- Title
- Engaging with media as a knowledge resource for making sense of climate change: a case study of the farmers of Nyanga, Zimbabwe
- Creator
- Mandikonza, Blessing
- ThesisAdvisor
- du Toit, Jeanne
- Subject
- Climatic changes in mass media
- Subject
- Knowledge, Sociology of
- Subject
- Farms, Small -- Zimbabwe -- Nyanga
- Subject
- Crops and climate -- Zimbabwe -- Nyanga
- Subject
- Agriculture -- Economic aspects -- Zimbabwe
- Subject
- Agriculture -- Environmental aspects -- Zimbabwe -- Nyanga
- Subject
- Agriculture and politics -- Zimbabwe -- Nyanga
- Subject
- Agriculture -- Research -- Sociological aspects
- Subject
- Agricultural journalism -- Zimbabwe
- Subject
- Land reform -- Zimbabwe -- Nyanga
- Date
- 2018
- Type
- text
- Type
- Thesis
- Type
- Masters
- Type
- MA
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10962/63764
- Identifier
- vital:28486
- Description
- This study explores how small-scale farmers in Nyanga, Zimbabwe engage with the media as a knowledge resource for achieving agricultural productivity, particularly in context of climate change. The study is contextualised by means of a literature review that maps out the history of agricultural productivity in Zimbabwe. It is argued that this history has been shaped by changes in both socio-economic context and climatic conditions. Both kinds of change impact on the degree to which small-scale farmers have access to knowledge that is of relevance to agricultural productivity. The study then examines the Zimbabwean media landscape, focusing on how history has shaped the way in which different media define their social purpose. This examination draws on Hallin and Mancini‟s „models‟ of media systems as well as Christian et al‟s traditions of media practice. It is concluded that, due to the high level of conflict that has characterised Zimbabwean history, aspects of both the polarised pluralist and democratic corporatist models are present in its media landscape. The collaborative, monitorial and radical approaches to media also exist in contestation with each other. Indeed, the media is characterised by profound contestation around the conceptualisation of social purpose. Furthermore, international media is of particular significance as a resource of knowledge within the local media landscape. The empirical component of the study explores the implications for the extent to which media are likely to serve as valuable knowledge resources for small-scale farmers. This exploration is pursued by means of a case study of the experiences of three farmers in Nyanga who were granted farms as part of the government‟s land-reform programme. In context of episodic biographical interviews, the participants share their experience of becoming farmers and of managing their farms. Attention is paid to the challenges they face with regards to producing successful crops, both in context of socio-economic and climatic conditions. The study looks at the way in which participants draw on the media as a knowledge resource to help them overcome these challenges. The participants understand international media to be a more credible knowledge resource, but also refer to the need for local media which can provides them with knowledge of local relevance. In this context they identify an absence of collaborative, developmental media that engages with the unique challenges that they face in producing crops. It is concluded that the value of media for the farmers of Nyanga as a knowledge resource for making sense of climate change would only be achieved through the establishment of locally produced, participatory media that foregrounds the use of indigenous language.
- Format
- 94 pages, pdf
- Publisher
- Rhodes University, Faculty of Humanities, Journalism and Media Studies
- Language
- English
- Rights
- Mandikonza, Blessing
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