THE ROLE OF MEDIA IN ALLEVIATION OF

RURAL POVERTY

A CASE STUDY OF NTENJERU COUNTY

KA YUN GA DISTRICT

BY

NAMAYANJA ELIZABETH

BMC/4 272/ 31/ DU

A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF

SOCIAL SCIENCES AND LAW IN PARTIAL
FULFILLMENT FOR THE AW ARD OF
BACHELORS DEGREE OF MASS
COMMUNICATION OF KAMPALA
INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY

2006
 DECLARATION
I Namayanja Elizabeth do hereby declare to the best of my knowledge this graduation
project is my original work and that it has never been submitted to any University or
Institution

The literature and citations from other people 's work as been fully referenced and
acknowledged in this text and bibliography.

,:c.. - b
o-=, .-.... o.... ... . . .
Date . .. ~ .. .......
Namayanja Elizabeth

,..._
/J - D ......
J Date .. ............. 7- .....
1'7..C:
.. ..

II
 DEDICATION

I dedicate this research work to my mum as a sign of love and fidelity. And I thank God
for the treasure I find in her day.

Ill
 ACKNOWLEDGMENT

l would like to express my heart-felt gratitude to all those people who contributed to the
success of my research.
I am greatly moved to make special mention of my supervisor DR.ONGORA JEROME
for his proper guidance and advice which enhanced steady progress and for his
encouragement to choose this topic.
MRS. NSUBUGA CHISTINE is highly commended for encouraging me to under take
this course and for supporting me financially throughout the course plus all members of
my family for their prayers. Not forgetting MR KABANDA WILLIAM for his support
financially and materially towards this research.

IV
 PREFACE
The topic of this dissertation has been chosen with influence of the fact that availability
of natural resources in rural areas in general; the rural people are the worst poverty
stricken

Ways through which this problem can be fought was analyzed and the research hopes that
the effort put in the production of this study will produce positive results,
It is recommended that many people have deeper insight in to the problem and come
up with appropriate solutions.
Since the media plays A significant role in influencing peoples attitudes, ideas and
perception of various issues, it should take lead in overcoming rural poverty.

V
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Supervised and approved ................................................................................ i

Declaration ..................................................................................................... ii
Dedication ...................................................................................................... iii
Acknowledgen1ent. ....................................................................................... iv
Preface ........................................................................................................... V
Table of contents ........................................................................................... vi
List of tables and figures ............................................................................... vii
CHAPTER ONE:
1.0 Introduction ...................................................................................... I
I. I Back Ground ...................................................................................... l
1.2 Research Proble1n .............................................................................. 3
l .3 General Purpose ................................................................................... 3
1.4 Specific Objectives .............................................................................. 3
1.5 Hypothesis ........................................................................................... 4
1.6 Significance of the study ................................................................... 4
1.7 Scope of the study ............................................................................... 4
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.0 Introduction ......................................................................................... 5
2.1 What is communication ...................................................................... 5
2.2 What are the mass media ................................................................... 6
2.3 Poverty in Uganda ............................................................................. 6
2.4 Media in Uganda ................................................................................ 8
2.4. l News papers ..................................................................................... 9
2.4.2 Radio ................................................................................................ l 0
2.4.3 Television ......................................................................................... 11
2.4.4 Filn1s ................................................................................................ 11
2.5 Functions of mass media .................................................................... I2
2.6 Rural poverty ....................................................................................... 13
2.7 Poverty alleviation ............................................................................... 13

CHAPTER THREE
METHODOLOGY
3.0 Introduction ........................................................................................... 15
3. I Research design .................................................................................... 15
Data source ............................................................................................ 15
'"''"' Sain pie selection .................................................................................... 15
.) . .)

3.4 Areas and population of the study .......................................................... 16

3.5 Data collection ........................................................................................ 16

VI
3.5.1 Instru1nentation .................................................................................. 16
3.5.2 Procedure of data collection ............................................................... 17
3.5.3 Data analysis ....................................................................................... 17
3.6 Problems encountered ........................................................................... 17

CHAPTER FOUR
4.0 Analysis of findings ............................................................................... 18
4.1 Role played by media in rural poverty alleviation ................................. 18
4.2 Reasons why rural people are the major victims of poverty .................. I 9
4.2.1 Lack of facilities .................................................................................. 20
4.2.2 Difficulty in identifying viable projects and business priorities .......... 21
4.2.3 Exploitation of rural peasants by the urban business and middle
Men ...................................................................................................... 23
4.2.4 Insufficient serious time use ................................................................ 23
4.2.5 Lack of trust, adequate cooperation and coordination ........................ 23
4.2.6 Lack of capital markets ....................................................................... 23
4.2.7 Not participating in developmental projects ........................................ 24
4.3 Ntenjeru county ....................................................................................... 24
4.4 The role of developmental agencies (NGOs) in rural poverty
Alleviation ............................................................................................... 25
4.4.1 Government has come in to fight poverty directly ............................... 25
4.4.2 The Uganda women's finance trust (UWFT)(U-TRUST ................... 25
4.4.3 NAADS ............................................................................................... 27
4.5 The role of radio ..................................................................................... 28
4.5.1 Copies of newspapers received in Kayunga district.. ........................... 30

CHAPTER FIVE
5.0 Conclusion and Recommendations ............................................................. 31
5.1 Conclusion ................................................................................................ 31
5.2 Recommendations .................................................................. 32

BIBLIOGRAPY

APPENDIX 1
Questionnaire to residents of Ntenjeru County
Questionnaires to CBS radio station
LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES:
Figure I: Effective communication model
Figure 2: Relationship between mass media and poverty.
Table: I Findings of listenership survey of variation media.

vii
 CHAPTER ONE
1.0 Introduction

Poverty is the lack of enough income or resources to satisfy a person's minimum needs. Although
poverty can be found in all countries and regions, the minimum needs vary according to place and
time.
Approximately one out of every nine people in this country live below the poverty line established by
the Federal Government. In 2003, 31.1 million people were living in poverty. The economic boom of
the I 990's passed by A Bureau of the census report showed that one in five households had trouble
meeting basic needs, everything from paying the utility bills to buying dinner.

1.1 Back ground of the study

Effective communication is a vital component of the development process of any community.
According to the 1991 Uganda population and Housing Census, out of a total population of 166 mil lion
people 90 percent lived in rural areas and were engaged in agriculture.

The rural population is the back borne of the country's economy, religious and political development.
Ninety percent of Uganda's economy is agro-based and agro-oriented. The rural people however
remain poor. illiterate and malnourished. They have no access to basic resources, credit, education and
others even land. The reward for their toil is meager and does not truck down to make any meaningful
change in their lives.

While economic indications point to increase per capita income, the quality of life index point to a
deadline in social development. Beyond the economic development figures, rural communities
countrywide are degenerating into absolute poverty at household level.

