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Welcome to the Gamos Communications WebPages. Here you will find information and resources concerning Gamos’ most recent work in Communications.

The Use of Telephones Amongst the Poor in Africa: Some Gender Implications This article presents findings from research into the use of telecommunications services in African countries. The research is intended to address the lack of field data on customers in rural and low-income areas of Africa, and to inform policymakers, private-sector service providers, and the donor community about issues concerned with universal access. Surveys were conducted in Botswana, Uganda, and Ghana with an overall sample of 1,800, stratified by access to ICTs services. Survey data from the countries is gender disaggregated, enabling an analysis of the gender differences in patterns of use of services, and of attitudes that act as barriers and drivers to the use of services. Read more...   Collecting and Propagating Local Development Content The ability of ICTs and the internet to give people access to knowledge and ideas from all over the world continues to hold great promise in the development context. However, in the absence of local content developing countries can easily become flooded with foreign materials and ideas, to the detriment of local culture. If ICTs are going to deliver on this promise, and make real improvements to livelihoods then they need to be complimented by information that is relevant to the lives and economic situations of people in developing countries, and give them space in which to communicate and develop their own ideas. Gamos has contributed to this IICD report which examines how local content in developing countries is created, adapted, and exchanged, and how it can be enhanced. Read more...   Senegal Household Survey Analysis - How people are using communications As part of the independent assessment of CATIA, a household survey was conducted by Gamos in Senegal of over 650 households. The survey was designed to yield data on: How people are using communications, and what impact this has on their lives? Are households with greater access to ICT making use (i.e. take up the opportunity) of that access? Has this use enabled poor people (in Senegal) to gain (maximum) benefit from the opportunities offered by ICT? Furthermore is the increasing exposure to media and telecommunications improving health knowledge, attitude and behaviour? Read more...   Communicating Field Level findings with Decision Makers - Nepal Effective management of land resources is vital to the sustainability of local farming systems in the hills of Nepal and to wider poverty alleviation. In the past many management strategies have been developed and implemented with great success but then do not spread beyond the locality of the initial project. This points to a need for library or database of agricultural information that is easily accessible. Of equal importance however is the policy environment. Constraints to the wider uptake of these strategies can exist in the policy frameworks of central and local government and in international and national development organisations. Clearly farmers need incentives in order to change their behaviour and government policies and the way in which they are implemented are key to this process. Read more...   Extension Processes for Rural Energy The skills and awareness of workers facilitating participatory processes depend largely on the training given, which is in turn governed by the remit of their parent organisation. If energy is not included in the training, it is unlikely to be recognised by either extension workers or villages as a need leading to gaps in communication. Read more...   Effective Extension Among Refugees in Northern Ghana The promotion of efficient energy strategies among the rural poor is practised by development agencies all over the world. However uptake of such strategies has always been harder to achieve among displaced communities. Using the Theory of Reasoned Action (TORA) psychological survey tool, Gamos investigated what the barriers to effective communication with refugees are. Read more...