Should the Internet be a development priority in Kenya?
This article challenges the generally held and overly optimistic view of the benefits of the Internet on developing countries. Although the Internet is an undeniably powerful resource for accessing information and establishing contact between people, it is also an instrument for potentially perpetuating, and even deepening, the dependency relationship between developing and developed countries. Individuals and organizations working to connect their countries to the Internet need to demonstrate how having such a connection will directly address local needs and will contribute to achieving indigenous development objectives. As a precursor to any such implementation, a more specific definition of development in an African context is necessary to effectively analyze the viability of installing the Internet in Kenya.
According to G. Sadowsky, "the Internet potentially provides access to expert individuals and organizations with technical knowledge (e.g. UN development programs, US AID, and NGOs such as CARE). It can also provide access to libraries of information on education, health, statistics, agriculture and natural resources, development and planning, telecommunications, and foreign affairs."1 We aim to challenge the popular notion that access to the latest cutting-edge information and expertise from developed countries is an unconditional blessing.
International agencies and NGOs would benefit from readily available Internet services. Consequently, so would a limited sector of Africans. However, proponents such as Sadowsky neglect two primary obstacles to the establishment of the Internet in Africa; namely economic constraints and lack of infrastructure. Computers are expensive, and given the relative absence of a computer manufacturing industry in Kenya the demands of maintenance would necessitate a reliance on the developed world, and scarce foreign exchange.
While the benefits of computing and communications technologies may be evident in the context of the developed world, where these technologies have been woven into the fabric of everyday life, the same is not necessarily true for developing countries. For example, what is the value of establishing an Internet connection when fundamental social and economic issues such as hunger, health, poverty corruption, or debt payment, requirements preclude the benefits of its use? Eagerness for information content that is only marginally relevant to pressing local needs and which competes for scarce investment funds may ultimately be counterproductive. This is because the information provided by the Internet may not address urgent local needs and conditions.
Access to knowledge, even with the use of efficient navigational tools, does not mean that the knowledge is relevant to the concerns of many people in developing countries. This can be demonstrated more specifically with regard to the role of women in Kenyan society.
The traditional subservient role of African women has generally hindered their economic and political growth. Creating social equality should dictate development priorities. However, development projects in the Third World often are ill-suited to change existing gender relations.2 Women have traditionally been the main producers of food, as well as the home-makers. The convention of male ownership of property, and the customary subordination of women, mean that many new technologies do not benefit women. For example, in the rural areas males use tractors and other farming implements, while women continue to till the land using hoes.3 In addition, women may work for several hours a day on larger commercial farms for a wage in order to purchase seed, and necessities like soap and paraffin. This is compounded by their domestic responsibilities. Given cultural and social differences, technology obtained over the Internet may be untenable and inappropriate without adaptation to local circumstances. It is imperative that people using the internet for research, on which many development projects are based, keep in touch with the reality of these women's daily lives so as to close the gap in the power relation between men and women.
A simpler established technology, the radio has proved to be an invaluable resource for communication and education in areas which are either not easily accessible or have no electricity. With locally produced educational material and news, the rural populace can be kept up to date. Using outreach programs, everyone can be a part of a locally-based information network that they can identify with. We recommend an exploration of the relative merit of developing the existing radio facilities and programs over embarking on providing extensive Internet services.
Arguably, the Internet is a rich source of news and information that could be used for the advancement of the relatively better educated women in the urban areas. However, most women in the urban areas are often at the bottom of the socio-economic ladder, employed as low-skilled domestic or factory workers. Given the demands of a full day's work and the rigorous domestic demands placed upon women, the Internet may be neither accessible nor applicable to their needs.
If, on the other hand, women's groups were to gain access to the Internet on a regular basis, they may be inclined to adopt foreign-based development strategies less suited to their environment. This may result in a reactive mode of development, where proactive planning, using empirical knowledge of the needs of the society, would take a back-seat to searching for ready-made solutions to development problems on the Internet. Whereas these solutions may provide a short-term remedy to most problems, their wholesale adoption, without consideration of the implications on contemporary local culture and social norms, could lead to clashes between culture and development.
Kenyan universities lack books and continue to look overseas for information unavailable within the country. For instance, there are very few studies of African women's development carried out by African women. Furthermore, theoretical studies are often impractical because the researchers are outsiders who cannot completely internalize the complexities inherent in the relationship between Kenyan women and technology. Before connecting to the well-spring of information on the Internet, it may be necessary for African women to define for themselves how such a resource can and should be used to enhance their own lives.
Further, the very establishment of the Internet in Kenya may be outside the logistical and financial resources of the country. Africa, in general, is the least connected continent due to economic constraints, poor infrastructure, and a dearth of educational opportunities. For these reasons, effective installation and implementation of the Internet is limited and highly problematic. This is particularly true in Kenya where the existing technological infrastructure is inadequate to support broad avenues of communication and the mass media. For example, the electricity supply, where it exists, is intermittent and unreliable. Therefore, installation of a service such as the Internet, which requires a consistent supply of electricity, would be extremely difficult.
Development is a concept that has widely varying definitions. Often economic growth and greater productivity are pursued at the expense of environmental integrity, equitable income distribution, and the traditional values and customs, which form the bonds of a nation's society. This article proposes that Africans re-define what development means to them collectively, and similarly, what place they want to take in the international community.
The Internet is a highly valued technological innovation in many developed countries. The reasons for this are numerous and varied. However, the crucial commonality is that they are all based upon the social, cultural, and economic structures which exist within these developed nations. There is no obvious reason to suppose that these above structures will necessarily exist within the societies of developing countries. In fact, such an assumption would have negative implications for the formulation of effective and socially beneficial development policy. It is important to keep challenging the boundaries, but the adoption of technology in developing countries should be based upon the needs and desires of the domestic society and not the automatic emulation of more developed nations.