Over the last 19 years, Government has implemented policies geared towards eradication of poverty
among the people. These policies have led to a substantial reduction in poverty levels from 56 percent
in 1992 to 38 percent in 2003.More needs to be done to ensure that all Ugandans move and stay out of
poverty in 1997. The poverty Eradication Action Plan a framework for addressing the poverty
challenges, was developed and launched. During the process of implementation, new challenges arose
which led to the plan in 2000.

The Government has taken stoke of the achievements so far attained and the remaining challenges.
The challenges include to consolidate national security, deal with the consequences of conflict, and
improve regional quality, to restore sustainable growth in the incomes of the poor, to build strong
social and economic infrastructure; to enhance human

Development; and to use public resources more efficiently. Over the next years Government will focus
its attention on addressing these challenges.

Since 2000 there has been an increase in inequality, which has been ra1s111g since 1997.Thc
GiniCofficient, which measures inequality, rose from 0.35 in 1997/1998 to 0.4 in 2003.

The reason for the recent patterns include a slow down in agricultural growth during the last years,
decline in farmer's price reflecting world market conditions, insecurity, high population growth rate
and mobility related to HIV/AIDS. Regional and gender inequalities are wide with the East suffering a
marked decline in standards of living.

As Ugandan's economy develops, the ways in which people earn incomes will change. Households are
moving out of relying solely or mainly on crop farming into non-agricultural enterprises. Wage
employment is expanding more slowly; it remains critical to increase agricultural incomes. because
returns to activities other than agriculture will decline in rural areas unless agriculture incomes
111crease.

If Uganda achieves 6% annual growth in real GDP, inequality will be reduced to the levels observed in
2000, and population growth falls to 2.4%, the poverty headcounts in projected to 18% in 2013.

Concerning human development, recent years have seen: maJor improvements 111 education and
literacy. Child health outcomes, however, did not improve in the 1990's and HIV/AIDS remains the
leading cause of death with in the most productive age ranges of 15-49. Child nutrition, together with

2
infant and maternal mortality indicators deterioted between 1995 and 2000, and HIV/ Aids prevalence
rates stagnated between 6% and 7%. Access to public services has improved, but the poor are less well
served than other groups. Government therefore needs to target its services more effectively to ensure
that they reach the poorest households in rural areas.

1.2 Research problem

In developing countries, governments are keen on developing and utilizing mass media to inform
educate and entertain the masses. This is recognition of the importance of communication in the
development process.
In Uganda, the Ministry of information runs Radio, Television and a number of Newspapers both in
English and some local languages. It is expected that the masses use these media for development
purposes. The problem however is that not much is known as to what extent the masses uti Iize these
media for development most especially the rural areas and people are poor and illiterate of how to use
the media most especially the print media. And for radio and television they can not afford buying
them.
1.3 General purpose
The study aimed at analyzing the role of the media towards rural poverty alleviation 111 Ntenjeru
County in Kayunga District.

1.4 Specific objectives

I. To establish the extent to which the people ofNtenjeru County use the media.
2. To establish factors affecting utilization of the media in Ntenjeru County.
3. To asses the contribution of the media on poverty alleviation in Ntenjeru County.
4. To establish some of the development agencies (Non -government organizations) that have
tried to alleviate poverty and used media to reach the people and what responses were observed
for the people.

,.,
.)
1.5 Hypothesis
Media contribution towards poverty alleviation effort in rural areas is of little consequence.

1.6 Significance of the study

This study was important because it underscored the problems facing the rural people who are the
majority and contributions to Uganda's economy through agriculture. In Uganda today, where relative
peace and press freedom exist, the media ought to seriously address problems that hamper rural
development.
The media has been picked on because it plays the most significant role in shaping and influencing
attitudes in society. This makes it a vital force in the fight against poverty, which deprives the rural
people of high living standards. Ntenjeru County in Kayunga District is a very good example, which
exhibits rural poverty characteristics, since Kayunga is to be one the backward districts in Uganda.

1.7 Scope of the study

The study should establish some of the development related programmes available to the people or
Ntenjeru County. Organizations with the widest audience in Uganda have chosen to represent others.
Radio was chosen from all the media because it is received almost all over the country. It also
broadcasts in various languages. A large audience therefore including the illiterate in Ntenjeru County
receives the message broadcast

From print media The New vision was chosen because it has the largest circulation and more than
3500 copies daily in the country.

4
 CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.0 Introduction
The term ·'poverty'' sterns from the French word poverty.
The shorter Oxford English "Dictionary on historical principles" defines it as the quality or
condition of being poor. It goes on to say that ''poverty is a condition of having little or no wealth
or, no material possession.

The concise Oxford Dictionary defines it as ·'the renunciation of rights to individual ownership or
property."'

In my own opinion, poverty is a state of living day in and day out striving to get the seemingly
impossible basic needs of food, shelter, clothes, medical services etc.

The Oxford Advanced Learners' Dictionary lends my definition some weight when it defines the
"'poverty line'' as the minimum level of income needed to buy the basic necessities of life.

2.1 What is communication

The word communication stems from the Latin word ·'communis" which means. ··making
common". This could mean sharing a community in exchanging ideas. way of life extra.
Communication can be-:

lntrapersonal: Expounding ideas with one self for example thinking of a project nrnrnage
proposal, the next meal etc.

Interpersonal: When a person speaks with some else that is exchanging ideas, exchanging vows.

Group Communication: When one person talks to more than one person for example a lecturer to
students.
Mass Communication: This involves community to abroad section. It is the most complex because
it involves the masses and it is what we are dealing with.

5
 2.2 What are the mass media
Mass media are non personal device used to put across messages from the source to the target
audience. These include-:
- Newspapers
- Magazine
- Television
- Radio
- Posters
- Video Recordings etc.

A major characteristic of the mass media is that the audiences' response is found wanting, !eedback
from the audience to the sender is non-existent.

These media of communication when used wisely spread messages that facilitate in the development.

2.3 Poverty in Uganda

The concept is no longer new in Uganda. Many scholars have written about it and expressed the
dilapidating situation of poverty in this country. Poverty creeps through both Urban and Rural
population. While available data show that the economy is growing, the situation on the ground
indicates that poverty is escalating both in rural and urban communities.

According to Oxfam International, Uganda was a decade ago a country synonymous with corruption.
tyranny and economic disaster. To day, it is one of the sub- Saharan Africa's success stories. In the
eyes of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund [IMF], Uganda has displaced Ghana as
Africa's ''Star performer'', and according to the government of Uganda, the economic recovery and
microeconomics has on the whole achieved considerable success over the past few years. Inflation is
said to have been brought down to a single digit, trade, has been liberalized and the exchange rate for
the shilling was stable.

·'Uganda has made great strides in revamping its economy, and the economy has been gro,.ving at
an average of 6.5% per annum since 1986".

6
However, the paradox of remarkable economic growth amidst poverty remams a big challenge in
Uganda. This is why many people here argue that the economic growth of Uganda is more abstract
and theoretical than practical because there is no trickle down effect of the good economic
performance .The countryside is totally submerged in absolute poverty.

