to determine if there were differences in quantity or quality of public internet access points and their use and users between rural and urban areas. The survey was performed in rural, semi-urban and central regions of the country. Seven internet cafés and 63 respondents from three rural regions, Iringa, Mbeya, and Songea, were involved. From the urban regions the study involved six internet cafés and 41 respondents from Morogoro and 12 internet cafés and 161 respondents from Dar es Salaam. A question was used to collect data from the five sites.
The findings showed that internet users in internet cafés were surprisingly similar in urban and rural areas. However, some small differences between urban and rural internet users existed, in that the users are becoming more “elite” in the rural regions, where access was scarce. Rural users tended to be younger and better educated and they were willing to spend relatively more money on internet use. They were also, to some degree, using the internet for more “instrumental” purposes, such as research and information seeking. Bjørn and Stein (2007) pointed out another, more obvious difference, “gender digital divide”, showing that the share of female users is considerably lower in rural regions.
In a study by McNamara (2008), the survey questionnaire was given to a sample of 181 individuals and key informants in rural communities, from nine villages located in three districts in Tanzania, These were Bagamoyo, Njombe and Moshi Rural. The questionnaires were complemented by focus group discussions with districts officers and planning officers and round-table discussions with key stakeholders from government, civil society organisations, private sector and academia, as well as development partners and practitioners.
McNamara‟s (2008) findings were that ICTs commonly used by the rural poor in the selected districts were radio, mobile phone and television. Very few people used internet, email and fax. The study pointed out that ICTs contributed to improving rural livelihoods through improved business (17%), increased access to education (3%), ease of communication (50%) and increased access to key information (30%). McNamara (2008) pointed out challenges for effective utilisation to ICT, which included resistance from users because of culture, traditions and economic hardship, which restrict people from using ICTs. The rural community believes that ICTs have brought some negative impacts to society, including distortion of culture and an increase in violence and crime.
McNamara (2008) recommended that the government should invest in ICT infrastructure in rural areas and provide incentives to individuals willing to invest in ICTs in rural areas, through private-public partnerships. The government should control programmes broadcast on television and radio, to preserve the national culture. The cost of radio batteries should also be controlled. The study recommended that the price of mobile phone devices and air-time vouchers should be reduced to allow more rural communities to access them.