Communication for Empowerment in Mozambique: An Assessment of Communication and Media Needs at the Community Level

This 44-page document is one of 5 national pilot studies to assess ways to empower vulnerable people who are marginalised by lack of access to central information flows and who lack the communication channels necessary to participate in national and local debates and agenda-setting. Funded by the United Nations Development Fund and coordinated by the Communication for Social Change Consortium (CFSC), the study describes the Mozambican context, including the legal and regulatory environment for communication and media. It then presents communication and information audits carried out in the districts of Mandlakazi, Dondo, and Monapo, designed to enable community members to identify their needs. It suggests that there is a need for strong, organised support of community radio stations, in particular the need for a clear and specific legal framework and for support for wider community radio dissemination, as well as the need for a national support framework in order to secure the various sustainability aspects.

The research found that the population continues to use traditional methods of communication and information, especially in Mandlakazi, where access to the media is only possible from the provincial capital, Gaza. In this district, messages of interest to the community, such as public health campaigns, improved agricultural techniques, political or religious activities, non-governmental organisation or grassroots programmes, as well as those of interest to families, such as deaths and births, continue to be passed on largely by communication methods such as:

• interpersonal contact;
• contacts via the telephone in towns, especially via the mobile network that is being expanded in the country;
• meetings with community leaders;
• meetings in churches; and
• dissemination by way of posters and other written materials (such as bulletin boards).

However, in districts such as Dondo and Monapo, where community radio stations are already in operation, the research found that communities, government bodies, and other organisations are making increasing use of these radio stations. Apart from simple access to information, community radio stations have allowed citizens to have the chance to participate in determining which subjects are to be addressed, contributing to the approach and participating, as programme producers, in the gathering, treatment, and dissemination of content. However, especially for community-based media which must be encouraged and supported, some challenges remain for the future, principally financial, technical, social, and institutional sustainability.

The authors argue that while community ownership of community radio stations is a principal strength, this approach can also, under special circumstances, represent a weakness. The national public broadcaster is a needed complement, due to its professional, national, and provincial view of life, to community radio's specific community focus and rationale.