Poverty in Uganda is rampant and wide spread in spite of the remarkable economic growth at an
average of 6.5% per annum being sung of. The poor faced with very many productions and marketing
constraints cannot tap the natural sources, which Uganda is endowed with. Private contribution to
wards financing human development is hammered by lack of the means to gain fully utilizes
productive forces. From [UNDP, 1997].

The negative impact of the structural adjustment policies which among other things include loss or
jobs and reduced provision of social services consequent upon government expenditure cuts.
exacerbates, the already direct poverty situation, particularly in rural areas. For example, the News
paper of the Daily Monitor, Wednesdays, day April 19. 2006 showed that about 70% of Kayunga
District mothers give birth from villages said by the Director of health services Kayunga district Dr.
Diriisa Musisi implying that people are poor although the government has provide health services they
can not afford even the simple costs they have to pay in.

To further show the poverty situation in Uganda, according to United Nations Human Development
Report I 997, Uganda is ranked 146 th least developed out of the 173 countries. Th is is why Uganda
experiences absolute poverty. Absolute poverty refers to the standards of living below the minimum
required to satisfy the very basic needs namely, food, shelter, clothing, basic health etc [Nal'ziger.
1997].

Not only is poverty a cute in Uganda, world wide, the story about poverty is equally nasty. According
to the United Nations Report released May I 997, 220 million Africans lived in absolute poverty.[Ne'vv
Vision May 15 th , 1997].The report estimated the number of African poor to be resized to 300 million
by the year 2000 and it was true.

7
 It is therefore nasty to note that the number of people bin absolute poverty has not declined in spite of
all the advances in technology. This further confirms the assertion that Uganda's economic growth is
rather abstract and theoretical as the practical picture on the ground is quite pathetic.

Some reasons that advance to explain the poverty situation in Uganda is the low literacy rate. This is
because the majority of the population can neither read nor write; hence they cannot access and utilize
available information. A situation where a country has low literacy rates makes it difficult for useful
information disseminated by the media to be useful. [Graham Mylton, 1992].

Out of the estimated 2.6 million school age children [4-15 of age only about 1-9 million start primary
one. [New vision, Jan I ih 1997]. The real problem for Uganda's literacy is that the cohort survival
rates us very low particularly for the girl child. Cohort rate refers to the group of pupils, who enrolled
in primary one, primary two, want to measure the cohort survival rate, we study these groups at
another level, say, primary four, five, or seven. For Uganda however, the enrolment rates are fairlv
good but the real problems lies with the cohort survival rate.

The picture of poverty in Uganda is also shown by the light infant mortality rates and low life
expectancy as shown in [the poverty eradication plan of 2002]. In 1994, the life expectancy for
Uganda of 40.2% compared to unfavorably with sub regional high 35.6years registered by Kenya.
The media also shows that "poverty is the root cause of the a war" this can be seen in the Northern part
of Uganda where business is at a stand-still, schools and hospitals are not functioning and roads are
broken and deserted. Hence the problem of poverty continues in Uganda. [New vision Wednesday.
April 19, 2006.

2.4 The media in Uganda

The media refers to channels communication. Channel of communication are the ways through \Vhich
messages are sent from as ender to a receiver. They include the print media, which involves
nevvspapers, newsletters, reflects, magazines etc. the electronic media consists of radio television.
films. Internet etc. Communication is the dissemination of messages from sender to a receiver. it
includes:
11 Intra- personal- communication between two people.

8
111 Group communication- communication to a small group of people
111 Mass communication- communication to a very large audience.
111 For purposes of this study, we shall mostly dwell on mass communication, which uses
mass media.
For communication to be effective, the channel used must be efficient. so that the
message sent is not distorted or does not fail to reach the intended audience in time and then
feedback is given as shown in the communication model below.

l
Figure 1: EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION MODEL.
SENDE-CHANNEc-'"MESSAGE ~PRE-TES. . RECEIVE~ FEEDBACK

The print media development with the invention of printing press by gutternburg in I 5 century.
Print media

2.4. l News Pa per

In Uganda started as a protest against colonial rule.
MENGO NOTES was the first news dominated by Protestants.

A catholic publication 111 Uganda called MUNNO was published second 111 Uganda. it was
started in 191 I.
SEKANYOL YA was the third paper to be published.
It ·was first privately owned newspaper in the country. It was started in 1927
Government has continued owing newspapers but under different names. The first government
newspapers were called the UGANDA ARGUS. With the changes in regimes that have led
Uganda, it was at one referred to as UGANDA times, the voice of Uganda and under the
national ( resistance movement NRM) government it is called the new vision
News papers in Uganda serve different purpose. Some are political, religious. and others
commercial, several newspapers have been on and off the streets of Uganda, mostly because of
financial constraints. In 1994 there were over 20 news papers/letters in the country. Most of

9
them were in English with a few in laganda and some other languagtes. Those available on
streets now include, the news vision, the monitor, the red paper,
The observer, Sun Rise, Bukedde, Orumuri, Etop, the mirror etc vision. the monitor. the red
paper,
The observer, sun rise, Bukedde, orumuri, etop, the mirror etc
Those which have gone off the streets mostly because of financial hardships include, the daily
and weekly topics, Munno, thestar, Ngoma etc
Papers in the native languages were including, Bukedde which is on streets and others went
off the streets such Lipoota and Shariat.
There are also regional papers such as ETOP Eastern, Orimuri in western , Rupiny in luo and
Bukedde in the central part of Uganda.
Most publication are read mainly by urban population because very few people 111 the
rural areas can offer buying them seves due to economic hardships.
In addition, the majority of rural people are illiterate. Also very few of the rural people have
no access to the publications because they are centered around towns for example Kampala.

2.4.2 Radio
Radio broad casting was introduced in Uganda in 1953, under the colonial ordinance on
dissemination of information. This was 26 years after it was introduced I Kenya in 1926
AUK ACT Post office was authorized to grant abroad casting license to the colonial authority
in Uganda.
British Broad Casting company ( BBC) chief Engineer Graham Phillips made a survey on the
sites of Bugolobi in the suburbs of Kampala and Shimon in the centre of Kampala were
constructed respectively. Work started in 1953. In the same year, the department of
information, Broadcasting and tourism began a temporary broadcasting unit on test basis. In
1954, the new studios at Shimon were commissioned by sir And rew Cohen, then governor of
Uganda. This marked the official opening of broadcasting in Uganda.

Government contributed to former radio Uganda now UBC Uganda broad casting company.
Several private radio stations have registered to be based both in Kampala and other parts or

10
Uganda. These include radio Sanyu and capital which opened in January 1993 and others are
radio samba, one. Metro, Dembe and central broad casting services etc

2.4.3 Television
Television was introduced in Uganda in 1963. it started with black and white pictures. Colour
was introduced to Uganda television ( UTV) now Uganda broad casting company (UBC)
television in 1975. Other stations like Sanyu television and cable services television were
introduced in January 1993
Uganda television was introduced in most parts of Uganda. The other stations like Sanyu and
cable television were received with in limited distance about 50km from Kampala where they
are based.
There is no reliable data to show the number of homes in the whole country that receive
Uganda broadcasting television the information Ministry however, a round 40% it is mostly
received in urban areas where there is electric power, although the rural people can also use
batteries, rural people can not a afford television because it is expensive to buy and maintain.

