Browsing by Author "Busingye, Janice Desire."
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Item "One size fits all?" : a study into the participation dynamics of adults in the functional adult literacy program in Mwizi sub-county, Uganda.(2005) Busingye, Janice Desire.; Von Kotze, Astrid Erika Liselotte Veronika.The study was conducted in Mwizi, Mbarara District, South Western Uganda. The major purpose was to find out if a uniform method of planning a programme fitted the unique characteristics of the people for whom it was intended, and whether the FAL programme deters or encourages participation in literacy studies. The study looked at the programme; the people's lives and the infrastructural support that was available in the community to enable people to attend the FAL Programme. The research questions focused on what encouraged or discouraged people to participate or not to participate in the FAL program. In order to achieve this, the lives of the respondents were explored to see how literacy related to their daily lives and activities. This exploration was effected using a range tools that had their roots in participatory rural appraisal and they included; interviews, focus group discussions, daily activity clock and mobility mapping. These helped me get an understanding of the lives of the people and where literacy fitted in their lives. The programme was also explored to get an insight into what it was about and this was mainly done through reviewing of literature and material. This study revealed that one size does not fit all. That is to say, learners in different areas of the sub county have unique characteristics that cannot be planned for as if they were uniform. Similarly, underlying principles of adult education were not considered when it came to planning the FAL programme. The study also revealed that illiteracy and learners were highly stigmatized. This resulted in a situation whereby very few people wanted to be associated with non-literates because of the stigma associated with illiteracy in our societies. The study concludes with a set of recommendations, some of which can be addressed by program planners directly, while others are long term issues.Item Reducing risk : local knowledge for livelihoods security : a case of Ugandan small holder farmers.(2011) Busingye, Janice Desire.; Von Kotze, Astrid Erika Liselotte Veronika.; Vaughn, Mitchell John.My research examined farmers' knowledge and practices of farmers supported by Volunteer Efforts for Development Concerns (VEDCO), a non-governmental organisation in Central region of Uganda. Farmers in VEDCO were trained in modern farming methods, and were supposed to apply them on their farms. I worked with farmers over a period of eight months, which is a full agricultural year, to understand how farmers negotiated their way around risk in different seasons of the year using their own knowledge. I was interested in understanding the knowledge they drew on to survive. The study was qualitative and employed a case study methodology. It relied on participant observation, focus group discussions, seasonality calendars, trends' analysis, informal interviews and document review to collect data. The livelihoods of farmers and the extension education intervention by VEDCO provided an opportunity to understand the concept of knowledge, risk and livelihoods security. In this regard, the theories of Paulo Freire (1972, 1973, 1973a,1985), Ulrich Beck (1992, 1998, 2000) and Robert Chambers (1983, 1991, 1995) formed the framework for theorising knowledge, agricultural extension education, risk and livelihoods in this research. The thesis engages with what constitutes livelihoods for poor people and what that means for survival and risk reduction. In the discussion, it becomes evident that knowledge for poor people is worthwhile if it enables them meet their livelihood needs. In the discussion it also becomes apparent that poor people's livelihoods security is dependent on many aspects, and they pursue livelihoods security in a multi-disciplinary, negotiated manner that incorporates all those aspects. And unfortunately, sometimes the way modern agricultural extension pedagogy is planned and executed puts livelihoods at risk in a context where farmers' own local knowledge is not enough to confront the challenges they have to confront. The gap created by both local and modern knowledge processes resulted into the emerging of a subsistence risk society (Beck, 1992, 1998). The thesis concludes with a discussion of a concept of really useful agricultural extension education drawn from the idea of 'really useful knowledge (Jane Thompson, 1997). The emerging really useful agricultural extension education is drawn partly from the livelihoods' analysis of poor people. And partly RUAEE is drawn from an emerging understanding developed, that adult education is not just about meeting needs, rather it is about confronting systems and structures that enable social injustice and livelihoods insecurity.