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Comparison of population and base stations between rural and urban communities in Zimbabwe (Source: POTRAZ, 2015)
Source publication
Most rural communities in developing countries such as Zimbabwe are underserved and/or unserved with regard to telecommunication connectivity. Governments in developing countries are also under‐resourced to provide adequate digital infrastructure. Thus, community networks are increasingly seen as viable alternatives to bridge the infrastructure gap...
Contexts in source publication
Context 1
... reports, as indicated in Figure 3, show that despite the rural population being 67%, this population is serviced by only 29% of the country's base stations. Inversely, the 33% located in urban areas has access to 71% of the country's base stations, and this contributes to the poor connectivity (network coverage) within rural communities. ...
Context 2
... reports, as indicated in Figure 3, show that despite the rural population being 67%, this population is serviced by only 29% of the country's base stations. Inversely, the 33% located in urban areas has access to 71% of the country's base stations, and this contributes to the poor connectivity (network coverage) within rural communities. radios" as they are best known, can access foreign radio stations, eg, Voice of America-Studio 7-and avert broadcasting restrictions in ...
Citations
... Due to their remoteness and lack of access to mobile networks and other critical services, farmers in rural remote locations are more inclined to rely on traditional weather information and hence unwilling to pay for modern weather information. Most rural locations, including study areas, have limited telecommunication infrastructure and weak national radio or television signals [61,62]. Farmers find it difficult to obtain modern seasonal weather forecasts via mobile phones or radio, thus they are unlikely to pay to receive them. ...
Most rural areas in Zimbabwe are extremely vulnerable to changing climatic conditions, particularly droughts, which threaten smallholder farmers' livelihoods. Seasonal weather forecast services can help farmers adapt, optimise production, and implement risk reduction strategies. To support increased investment in these services, this study seeks to provide quantitative evidence on the economic value of locality-specific seasonal weather forecasts by eliciting maize pro-ducers' willingness to pay (WTP) through the contingent valuation approach. The results of the study show that among 502 farmers, 68 % would pay for seasonal weather forecasts, highlighting their perceived economic value and practical utility in agricultural decision-making. On average, farmers were willing to pay one (1) United States dollar (US 53.2 million for these services. This valuation underscores the substantial economic benefits that weather and climate services could offer to Zimbabwe's agriculture sector, justifying the case for increased resource allocation towards the delivery of location-specific weather forecasts. Using the Heckman selection model, the study further identified that maize producers' climate change perceptions, radio ownership, and prior participation in agricultural policy development significantly increased their likelihood of paying for seasonal weather forecasts. These factors highlight the role of both access to information and engagement in policy processes in shaping farmers' valuation of seasonal weather forecasts. Establishing district-level climate change dialogue platforms can significantly enhance maize producers' awareness of climate change, deepen their understanding of the value of weather forecasts, and encourage their participation in policy-making processes. By creating spaces for knowledge exchange and farmer engagement, these platforms not only support informed farm decision-making but also help tailor climate services to farmers' needs. Nevertheless, farmers from the Ndau ethnic group and those in remote areas showed reluctance to pay for seasonal weather forecasts, indicating that factors like ethnicity and remoteness affect WTP. This reluctance highlights how social marginalisation and inadequate infrastructure in remote areas limit access to weather information, thereby reducing farmers' perceived value of these services. Enhanced telecommunication infrastructure and radio signals in rural areas, especially community radios, could help to expand the access and tailoring of forecast messages in local languages, making it understandable and thus supporting informed decision-making across diverse farming communities.
... A key informant explained: "In 2015, the government abruptly shut down our Telecel mobile lines without notice, leaving us stranded and unable to conduct any transactions for several days" (P6, Key informant). This finding was confirmed by Gwaka et al. (2018), who stated that Telecel's licence revocation was due to its failure to meet the government's indigenisation policy requiring at least 51% local shareholding. This politically sensitive policy, as noted in other studies (Cliffe et al., 2013), not only impacted financial institutions' operations but also hindered the financial inclusion of marginalised populations. ...
... This finding is in agreement with a study by Simatele and Mbedzi (2021), which revealed that the lack of competition among Zimbabwe's mobile network operators (MNOs) led to the few existing operators (only three) charging excessively high tariffs for airtime and data. Zimbabwean MNOs' airtime and data tariffs have been reported to be among the highest globally (Buwerimwe, 2023;Gwaka et al., 2018). ...
This paper examines the nature and politics of financial inclusion among internally displaced persons (IDPs) in rural Africa, focusing on the financial services utilisation experiences of Zimbabwe’s flood-displaced Tugwi-Mukosi community members, nearly a decade after they were resettled in Chingwizi, Masvingo Province. Utilising the institutional theory of financial inclusion, along with primary data collected using focus group discussions, key informant interviews, and in-depth interviews, the paper centres its analysis on the contradictions that characterise the policy and regulatory roles of the government as well as the actions of various financial sector actors—these being some of the key mechanisms in the facilitation of financial inclusion among the IDPs. Specifically, this paper demonstrates that due to excessive politicisation and a glaringly weak institutional system, these mechanisms have mostly inhibited rather than enhanced the financial inclusion agenda targeting IDPs. Based on this study’s findings, we recommend mainstreaming the financial inclusion agenda, particularly for IDPs, while ensuring it remains disentangled from political influences at all levels.