2.4.4 Films
According to the information available from the ministry of information, the Uganda film unit
was started in 1962. it was introduced by UNESCO which trained local Ugandans hm, to film.
The film industry served the purpose of educating, informing and entertaining the people film
was mostly used to educate the rural communities in the fields of agriculture, the economy.
health care, tourism etc. Now however, the film industry in Uganda is just being revived. Very
few people used to fund the mobile film vans to air films to the rural population,
Today. Ugandans depend mostly on films and home films are starting up such as Ekina-
Uganda played by Ugandans.

11
2.5 Functions of the mass media
Traditionary, the mass media role is to inform, educate and entertain the public. But it has
taken on other roles as well. For example through interpretative reporting, relevancy of various
even its is given. Such events may include celebrations for example the international woman· s
day, the day of the African child, aids day etc the media acts as a socializing agent through
teaching people of established norms and valves of society.

It provides satisfaction to man's curiosity through enabling him to know what occurs 111

countries a distance from him.

The media has a capacity to create new meanings, integrate new ones into the existing ones. or
to perpetuate the existing ones. It achieves this through use of symbols and words to portray
images, which after are taken for reality.

Besides this, it acts as a link among various organizations 111 society. Through the media.
people get to know what happens in different government ministries, districts. rural areas.
school, courts, hospital etc

The media has been referred to as a fourth arm of government besides the Executive.
legislature and judiciary, because it examines whatever goes on in those three bodies with
advancement of technology, the media has brought the world closer and instance to view live
foot ball match or and other games taking place miles from Uganda.

It also plays the role of multiplier effect, that is even if one has not read the newspapers. or
listened to radio, he can get that information from a friend or any other person who listened to
it.

The media stabilizes society through encouraging preservation of cultural valves and ideas
while at the same time facilitating the adoption of new ones in society
It directs people attention, opinions and. That is, it sets an idea for public to focus on the media
has been called ·' All powerful media'' be cause it has to play a vital role of selecting which
new item to lead others.

12
2.6 Rural poverty
Rural poverty is a village or rural condition of being without resources for a reasonable
comfortable le living the poor and vulnerable people are those who are considered incapable.
given the current and projected trends, of breaking out of the poverty cycle.
The largest group of the poor people in the rural areas are those who fall under the category of
the social economic (resource poor farmers). Amongst these farmers with out enough
resources, include:
Voluntary settlers who mainly migrate due to land pressures.
Pastoralists who are a group whose traditional transhumance lifestyle abstracts conventional
health care and educational services, even though they may not be economically
disadvantaged.
Woman is the most vulnerable group in Uganda rural areas. They are more represented among
the poor and vulnerable categories.
People in different circumstances, which affect their working capacity for a living like those
wit AIDS, widows and orphans people with disabilities, refugees, displaced person and the
elderly
Although not always evenly distributed, the above categories of people are found through out
the country their access to facilitate; support and services are in most cases inadequate.
Rural poverty in Uganda varies according to regions.
The areas which suffered major destruct during the decade and a half of war are severely
poverty stricken rural poverty is more prevalently in northern region where the 1.var has
persisted. 81 % of the population they live below the poverty line. The majority are actually
among the poorest.

2. 7 Poverty alleviation
Poverty alleviation is improving the living standards of the poor through the sustained
economy and permitting them to participate in the economic growth.
It includes social services to the poor such as primary health care (PHC) primary education.
safe drinking water, sanitation and descent housing.
It creates social safety for the poor and vulnerable. Poverty alleviation also ensures increased
ownership of physical assists such as land through land reform policies and allows the poor to

13
have better access to credit institutions. Besides that, poverty alleviation programmes rise
returns of assets owned by the such as labour increasing their real wages
It removes distortions in the product market by improving agricultural prices, thus raising the
in come of poor farmer. Poverty alleviation programmes in addition to that ensure improving
living conditions through better housing, disease control, family planning etc
The programmes provide relief on temporary basis- during times of catastrophes such as
earthquakes, during economic crisis on a permanent basis for the chronically poor vulnerable
to protect their welfare.

Figure 2: Relationship between mass media and poverty alleviation

MASS MEDIA MASSES POVERTY ALLEVIATION

~

y i----.

~IT

Through information about:

(a) Production methods
(b) Available inputs
(c) Available markets
(d) Extension education.
(e) Credit facilities etc
Figure 2 about shows that when mass media beams development information to the rural poor.
the situation assists them to act on their poverty- situation so that is alleviated.

14
 CHAPTER THREE
METHODOLOGY
3.0 Introduction
This chapter contained the methods and procedures used in obtaining the research data. It gave the
constitution of the data and population that were used to obtain the data.

3.1 Research design

The study was carried out Ill few selected areas in Ntenjeru County in Kayunga District. The
problem under investigation was tackled because few people were interviewed.

The methods that were used in the collection of data were mainly questionnaires, interviews. and
observation. The results of this study were compiled, analyzed accordingly and therefore the problem
was described in its actual nature. After, possible solutions and recommendations were suggested and
revealed to implementers of policies, Government, Students, Service providers, Opinion leaders and
Local population.

3.2 Data source

The data was got from different parts/villages in Ntenjeru County in Kayunga District, among the
people and from different opinion leaders. Radio CBS was also be contacted to give some of its
programmes for development and what their listener ship is in rural areas.

3 .. 3 Sample selection
Here. a sample of 50 respondents was selected randomly through the parishes that constitute Ntenjeru
County. From the Parishes which were chosen; for example in these parishes, a third and eleventh
home was interviewed .In case there was no person found, the researcher had to move on the next
house until where she found the respondent. And a female adult, male youth and male adult and
female youth interviewed.

15
3.4 Areas and population of the study
The study was carried out in a few areas that were selected in. Ntenjeru County in Kayunga District
just next to Mukono district. Ntenjeru County was chosen as an area of study because it was in
Kayunga district that the problem of poverty is also found strikening.
Another reason was that, me the researcher, I come from Kayunga district so am well versed with the
situation on the ground and I can therefore communicate well in the local dialects to avoid the problem
of language barrier. This could enable me to collect first hand information.

The population of the study therefore shall consist of youth members, opinion leaders, old people. who
shall be exactly 50 in total.

The population of study is going to include different tribes such as Baganda, Basoga since Kayunga is
just near to Jinja district so people migrate from there to Kayunga, Gishu's and very many other tribes
in the district in small portions like the Sudan Kuku's but registered as Ugandans. Although the
population includes various tribes, the most spoken language is Luganda and almost 75% of the
population can comprehend the language.

