Gender differences in information needs and communication behaviour among the tribal farm families in Odisha, India

Abstract

This study was conducted among 160 tribal farm women and men in Odisha to understand the gender differences in information needs and communication behaviour. The tribal farm women were interested in information on value addition to forest-based resources and best practices in livestock management. The predominant information needs among men were on sources of quality inputs, monsoon advisory, market demand for various products and access to institutional finance. The study found fewer similarities and more differences in male and female communication styles. The males were observed to be contentious and dominant, while the farm women in tribal communities were observed to be exhibiting friendly, attentive, precise and open communicator styles. Majority of the respondents rarely utilized the formal sources of agricultural information, such as agricultural extension personnel, and occasionally used researchers and Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) for receiving information on agricultural technologies. The flow of communication was found to be mostly horizontal among farm women, whereas it was horizontal and vertical among men. The interpersonal channels were regarded as most credible sources of information, both localite and cosmopolite among men, and localite among women, rather than mass media sources. Most of the informal sources such as family members, friends, progressive farmers and opinion leaders were regularly utilized by them for gathering and dissemination of agricultural information. This needs the attention of researchers and extension personnel to utilize the personal localite sources for information dissemination to ensure better outreach among tribal farm families, especially among the farm women. The Spearman's rank correlation revealed that there were no gender differences in the association of socio-personal variables with the communication behaviour.