R A I L S implementation workshop. Regional Agricultural Information and Learning Systems

Transcription

1 R A I L S implementation workshop Regional Agricultural Information and Learning Systems

2 Contents Summary 1 Introduction 3 Welcome and opening remarks 7 RAILS concept and implementation framework 8 SRO updates 10 National Case Studies 17 Lessons learned from sub-regional and national initiatives on agricultural information and communication management 27 What are the next steps? 31 Closing 41 Annex 1. Participants 42 Annex 2. RAILS implementation framework 47 Annex 3. Detailed SROs activities to implement RAILS 56 Annex 4. Workshop programme 60 Acronyms and Abbreviations 62 Image of discs and computer hardware from

3 R A I L S implementation workshop January 2007 FARA Secretariat, Accra, Ghana Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa FARA Headquarters PMB CT 173 Cantonments 2 Gowa Close, Roman Ridge, Accra, Ghana 2007 iii

4 2006 by the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA). Citation: FARA (Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa) Regional Agricultural Information and Learning Systems (RAILS) implementation workshop, January 2007, FARA Secretariat, Accra, Ghana. 64 pp. FARA encourages fair use of this material. Proper citation is requested. Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) PMB CT 173 Cantonments 2 Gowa Close, Accra, Ghana Tel.: / Fax: info@fara-africa.org Web site: ISBN Print:

5 Summary The regional agricultural information and learning systems (RAILS) project held its implementation workshop on January 2007 at the secretariat offices of the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) in Accra, Ghana. The purpose of this workshop was to review and validate an implementation framework for the project for immediate application by Africa s sub-regional organizations (SROs), national agricultural research systems (NARS) and related actors and stakeholders in agricultural information and technology exchange. RAILS is a five year project funded by the African Development Bank. The major objective of RAILS is to enhance access, retrieval and use of agricultural information and technologies by African agricultural research for development (ARD) stakeholders in the global knowledge exchange arena. RAILS implementing partners are the SROs, i.e., ASARECA-RAIN, CORAF/WECARD, SADC- FANR and the North African SRO. Others include NARS and international service providers working in agricultural information systems and management in Africa. The meeting was attended by coordinators of major information and communication programs or projects at the SRO level; NARS representatives with a mandate to coordinate networks on information and communication technology (ICT) at the national level; and international service providers interested in Africa s agricultural information and learning systems. The workshop was divided into three sessions. The first session aimed at setting the ICT scene by reviewing current agricultural information and learning systems from national to regional and to continental level and future scenarios. With a better understanding of current priorities and initiatives at different levels, the second session looked at what can be learned from these different initiatives, and what tools and systems may be used within RAILS. The third session reviewed the general implementation framework, and enabled the SROs and 1

6 NARS partners to adapt it to their own priorities and needs, based on available resources. The national cases presented from Kenya, Ghana and Mauritius illustrated different approaches in developing national agricultural ICT networks based on national policies, resources and understanding on how ICT and Information and Communication Management (ICM) could contribute to agricultural productivity. Kenya started developing ICT and ICM strategies prompted by the recently endorsed general policy on ICT. Stakeholders led by the national research institute are currently holding consultations to develop their own strategies at national and institutional level. Ghana also involves most of the stakeholders and follows a highly structured approach of consultations with pre-defined formats of reporting and planning. Mauritius is putting special effort into upgrading ICT use within agriculture, as it lags far behind the other economic sectors.the main challenge is to link agriculture communities to rich information sources within research institutes as well as Ministries. The SROs use different approaches and are at different stages with respect to ICT / ICM. RAILS wishes to develop an African platform for agriculture ICT to add value to these initiatives based on three central activities: (i) building learning teams, (ii) creating synergies and (iii) advocating for increased investments in agricultural information and learning systems. RAILS implementation will be through learning teams paying due attention to stakeholders needs, and selection of appropriate support mechanisms and services at national, regional and continental levels. RAILS needs to consider differences in institutional capacities and the social, economic and cultural environment in which it is operating. In terms of services RAILS will need to focus on communication management, content management, and facilitation and coordination, considering issues of sustainability, inclusiveness and mutual partnerships. In terms of support mechanisms RAILS will facilitate capacity building, team management, and monitoring and evaluation mechanisms. 2 RAILS implementation workshop 2007