3.5 Data collection

3.5.1 Instrumentation
Sets of questionnaires for the three categories of respondents who were selected. The questionnaires
were constructed and each category of respondents got a different questionnaire

The questionnaires contained both open and close-ended questions. The close-ended questions had
possible alternative answers from which the respondent had to choose. This method the most Iikely to
be suitable and easy to administer to the respondents since it was to suggest possible answers that
could help the respondents to focus his/her mind to the areas of interest.
Open-ended questions required the respondent to respond freely, giving their views and opinions. By
using open-ended questions, the researcher was able to explore the feelings of the respondents. as the
method would give the respondents an opportunity to reveal their own evaluation. attitudes or bias on
the role of the media in alleviating poverty

16
3.5.2 Procedure of data collection
The researcher obtained a letter of introduction from the institution, faculty of social sciences and
law. This helped the researcher to get permission from the commissioner Kayunga District to carry out
the research in Ntenjeru County and to interview the opinion leaders in the area and service providers.

After getting the permission, the researcher went ahead to administer the questionnaire and to
interview the respondents.

3.5.3 Data analysis

The data was edited and analyzed in two ways. It was done in qualitative form in away that
information gave a good interpretation. On the other hand, it was also done in a quantitative form in a
sense that information was presented or illustrated in bar graphs. This helped to compute and provide
meaningful information.

3.6 Problems encountered

I. The time for carrying out this research was Iittle, as it had to be shared among class work and
assignments.

2. Fund was not enough as transport had nsen because the rising prices of diesel and petrol and
logistics are costly.

3. Lacks of cooperation by some of the respondents do not behave Natural as they would in their
daily life because of being interviewed. Some tried to give answers that they thought could
impress the researcher. It is also always difficult to find a home with desired respondents
following the methodology i used.
4. In most departments, offices and those of the information ministry headquarters there where no
sufficient record keeping.

5. Illiteracy among the people in Ntenjeru County since most of them did not go to school and some
stopped in lower classes because of poverty, so communication was not easy due to the language
barrier there because of the area being covered with many tribes.

17
 CHAPTER FOUR
4.0 Analyses of findings
4.1 Role played by Media in Rural Poverty Alleviation
There are many happenings most of which bring about human suffering, in the rural areas. Such events
however, pass unpublished in the media, for solutions. The reasons for the medias' failure to play an
adequate role in rural poverty alleviation are severe.

❖ Most customers for Newspapers, radio, television sets, film tapes extra are in urban areas. The
media personnel therefore concentrate on writing and broadcasting about the urban people for
the urban people.

❖ Most journalists define news only in terms f prominent personalities, urban perspective. and
negative events. They therefore cover events in the rural areas when big politicians visit and
negative events occur.

❖ Most media organizations are centered in urban areas. They therefore have easy access to
events happening in and around urban areas.

❖ There is a general lack of transport and other communication facilities to enable rural
journalists to send news to the editors in the Newsrooms.

❖ A survey in Ntenjeru County revealed that the majority of the rural people operate their radio
only during harvest seasons when they get money to by dry cells from the sales or their
produce since very few people have electricity in their homes.

The majority of people in Ntenjeru in Kayunga district still listen to only News and personal
announcements and then switch off their radio yet even some people lack a small radio in their houses.
so its is impossible for them to utilize information for development passed on by radio like central
broad casting services.

18
 ❖ A big section of the rural people especially the youth player listening to music than to
development programs and so keep on changing stations in search for music.

❖ Rural women who are the major victims of poverty rarely listen to radio. Men control and
determine the programs to be listened to.

❖ Local council secretaries for information are elected on the basis of being talkative though with
out knowledge of information gathering and dissemination. They misinterpret, distort the
information they get from radio, causing a negative multiplier effect.

❖ According to my research, the timing of development programs is not proper. Sometimes. the
programs are just in the background and the message is not understood.

❖ Due to individual differences, and level of education people interpret the message differently.
Misinterpretation defeats the purpose of development messages.

4.2 Reasons why rural people are the major victims of poverty
The rural people in most cases have been noted as the major victims of poverty though there are also
the urban poor. The rural dwellers are less exposed to ideas and lack the means to exploit the avai Iable
resources to them in order to generate high incomes. The reasons for this state of affair are listed
below:-

Lack of facilities, for example electricity, enough and well equipped health units.
learning institutions, etc.
Difficulty in identifying viable projects and business priorities.
Exploitation of the rural peasants by the urban business and middlemen.
Lack of managerial expertise, skills and capital.
Insufficient serious time use.
Inferiority complex.
Inadequate cooperation.

19
4.2.1 Lack of facilities
There is a general lack of facilities like electricity, well-equipped health units and learning institutions.
The roads in rural areas are poor, there are few telephone and access to safe drinking water is difficult.
Lack of facilities leads to concentration of services in urban areas because:-
❖ Qualified personnel in various fields do not want to work in rural areas where the above-
mentioned facilities are not.

❖ The poor health facilities and services bring about high infant and child death rates because of
inadequate immunization of the children against the six killer diseases of polio. diphtheria.
tetanus, tuberculosis, measles and whooping cough.

❖ Poor curative services increase the death rate of even the adult people. A big number or
mothers also die during labour. In the Daily Monitor of Wednesday, April 19 th 2006 it ,vas
quoted that 70% of Kayunga mothers give birth from village said by Diriisa Musisi ,vhen he
was addressing journalists at his office at Ntenjeru yet the government had put in place health
controls in all the nine sub-counties in Kayunga District only 30% deliver from hospitals which
lead most of mothers who do not go to hospitals to die from villages and sometimes their
children die. It is the traditional doctors who attend to them.

❖ Rural peasants who cannot pay the high charges at good private hospitals have always resorted
to buying a few drugs from the drug shops, which have sprung in every part of the district. This
is in addition to the numerous doctors in the villages who give injections indiscriminately and
cause more health problems than they solve. For example some children clue to that case
become lame.

Deep in the villages, people mostly resort to herbs and witch doctors for treatment of diseases. This
results in high mortality rates for children and mothers in labour.

Because of the absence of many government hospitals, workers who are entitled to free medical care
have also found it difficult to go to the distant government hospitals in Kayunga or to expensive
private hospitals.

20
4.2.2 Difficulty in identifying viable projects and business priorities
Despite the availability of a variety of projects like poultry keeping, daily and beef farming. brick
making, trade extra, the rural poor fail to identify a suitable project that may be viable given their
respective environment they live in. For instance, n Ntenjeru county a farmer grows vanilla because
others are growing it. This floods the market at harvest time and lowers the price. The poor farmers
sell the vanilla at low prices and those to whom they sell it get a lot of money.

The rural poor also fail to improve on their stands of living out of the projects they do because they
carry them out at a subsistence scale.

The rural people's difficult in carrying out viable projects has been ceased by a number of problems
including:
Illiteracy of low education
Lack of exposure
Lack of managerial expertise, skills and capital
Responsibility over large families
Fear of the unknown.
❖ Illiteracy and low education
The majority of the rural people are illiterate or semi-illiterate. Low education in these areas is caused
by lack of good schools in the rural areas, lack of school fees or neglect by parent to educate their
children because they do not understand the value of education. The girls are the worst hit as parents
prefer educating boys and give a way girls for marriage at an early age.

