5 things we learned about access to information for underserved communities in Central and Eastern Africa – and why they matter

In 2025, as part of the European Union-funded AGILE project, CFI carried out a regional mapping on the information needs and barriers to information in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. For CFI, the objective of the mapping is to identify the challenges on the ground in order to develop appropriate solutions and ensure that the actions taken address concrete needs.

Through questionnaires, focus groups, and interviews with 333 people, the research explored how minority and refugee communities access, understand and engage with information in unequal media environments. 
What emerged challenges some assumptions. Here are five things the mapping revealed.

1. In rural areas, word of mouth is often the only information system that works

In the DRC, over 80% of media outlets are clustered in the capital Kinshasa, leaving vast rural areas effectively without coverage. Ethnic minority groups such as the Batwa and Bambuti rated the relevance of the information they receive at 0.5 out of 3, considering it to be "never relevant”. 
In these communities, access to information depends less on digital innovation than on trusted local networks: local leaders, women’s groups, grassroots organisations. These systems re resilient, but they are not infallible - information shared informally can be incomplete, delayed, or distorted before it reaches its intended audience.

AGILE will support more accessible and inclusive information by working with trusted local intermediaries, community networks, and communication channels that already form the backbone of information access for marginalised communities.

2. Radio is still the backbone of information access – and it is under threat

In Uganda, 87% of respondents reported having a working radio at home. In Zambia, around 60% of the population listens to radio daily. In the DRC, more than 4,000 radio stations serve communities across the country. In a region where digital access remains unequal, radio is not a legacy medium - it is the primary information lifeline for millions.
But this ecosystem is now under severe pressure. Following the cut to US foreign aid in 2025, community radio stations, that relied primarily on this funding source, face an uncertain future. Where community radio disappears, so does the locally rooted, trusted voice that keeps misinformation in check and civic life alive.

AGILE will work with community radios, local organisations, and trusted community networks to help information reach people in more accessible and relevant ways.

3. Language is the most underestimated barrier, and communities have a clear ask

When asked what would most improve the information they receive, communities across all four countries gave a consistent answer: Translate it into our languages, and simplify it.
Language is the decisive and most consistently underestimated barrier to information access. Official communications, media broadcasts, and humanitarian messages are routinely produced in dominant administrative languages that large parts of the population do not fully understand. Even where people speak the dominant language, technical jargon and bureaucratic phrasing can produce near-total incomprehension.

On average, marginalised community members report understanding the language used in information only “sometimes”. In the DRC, ethnic minorities rate their comprehension between “rarely” and “sometimes”. In Tanzania, Hadzabe and Akie communities whose languages are oral and rarely represented in any media, rate their comprehension at the bottom of the scale. 
In contrast, Zambia is the only country where ethnic minorities rated their language comprehension as "often" adequate, a direct result of community radio broadcasting in multiple local languages.

Respondents described asking their school-going children to explain official broadcasts, or depending on religious leaders or NGO staff to interpret messages. As information passes through multiple intermediaries, it can be delayed, simplified, or distorted - sometimes significantly - before reaching the people who need it.

AGILE will prioritise multilingual, audio-first, and simplified content production across all activities co-designed with community radios, women's groups, and disability organisations to ensure that the needs of different communities are better reflected.

4. When information doesn't reflect communities' realities, they stop trusting it - or stop receiving it altogether

Accuracy is necessary but not sufficient. Communities are more likely to engage with - and trust - information when it reflects their realities and responds to their everyday concerns. When it doesn't, they disengage.

Women across all four countries described a consistent pattern: stories about gender issues may be factually correct, but they "fail to reflect women's lived realities, rendering them irrelevant”. In the DRC, women's comprehension of information is rated as “rarely” adequate - not because they cannot understand the language, but because the content does not speak to their lives.
The pattern is even sharper for some ethnic minorities. Maasai respondents described appearing in the media “rarely on their own terms” - their way of life consistently framed as a problem to be solved, rather than a legitimate system with its own logic and history. Several communities reported being exposed to derogatory language and hate speech in the way they are described in media.

For people with disabilities, the exclusion takes a different form: the near-total absence of accessible formats. Across all four countries, sign language, braille, and audio-adapted content remain the exception rather than the rule. Information that cannot be accessed cannot be trusted - or used.

AGILE will work more closely with marginalised communities to ensure their perspectives, experiences, and ways of understanding information are reflected in media and communication efforts.

5. Inclusive reporting already exists but journalists still face major barriers

Across all four countries, many journalists and media professionals recognise the importance of more inclusive, community-focused reporting. The mapping found this awareness to be widespread - the gap is not one of knowledge or intent, but of resources and conditions.

Putting inclusive reporting into practice remains difficult. Covering remote communities takes time and money that most newsrooms do not have. Editorial priorities favour urban, mainstream audiences. In Zambia, several journalists described stories about marginalised communities as regularly sidelined because they are considered “unprofitable”. In the DRC and Tanzania, political and legal pressures further narrow the space for sensitive reporting.
The result is a gap between what journalists know needs to happen, and what the system allows them to do.

AGILE will support media professionals, community radios, and local organisations to strengthen inclusive reporting practices, improve community engagement, and produce information that is more accessible, relevant, and responsive to the needs of marginalised communities.

Taken together, these findings point to the same conclusion: improving access to information is not primarily a technical challenge. It is about language, trust, representation, and the ability of communities to see themselves in the information systems that shape their daily lives.
The mapping goes further than these five findings - it includes detailed country-by-country analysis, direct testimony from community members and journalists, and practical recommendations for media organisations, funders, and development practitioners.

Read the short summary or the full report to explore the full picture.