Women in Developing CountriesRunning head: INFORMATION NEEDS OF WOMEN IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIESMeeting the Information Needs of Rural andInformal Economy Women in Developing CountriesChristina Park 1

Women in Developing CountriesAbstractMany studies have been done on the information behavior of people in developingcountries, especially in regard to technology and retrieval systems. A number of studies havealso been done on the information needs of women in rural Africa. However, relatively littlehas been studied on the information needs of rural women in other developing countries, or of women traders and merchants in these countries, (Mooko, 2002), (Mchombu, 2000),(Kiteme, 1992).This paper analyzes the patterns that emerge when studying the causes of female povertyin developing countries and considers the effectiveness of recent education and ICT projectsin addressing women’s information needs for overcoming their restrictive situations. Acombination of information strategies is suggested in conjunction with the utilization of existing marketplace relationships between women to maximize the efficiency andeffectiveness of information systems for rural women.2

Women in Developing Countries

Meeting the Information Needs of Rural andInformal Economy Women in Developing Countries

Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America contain some of the poorest countries in theworld. These 3

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World countries are very similar in the problems they face due toextreme poverty, and are distinctive from developed countries with their high unemploymentrates, food shortages, shortages in healthcare facilities and resources, and mortality rates,(Miller, W.E.B. DuBois Conference, 1976). However, what also seems to distinguishdeveloping countries from others is the severity of inequality in welfare between men andwomen, specifically in regards to health, life expectancy at birth, quality of life, workload,education, legal rights, and economic mobility, according to many studies, (Population CrisisCommittee, 1988), (Witwer, 1997), (World Conference on Women, 1995), (Huyer, 1997).In many developing countries a majority of women reside in rural areas, supporting their households with subsistence farming, raising children, and maintaining their property. Theyare usually the most exploited and least privileged members of households, overburdenedwith work for their families but marginalized in regard to the distribution of resources,(Ngimwa, Ocholla & Ojiambo, 1997:46). Their lack of support and privileges isolates themfrom information resources they would need to make their lives better. Most informationresources are located in urban areas, which are hard for them to access. For this reason, this paper focuses on the unresolved and major challenge of transferring urban information toregional populations, despite the breakdown in infrastructure between them.3