The rural areas are also disserted by the educated sons and daughters of the villages as they move to
tovms to look for employment, those who remain in the village therefore can not for instance keep
books of accounts, explore foreign business or methods of work where the literature about the projects
may be in foreign languages like English, French, German or Swahili.

21
Statistics for education reveal that 43% female and 57% male are en rolled in primary schools. Two
out of every three girls and one out of every two boys drop out by primary seven. 55% of all Ugandan
women are illiterate while 35% of the men are illiterate.

❖ Lack of exposure
Rural people are mostly reserved and conservative. They value and stick to the traditional \Vay or
doing things. They do not read newspapers, other literature or even listen to radio programs in other
languages apart from their respective vernacular, to get new ideas. Their rate of travel is also lmv
mostly due to lack of resources.

Because they lack vital information to expand on their rate of productivity, they hardly break the
vicious cycle of poverty that they live in.

• Lack of managerial expertise, skills and capital

Poor managerial expertise and lack of skills lead to use of poor methods of production and business
management. These lead to poor yield and low profits. Agriculture in most rural areas in Uganda 1s
done at subsistence level.

Lack of enough land and access to other productive resources is also another big problem that hinders
the ability of the resource poor farmers to meet their basic requirements. For example the majority or
the peasant farmers in Ntenjeru County own less acres of land. Coupled with inadequate basic social
services, they can even produce enough to feed their families through out the year. This leads to
malnutrition among children and make adults susceptive to diseases. The landless can expand their
capital, as they have no access to credit.
❖ Responsibility over large families
The majority of Kayunga rural people more so the resource poor farmers in Ntenjeru county are highly
polygamous. The large number of wives and children is still taken to be prestigious and a source of
labour to work in the man's garden. The large extended families which include even other distant
relatives consume most of the time and resource the man would use to plan to viable projects.

22
 ❖ Fear of the unknown.
The majority of the rural people resist change, because of the uncertainty about whether the new
changes will be for the better or for the worse. By the time villagers embrace modern way of
production or running business, their urban counterparts will have exploited it and improved on their
incomes.

4.2.3 Exploitation of the rural peasants by the urban business and middlemen
The people of Ntenjeru County for example, produce a lot of pineapples, charcoal and water melon.
They sell them to the middle businessmen at very low prices when they take them at very high prices
them to urban centers. The middlemen make far more profits than the Ntenjeru producers.

4.2.4 insufficient serious time use.

A big section of the rural people especially men work for few hours mostly on other people's
plantations and then to drink alcohol for the rest of the day. Although women work for longer hours
than men. they too waste much time in rumors and loose talk instead of discussing developmental
issues to improve their living standards. Both men and women in the rural areas set low targets and
their satisfaction level is very low.

4.2.5 Lack of trust, adequate cooperation and coordination

Several primary societies in Ntenjeru county have collapsed and members loose money as leaders
divert the societies' resources to personal business. This has led to the collapse of diflerent
associations due to lack of proper co-ordination and trust among the implementers.

4.2.6 Lack of capital markets

Capital markets are financial institutions like banks. Most rural area do not have banks or have Jew.
The branches that had been opened up by micro finance and other banks most especially Ntenjeru
County in Kayunga district. The operations of the few branches in Ntenjeru County too are not
adequate. Most of time, those branches have no money to give to their customers. Services are
inefficient, in that one spends along period of time to get a loan from these banks yet the interest on
these loans are very much.

_..,
)'"'
But even rural people fear to use these banks because they lack land and registered businesses whose
certificates or titles the bank would demand before lending the rural poor money. More to this is that.
rural people lack the knowledge of using these loans, some end up misusing the money on things.
which are unproductive hence they end up in prison for failing to pay back the loan.

Since most of them are illiterate, they cannot fill bank over drafts. So. they try to forego problems by
not going to the bank at all.

4.2.7 Not participating in Developmental projects

Until recently the rural people in Ntenjeru County and the country as a whole were not consulted or
made to participate in the identification, planning and implementation of projects meant to develop the
rural people. All stages were carried out from the top in most cases the projects carried out were not a
priority to the people and contribute little to their development.

Such projects fail when government or any other development agency pulls out, as the people lack the
ability and knowledge to sustain the project.

4.3 Ntenjeru county

Ntenjeru country is situated 111 Kayunga district. It is divided in nme sub countries an also into
Ntenjeru North and South. It has town councils, administration headquarters of the district. In many
respects Kayunga town can be described ad a rural place since it has the characteristics or a rural
setting.

There is rampant unemployment in the town, as it has no industries in its big pieces of land.
Kayunga town is characterized by:-
• There are few street and security lights out side buildings and some available do not work.
• Heaps of garbage and polythene papers scattered throughout the town.
• Sinking and almost filled toilets used by occupants of the old houses.
• The town is busy with animals gazing and moving everywhere in the town freely.

24
 • Very many young men and women sit on verandas and start shouting as well as playing cards
during day instead of doing productive work. And at night they resort to eating marijuana.
taking drugs such as nicotine which is illegal everywhere in Uganda.
• Although in Uganda we have a universal primary education and in this year we hope even to
have a universal secondary education, there are few children who utilize this change. Some
children drop out of school before reaching in primary seven and most of the drop outs are girls
become mothers at their young age for example at the age of 15 years.

4.4 The role of developmental agencies (NGOS) in rural poverty alleviation

The National Resistance Movement (NRM) government has tried hard to carry out social, political and
economic reforms on a broad based program. The ask however, has not been easily given the
desperate economic situation and a big external debt the country experiences. Government therefore
has sought the assistance of non-government organization and donor agencies.

4.4.1 Government has come in to fight poverty directly

Encouraging NGOs both local and foreign to operate in rural areas.
Rural Farmers Scheme
Special programs for poverty strickening regions like Northern Uganda rehabilitation
programs.
Putting ministries in charge of rural poverty stricken areas. For example ministries in
charge of Luwero triangle, Karamoja Affairs etc.
Rehabilitate the infrastructure for example roads to facilitate easy transportation of
farmers and traders for goods and services.

4.4.2 The Uganda Women's Finance Trust (UWFT) (U-TRUST)

The Uganda Women's Finance Trust was founded in 1994 but did not start on serious activities until
mid l 980's due to political turmoil during that period. It has grown relatively fast since then.

UWFT was founded by Ugandan Women in banking, low and business sectors. It is affiliated to
World Women, low and business sectors. It is affiliated to World Women banking. This is an
independent international financial institute which was established after the international Women· s

25
Conference at Mexico city 111 1975. World Women banking aimed at empowering women 111 the
world to improve on their economic status. It provides the low income women with a package or
services comprising of general business counseling and information, training, technical assistance.
facilitation of savings, mobilization at grass root level and credit.