... Concurrently, despite substantial efforts toward rural electrification since independence, access to electricity from the national grid is extremely limited in such rural areas (Dube, 2001;Mhandu and Mary Longe, 2022). Some remote rural areas also have weak telecommunication infrastructure (Gwaka et al., 2018;Nhongo and Tshotsho, 2021). As a result, making or receiving phone calls in remote locations is difficult, and the national radio or television signals are also weak in these areas. ...
Weather and climate services are essential tools that help farmers make informed choices, such as choosing appropriate crop varieties. These services depend considerably on the availability of adequate investments in infrastructure related to weather forecasting, which are often provided by the State in most countries. Zimbabwean farmers generally have limited access to modern weather and climate services. While extensive attempts have been made to investigate farmers’ socioeconomic factors that influence access to and use of weather and climate services, comparative political economy analysis of weather and climate service production and use is limited. To address this knowledge gap, this study examines the production, dissemination, and usage of modern seasonal weather services through a political economy analysis perspective. The findings of this study highlight considerable discrepancies in access and use of seasonal weather forecasts between male and female farmers, those who practise African Traditional Religions versus Christians, and the minority group (Ndau tribe) and the majority group (Manyika tribe). This result suggested the presence of social marginalization. For example, minority Ndau members living in remote areas with limited radio signals and a weak mobile network have limited access to modern seasonal weather forecasts, forcing them to rely much more on indigenous weather forecasts. Further, due to unequal power relations, a greater proportion of male farmers participated in agricultural policy formation processes than their female counterparts. To promote inclusive development and implementation, deliberate efforts need to be made by State authorities to incorporate adherents of African traditional religions, members of minority tribes and female farmers in agricultural policymaking processes, including seasonal weather forecast delivery policies. Further, the study suggests the relaxation or elimination of international sanctions on Zimbabwe by the European Union, United Kingdom and the United States of America, given that they are considerably affecting marginalized groups of farmers in their climate change adaptation practices, including the use of modern weather and climate services. The vast majority of these marginalized farmers never benefitted from the land reform programme and were also not responsible for the design and implementation of this programme which triggered these sanctions.
... Whilst there has been significant progress in rolling out ICT infrastructure including 2G, 3G technology, satellite communication and high-speed broadband coverage (Gwaka, May, and Tucker 2018), there are some rural and remote areas where network coverage is still patchy. It emerged that some rural areas experience network problems as confirmed by the following quotes: ...
... Parties mobilize around their manifestos, advocating for policy priorities and positions upheld by a cadre of committed leaders. Upon electoral victory, the triumphant party assumes government office and translates its policy agenda outlined in the manifesto into action, encompassing aspects such as economic development, sustainable energy, women's empowerment, and environmental sustainability, among others (Gwaka et al., 2018;Ledwaba & Marivate, 2022). ...
... They used a semisupervised approach with a graph-based technique for labeling Twitter data and employed a support vector machine to develop a baseline benchmark for the label propagation model. The research addressed the gap in under-resourced sentiment models for the South African political landscape, but it was limited by the dataset, which disregarded multisentiment tweets, reducing data associated with each political party (Gwaka et al., 2018;Ledwaba & Marivate, 2022). ...
In the context of political governance, the electorate expects transparency from aspiring politicians, particularly in articulating their proposed programs through manifestos. Manifestos, often presented verbally, play a crucial role preceding elections, serving as a foundational basis for the electorate's evaluation. Assessing the intentionality behind these manifestos poses inherent challenges. This study employs an artificial neural network machine learning approach to analyze and evaluate the manifestos of politicians, correlating them with their subsequent performance in office. Focusing on Nigeria's two prominent political parties from 2007 to 2019, amidst shifts in political nomenclature and structures, empirical analysis reveals a model evaluation accuracy of 67%. We acknowledge the potential for refining this accuracy through further research, contingent on acquiring more comprehensive data.
... The agribusiness entrepreneurs had the highest access to radio adverts/programs on financial matters (64%) as displayed in Figure 2. Television programs, the internet, and indigenous news media accounted for low coverage of financial information dissemination in the following order: 5%, 15%, and 16%. Internet infrastructural deficiency may account for poor internet access among agribusiness entrepreneurs [79][80][81]. This is contrary to what is obtainable in rural areas in developed countries where rural dwellers view online TV and radio programs more than urban residents due to the unavailability of entertainment centers such as football stadiums, museums, cinemas, and theatres [43]. ...
... Contrary to expectations, the internet accounted for only 15% and this is unhealthy for agribusiness sustainability considering the fact that the world has gone digital. The lack of internet infrastructure in Nigerian rural areas may account for the low availability of financial information via the internet [79][80][81]. ...
