The research sought to examine the effect of literacy on access to, and utilization of agricultural information for household food security at Chirau Communal lands in Zimbabwe. The study was influenced by the diffusion of innovations approach based on interviews, observation and document study. Selected female farmers from Chirau communal lands were respondents to the self administered interviews and focus group discussions. Representatives from, Agriculture Extension and the Ministry of Agriculture were key informants. Systematic Random sampling was used to select 100 female respondents from the age of 18 to above 80 from wards 1 to 10 of Chirau Rural District in Zimbabwe. Data was analyzed into themes and coded for statistical analysis using the SPSS. The country is faced with food insecurity and the main findings of this study support the view that women play an active role in food production but their potential is limited by inadequate levels of literacy that affect the way they access and utilize resources for sustainable agriculture and household food security among other factors. This may be generalized to the situation of female farmers in Zimbabwe. Improved literacy competencies among the female farmers in Zimbabwe lends itself as one of the interventions that may assist in improving access to information and its effective utilization.. This calls decision-makers to boost literacy for women, develop available agricultural information resources and harness effort towards making them accessible. While interventions may be multi-sectored, the role of government is stressed in this report.

This study sought to determine factors that militate against men’s participation in the current Zimbabwean functional literacy programme. The research utilized the case study design and the data collecting instruments included in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, and observations. Twelve adults, seven males and five females aged between thirty-nine and sixty-five years of age were interviewed by the researcher on “Why men were not participating in the functional literacy programme”. No similar research had ever been conducted in Zimbabwe since the inception of the programme in 1992. The definitive findings of the study include a grounded research theory which was extrapolated from the data. After a thorough scrutiny of the data collected, it was possible to conclude that while many of the barriers to literacy participation are similar, the bread and butter issues need to be acknowledged by literacy providers when aiming to attract men into and retain them within the programme. The research also found that poverty, past negative experiences during the early school days, and stigma related issues, were the major inhibiting factors against men’s participation in the programme in the Mazowe district. Although the research had time related and operational limitations, these were however, repulsed by controls effected by the researcher. The diversity of qualitative data collecting instruments played a positive role in ensuring checks and balances in the type and authenticity of data collected. In order to retain male participants in the programme, a supportive environment is recommended. This can be achieved if voluntary literacy tutors are trained in design and delivery of instruction as well as in mobilizing strategies, so that they are sensitive to male participants’ circumstances. The income generating projects in which men are currently involved, need to be made more viable in order to boost their morale. / Educational Leadership and Management / D. Ed. (Education Management)

This study sought to determine factors that militate against men’s participation in the current Zimbabwean functional literacy programme. The research utilized the case study design and the data collecting instruments included in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, and observations. Twelve adults, seven males and five females aged between thirty-nine and sixty-five years of age were interviewed by the researcher on “Why men were not participating in the functional literacy programme”. No similar research had ever been conducted in Zimbabwe since the inception of the programme in 1992. The definitive findings of the study include a grounded research theory which was extrapolated from the data. After a thorough scrutiny of the data collected, it was possible to conclude that while many of the barriers to literacy participation are similar, the bread and butter issues need to be acknowledged by literacy providers when aiming to attract men into and retain them within the programme. The research also found that poverty, past negative experiences during the early school days, and stigma related issues, were the major inhibiting factors against men’s participation in the programme in the Mazowe district. Although the research had time related and operational limitations, these were however, repulsed by controls effected by the researcher. The diversity of qualitative data collecting instruments played a positive role in ensuring checks and balances in the type and authenticity of data collected. In order to retain male participants in the programme, a supportive environment is recommended. This can be achieved if voluntary literacy tutors are trained in design and delivery of instruction as well as in mobilizing strategies, so that they are sensitive to male participants’ circumstances. The income generating projects in which men are currently involved, need to be made more viable in order to boost their morale. / Educational Leadership and Management / D. Ed. (Education Management)