Though UWFT is not yet spread out in every part of Uganda, its operations are such that they are at a
national level. As of now, it operates in districts such as Kayunga, Kamuli, Jinja, lganga. Mbale.
Soroti, Kumi, Mukono, Masaka, Kampala, etc. In Ntenjeru County, we have branches such as LJKlFT
Kayunga branch.

Objectives of UNFT
❖ To help women improve on their small enterprises as a means of employment for themselves
and their families by facilitating their access to appropriate economic tools. These include
credit, relevant business management techniques and relevant technical assistance.

❖ To encourage up grading of skills and techniques which sometimes involves UWFT in training
women in improved skills.

❖ To provide financial services to members in form of saving and credit facilities.

❖ To help women have access to property which traditionally is owned by men alone.

Activities of UWPT
A credit
UWFT, extends loans to women entrepreneurs and today even men get loans from it charging all of
them interest rates according to the prevailing regulations set by central bank.

Savings and mobilizations.

Uganda Women's Finance Trust operates a saving scheme mainly as a district activity from other
banking services, mainly to encourage women develop, better financial discipline through regular
saving. This helps them to invest and to understand the saving or credit relationship.

26
Training.
Technical assistance and advisory services. UWFT offers both formal and informal training. business
counseling and technical assistance. Among many topics offered, it covers small scale business
management, loan management groups, group management and a series of skill development.
The formal training, which was offered before is now offered as business counseling and technical
consultation and is offered in a more specialized form and on payment of some fee.

The Trust business centre

According to the manager Uganda Women's Finance Trust Kayunga branch, it has been observed over
time that mixing its advisory services was un economical and, therefore, not sustainable. The trust has
therefore established a new unit known as the Trustee business centre to handle the business
counseling clients and facilitate their access to relevant technical advice.

All trust business centre services are offered at a fee clients being subsidized. The trust business
centre also targets at other smal I scale entrepreneurs who are clients of Uganda Women· s Finance
Trust. These are charged commercial rates.

UWFT carries out other activities such as fundraising, net working, etc, which are in support of the
first activities mentioned.

4.4.3 NAADS
It is organization for the government, which is high quality seeds. fertilizers. researching and
mobilizing markets for products produced by rural people.

This organization also coordinates the government plans to the rural people such as g1v1ng them
agricultural faci Iities Iike tractors.

Under this organization. animal and bird rearing is also inclusive, where by rural people are educated
to improve on animal productivity. There are other organizations in rural areas that do the same work
like NAADS.

27
4.5 The role of radio
The researcher proved that, most of the rural people ofNtenjuru County who have access to listen to
radio most especially radio (CBS) Central Broad Casting Service. The major reason is that it
broadcasts various programs in different languages but mostly Uganda, Lusoga and English every
week. The programs include development programs such as ·'Nsindikanjake" through which people
compete with others in growing various crops, rearing animals with the help of quality chemicals and
BUCADEF. These have helped more than 600 homes to win gifts such as cows, goats. and chicken
together with medicine for animals and chicken for efficient production.

Other things provided are high quality banana plantations, beans, maize, ground nuts, fruits. greens.
potato viens. cassava and vegetables.

There are also health education programs on different media, such as capital doctor.

Political affairs programs such as "Mambo baado on Central Broad Casting Services and ·'Kiriza oba
gaano" and parliament yammwe" all on CBS. There are also political programs on other radio stations
such as ·'Simbowo akati'" on Simba F.M. In these programs, people are given chance to express their
views in the public about political issues for example what different leaders do such as
parliamentarians, presidents and extra. These political programs are also used by different leaders
while campaigning. It is through different radio stations that even rural people get to know who to vote
for which post.

Radio also air out youth programs. These are to teach youth of how to behave and engage in di ITerent
kinds of work, they are also educated on the clangers of diseases like AIDS since most youth do not
mind about their lives but just enjoy lives. For example they are ones mostly found in discos an films.

Other programs include those for women and children, cultural programs, greetings mostly on
weekends, plays, extra. All these are broadcast on CBS radio station and other radio stations.
The development programs on CBS radio station address most of the activities required and are carried
out by the various organizations striving to alleviate poverty in the country. For example the programs

28
manager Abby Mukiibi said that, "We have put so many developmental programs on CBS and they
have helped so many of our listeners to develop and they have helped them in alleviating them selves
from poverty, programs such as "Nsindikanjake, "Neekolera Gyange'' and ·'Yiga okulaakulane"
presented by Martin Oscar Kintu from Monday to Friday at around 1: 15pm to 4:00pm.

The agricultural programs like those mentioned talk about the modern methods of farming and
marketing. Such programs enforce the Uganda National farmers Association activities in rural areas.

The timing of these programs is suitable as 2.30cm most farmers are at home relaxing in preparations
for evening work. The major problems however, are that, because of the economic hard ships. most
rural people switch off their radios after listening to personal announcements and news in Luganda at
almost every hour starting from 6:00pm, if the news and announcements are over, they switch off until
news and announcements will be back on radio.

Women miss almost all programs about them because of their heavy schedule of work. They do the
cooking, fetching water and fire wood, caring for children, etc. While men are resting, after working in
the garden.

The youth mostly prefer listening to music and sports programs, most of them do not bother listening
to developmental programs.

The developmental programs are given little airtime. There are many languages and programs that
compete for airtime such as health and political programs.

Table 1
FINDINGS OF LESTERNERSHIP SURVEY OF VARIOUS MEDIA.
Radio CBS News papers Television
60%) 8% 2%

The methodology used was random sampling. It involved choosing and interviewing people in their
homestead. The homesteads where randomly chosen in each of the parishes in Ntenjeru county.

29
From the findings it is evident that radio CBS has the highest listeners. The most popular channel to
the rural people ofNtenjeru County is radio CBS.

Radio CBS would be the most effective medium of communication for the rural people of Ntenjeru
county as it broadcasts many programs every week. The programs are broadcast mostly in Luganda.
which is understood by even the illiterates. Further still, the rural people tune to other radios for some
special programs such radios may include radio Simba, radio capital, Ddembe F.M, etc.

Central Broad Service covers a variety of programs, as it will be shown together with workers who do
these programs. It also caters for all groups like children, youth, elderly, women, etc.

It is a few people in Kayunga town, and in some trading centers for example Bukooloto. who have
access to television sets in their homes. The majority of the urban people mostly listen to radio capital.
radio one, radio Sanyu, etc, because they offer classic music and they are more clearly received in
town. Some youth in rural areas also listen to these radio stations since it is the stage, which enjoys
music so much.

4.5.1 Kayunga District receives very few copies of news papers as follows:-
New vision 300 copies
Daily Monitor 60 copies
Bukedde 500 copies
Red Paper 20 copies

These newspapers are mostly read by elites around Kayunga town. They include heads of departments.
head teachers, a few business people and institutions for example non-government organizations.

There are very few rural people who read newspapers because of the high level of illiteracy. lack or
money to buy the papers every day and poor circulation systems due to transport problems.

