Libraries at University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Date of this Version
2020
Abstract
Information needs are an awareness of the information gap that exist among a group of people and differ from one group to another. The purpose of this study was to establish the information needs of women market vendors in Kasangati Town Council, Wakiso District in Uganda by establishing the information needs of women market vendors, sources of information that are available, barriers faced when accessing information, and making recommendations on the possible measures that can be put in place to address the information needs barriers. The study used a qualitative exploratory research design. Data was collected using interviews and observation, and analyzed using content analysis method. The findings revealed that the most commonly needed information by women vendors was on sources of funding, saving, land and business opportunities. On sources of information, the most used was mobile phones, followed by radios, and suppliers of products for vending which featured both as an information need and information source. The barriers that respondents faced in accessing information included language barrier; lack of airtime; unreliable information; lack of information infrastructure and communication challenges between them and the local authorities. A number of key implications for policy and practices emerged including among others recognition of women market vendors and their inclusion in urban development planning processes by government, provision of relevant training particularly on information literacy and business, and repackaging and dissemination of information in local languages through channels like radios and televisions.