... The agribusiness entrepreneurs had the highest access to radio adverts/programs on financial matters (64%) as displayed in Figure 2. Television programs, the internet, and indigenous news media accounted for low coverage of financial information dissemination in the following order: 5%, 15%, and 16%. Internet infrastructural deficiency may account for poor internet access among agribusiness entrepreneurs [79][80][81]. This is contrary to what is obtainable in rural areas in developed countries where rural dwellers view online TV and radio programs more than urban residents due to the unavailability of entertainment centers such as football stadiums, museums, cinemas, and theatres [43]. ...
... Contrary to expectations, the internet accounted for only 15% and this is unhealthy for agribusiness sustainability considering the fact that the world has gone digital. The lack of internet infrastructure in Nigerian rural areas may account for the low availability of financial information via the internet [79][80][81]. ...
... For instance, rural and urban regions have different BS deployments, in terms of BS density, propagation loss, and LOS connectivity. This fact is particularly relevant in developing countries, where the population is more concentrated in rural areas despite poorer BS deployment [45]. To have a better understanding of the overall network quality in such conditions, and to be able to plan a measurement campaign more efficiently, we can split the area of interest, e.g. ...
Cellular operators tightly monitor their networks to keep up with the market demand and frequently benchmark their performance against competitors. Typical benchmarking tests compare Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), Quality of Service (QoS), and Quality of Experience (QoE) parameters on the city- and regional levels using user-collected crowdsourced data or drive test measurements. However, time-variant parameters and different user mobility patterns can bias the performance comparison. Designing a measurement sampling strategy that deals with such issues is critical for achieving a valid benchmark. Whether we would like to determine how many tiles of a map have to be measured in drive tests or how many samples we need from crowdsourced data to reach an estimate with the required accuracy, sampling theory can provide us with an answer. Since propagation conditions depend on user mobility and measurement environment, splitting the data set into groups or strata allows us to attain an unbiased estimate with fewer samples, thus allowing for a fair comparison to other Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) with minimum effort measurements. In this work, we characterize the performance of different sampling methods on the simulated KPI data set while investigating specific use cases to reveal scenarios where the stratification method pays off. We analyze the sampling methods on two real Minimization of Drive Test (MDT) crowdsourced data sets from a major Austrian operator. By stratifying the data into meaningful strata, we obtain the required number of areas and measurements in each stratum while remaining under the pre-set estimation error level. To our knowledge, this is the first study on sampling methodologies applied to real-world crowdsourced cellular measurements.
... Yet, notably, sustained and mixed-methodological research on this crisis, and, specifically, on how it is experienced by rural community members and legal professionals in tribal and state courts, is lacking. There are some international exceptions (Baxter and Yoon 2014;Newman 2016;Gwaka, May, and Tucker 2018), but, in the United States, very little empirical research on access to justice in rural US regions, including Indian Country, has been conducted (Statz 2021). When we consider that state courts handle 99 percent of all civil cases and the majority of unrepresented parties (Steinberg 2016;Carpenter et al. 2018) and, likewise that tribal courts-many of which cannot afford to provide public defenders to tribal litigants-encounter individuals who are almost always pro se (Creel 2011), this scholarly neglect is even more consequential. ...
In the United States, rural economic marginalization and corresponding gaps in employment, affordable housing, health care, nutrition, and education put individuals at high risk for legal need. Yet many rural regions are “legal deserts” with few, if any, attorneys, and prevailing access-to-justice initiatives tend to neglect the unique challenges posed by rurality. The efforts of rural tribal and state court judges, though often overlooked in scholarship and policy, offer a compelling response to this inequitable access-to-justice context. Building on emergent work on “active judging,” or when judges step away from a traditional passive role to assist unrepresented parties, this manuscript explores how rural place and place attachments shape diverse judges’ interactions with litigants. It draws on mixed-methodological research across seven tribal and state courts in the upper Midwest to shed light on rural judges’ efforts, how these efforts are regarded by unrepresented parties, and to what extent a shared experience of rurality provides a meaningful form of “access.” In so doing, it offers a novel spatial intervention in scholarship on access to justice and active judging and contributes to more rurally relevant justice practices.
... There is no universal approach to address the challenges and solutions must be tailored to different communities. The study country, Zimbabwe, is a country with complex social, economic, and political landscape and with limited work on connecting the unconnected communities [69]. However, in the past few years, there has been progress towards addressing the challenges including efforts such as the MOSMAC intervention [ibid]. ...
Livestock contribute to household food security, financial security, and societal status. However, most rural livestock systems are fragile characterized by poor infrastructure, information asymmetry, and dysfunctional markets. Literature suggests that digital platforms show promise to contribute towards addressing these challenges and yet, contrary evidence cautions against growing concerns like platform providers' power accumulation which can further marginalize users. I use evidence from the MOSMAC intervention in Beitbridge (Zimbabwe) to explore the potential of digital platforms to revitalise a livestock system. Findings suggest that digital platforms strengthen the livestock system through connecting system actors, improving coordination, and enabling transactions. However, these platforms are fraught with hidden complexities often invisible to users and can worsen prevailing conditions. I demonstrate data aggregation, power consolidation through product integration and power shifts which are often unknow to the users. These insights can inform design considerations and empower users to make informed decisions towards digital platforms