30
 CHAPTER FIVE

5.0 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

5.1 Conclusion
The challenges will mainly remain before the ministry of information, media organization authorities
and development agencies to lay strategies for communicating effectively to the rural people so that
they can assist in raising the rural people's economic status.

The media is the maJor influential factor in shaping societies' attitudes. Through the image they
portray, the type of coverage they offer, they guide the public's perception towards a specific
direction. If they increase coverage of rural issues and lay down strategies for rural poverty alleviation.
rural people will attain good standards.

As already seen in earlier chapters, radio and other media are faced with a lot of problems in the
dissemination of messages to the rural poor. Such problems include limited resources like transport
facilities, unwillingness of media personnel to work in rural areas, poor communication lines. high
i!literacy rates and poor economic status.

31
5.2 Recommendations
After analyzing how the media should contribute towards rural poverty alleviation, it is clear that little
is done to empower the rural people not only economically but also politically and socially. The media
has to present one of the most powerful sources in stimulating the process of social change. Therefore,
they have to look at very effective tools in development. Information ensures because they will have
knowledge of what they are doing and what they will have knowledge of what they are doing and what
they will benefit out of it. For example, the more a woman is educated, the more she is informed and
able to accept new changes.

An educated person is more able to accept taking modern ways of doing things, for example. planning
the family by taking modern contraceptive measures like the pills, condom use, coil, etc than an
illiterate person.

It is due to high rate of illiteracy and ignorance that mortality rates for rural women and their children
are higher than those of the urban educated who seek safe motherhood.

Generally, it is because the media does not give adequate coverage of rural issues that hey do not
improve on their economic stand in order to increase the reception of the necessary information !'or
involvement in the development process.

For the media to play effective role in rural poverty alleviation, the local council secretaries for
information should be equipped with information media to the people and the other way round. The
media personnel should also be sensitized on the needs and concerns of the rural people so that rural
issues can feature on the media agenda more frequently. The two strategies will ensure more coverage
of rural issues and poverty alleviation strategies will be laid down for the rural people through out the
media.

Under the current decentralization policy, district authorities should put a bigger vote in their budgets
to facilitate centers where people gather to listen to radio, read news papers should be rehabilitated and
equipped and more should be constructed in rural areas where they are not.

32
At the national level, government should invest more in the information industry so that the
government film units resumes projecting film shows to educate the rural people on modern methods
of farming, primary health care, the economy, industry, human rights, etc. Radio transmitters and
studio should be put in different rural areas so that there is clear reception of different radio though at
the county.

With the current liberalization of the electronic media each region should be encouraged and
facilitated to put up regional broadcasting about the development issues in that region, for example a
radio station can be set up in Kayunga town where the head quarters for the people's forum are based
to serve the region. Print media organizations should also put up regional vernacular papers based in
the respective regions.

The media should give coverage to successful rural people's economic groups for other rural people to
knov, how they can run the various groups they are in to make them develop.

According to the 200 I population census women in Kayunga district and Uganda as a whole are the
majority. It is important for the media to sensitize society on the situation of the girl child. This needs
to be addressed for women to be accorded equal aspects of the life as their male counterparts to
improve their well being and that of society. The rural people should consistently be sensitized about
the value of education to their children and themselves.

Rural leaders in decision-making positions should work closely with the media. Through this. the
media will work towards the well being of the rural people, whereby the whole society will also look
at them as significant members of society who deserve equal opportunities as the urban rich.
 BIBILIOGRAPHY

1. E.A Breett, 1994, Providing for the rural Poor. Institutional decay and

Transformation in Uganda, Fountain Publishers limited Kampala, Uganda.

2.Wolfram Frommlet and Nashir Bathena, 1993, Workshop on "Rural Broad casting
Report".held in Kampala Uganda-August 10 th to September 1st 1993, DW AZ Radio
Training School Ge1111any.

3. PAP SCA Coordination Unit, October, 1994 , Progress Report for April-June, 1994,
Plot 108 Mbuya Hill Kampala.

4.United National Development Programmes [UNDP] 1991, Human Development

Report; New York Oxford University Press, New York.

5.World Bank, 1990 World Development Report on Poverty. World Development

indicators Oxford University, New York.

6. World Bank, 1993, Uganda Growing out of Poverty, Country study, Oxford
University Press, New York.

7. PAPSCA,1993, Poverty scenario in Uganda, Kampala.

8. Graham Mytton, 1992, Hand Book on Radio and Television Audience.

9. Mutazindwa Francis, 1995, Media for Development. Volume l.G

APENDEX 1
QUESTIONNAIRES:

Dear Respondent,

My name is NAMA Y ANJA ELIZABETH a student of Kampala International

University pursuing Bachelor's Degree in mass communication.

These questionnaires have been formulated for the benefit of Academic research to
identify some of the role of the media in alleviation of poverty. Your response here
therefore, will be treated as important and confidential.

Questions involve ticking options of yes or no and giving your opinion or answer.

1. State your full name.

2. How many people are in your family?

3. How old are you?

0-5 □10-15 □ 20-25 .. P. 30-35. q0-45 □

50 and Above
□
What is your marital status?

Married D

Single. □

Divorced

Widower/Widow □
Can you afford the following in your home?

Food.
□
Medical services
□
Safe water
□
Education □
Clothes □
What type of residence do you own?

Permanent. □
Temporally □
4. What is your academic level?

P.1-P3 .P . P.4 - P.5. □ P.6 - P7 □ S. l -S4 □ S.5 - S.6 □

Higher institution D
 5. Do you own a Radio or Tele_vision? Yes D Or No D
If not give reasons why

Which stations do you listen to?

Which programmes do you always listen to?

Do you ever listen to programmes encountered to poverty?

Yes □
No □
If your answer is no give reasons?
If yes, give reasons.
. ... . . . ... .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... . . . . . . .. . . . . ..
~

Has these programmes helped to alleviate poverty to your satisfaction?

Yes D
No □
 r
I
;,

KAMPALA
lt~TEHJ~ATIOl~AL GgabJ l{oad, l<a11 sa 11ga • PO BOX 20000 l(ampala, Uganda
Tel: +256 (0) 41 • 266 813 * Fa x: +256 (0) 41 - 501 974
UNIVERSITY
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FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

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This is to int roducc to you tvlr/Miss ........................................... .

who is a ' , ·1 , fa sludc11t of K,1mpaltt lnlernaliomil Univl:rsity. I-le/S he is
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working u11 c1 resemcll project lcJr a dissert,1lion, which is a partial requirement

for th e awmd of ,1 Lk:-:_;rcc. I here by n::qucst you, in the name of the University,
to accord him/lier cdl the ne cessary assistance he/s he lllay require for this
work .

l have the pkasure or th,',nkillL!, ~ou in ad va11ce for your cooperntio11!

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Prof. A.G.G. Gillgye ra Pi11ycw(1 -- Ph.D. (Chic,1go)

Dean - Faculty of Sodal Sriern:es
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"l:..'xplvri11g !l1t' lleiy,/1:s"