7 Introduction From RAIS to RAILS The Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) has identified Access to knowledge and technologies as one of their five major activities to support sub-regional organizations (SROs) in strengthening capacity for agricultural innovation. To achieve broadbased improvements in the livelihoods of smallholder farmers and pastoralists, it is crucial to provide equitable access to information and learning throughout the African continent. FARA recognizes that there are quite a number of service providers of agricultural information generation and dissemination active in Africa. It wishes to add value to the valuable work of these organizations by providing its major clients, the SROs and NARS, a regional platform for information exchange and sharing on agricultural issues. In March 2004, FARA organized a consultation workshop with key players of agricultural research for development (ARD) and information and communication management (ICM) in Africa. This resulted in the Regional Agricultural Information System (RAIS) initiative, that was aimed at three main areas of ICM: (i) capacity strengthening of NARS leaders on advocacy for ICT; (ii) capacity development of NARS ICT managers; and (iii) integration of agricultural information systems in Africa. Although the importance of RAIS was widely recognized, it was later realized that channeling of data or information is not enough to catalyze innovation in African agriculture. All stakeholders, from farmers to scientists, go through a learning process to turn information acquired into knowledge that can improve the livelihoods and well-being of resource-poor farmers and pastoralists. Agricultural information systems require, therefore, a learning tool to assist stakeholders in digesting information that is made accessible to them. 3

8 In March 2006, the RAIS taskforce met and formally endorsed the concept of integrating learning hence, the RAILS, regional agricultural information and learning system (RAILS) initiative was developed. RAILS primary purpose is to enhance access, retrieval and use of agricultural information and technologies through learning from actual issues and rapidly changing environment. The major objectives endorsed were 1 : Advocate for increased investments in agricultural information systems by the African governments and institutions Improve the access and contribution by African ARD Stakeholders in the global knowledge sharing Facilitate agricultural information systems synergies and value-addition between international and national research for development institutions Consolidate national, sub-regional and continental ARD information systems to create an African platform for AIS that could contribute to the global AIS Based on the recommendations of several consultations, a proposal was sent to GFAR and the African Development Bank (AfDB) for financial support and at the same time a web interface for FARA was developed to provide an African platform for ARD. Funding from AfDB is now available to support major activities of RAILS starting in January The RAILS implementation workshop This report presents the proceedings of the RAILS implementation workshop, organized at the FARA Secretariat Offices in Accra, Ghana on January The purpose of the RAILS implementation workshop was to consolidate initiatives and find synergies towards regional agricultural information and learning systems for Africa. The objective was to develop an implementation framework and work program for RAILS, with coordination from FARA and implementation by the SROs and NARS together with international service providers. The major output was an implementation framework and detailed work programs for RAILS linked to SROs and NARS priorities, including: A strategy on how active and dynamic regional, sub-regional and national web interfaces will be developed, maintained and used Identification of appropriate information and communication technology (ICT) tools required by stakeholders to assist and support the application of an innovation systems approach A strategy on how NARS capacities related to ICT and information and communication management (ICM) are enhanced through training A strategy on how resources can be made available for ICT and ICM development at all levels 1 FARA(2006); RAILS Task Force Meeting March 2006, FARA PMB CT 173 Cantonments, 2 Gowa Close, Roman Ridge, Accra, Ghana, 97 pp. 4 RAILS implementation workshop 2007

9 An advocacy strategy to raise awareness among decision makers and policy makers about the potential of ICT and ICM in agricultural research and development (ARD) The workshop was also meant to identify dynamic learning team members at the continental and sub-regional level for RAILS. Participants of the workshop (see Annex 1) included representatives of: 1. SRO information and communication programs/projects. 2. National agricultural research systems with a mandate to coordinate national networks on agricultural ICT and ICM. These representatives were nominated by the SROs and were from the national research institute, extension, concerned Ministry, Nongovernment organizations (NGO), Farmer s Organizations (FO) and agri-business enterprises. 3. International service providers interested in Africa s agricultural information and learning systems. The workshop was comprised of three sessions with specific process and expected outputs as explained below (the workshop program is provided in Annex 4): Session 1: Setting the scene and looking at different scenarios of agricultural information and learning systems in Africa. The process involved a brief presentation of RAILS and related SRO initiatives such as ASARECA-RAIN, CORAF-SRAILS and SADC-ICART. Three countries were asked to showcase different levels of managing agricultural information and learning systems (Kenya, Ghana and Mauritius) to represent African countries that are at different stages of agricultural ICT and ICM development. The expected outcome was a clear understanding of RAILS and related SRO initiatives. The session also provided participants with different scenarios on how national ICT/ICM strategies could be formulated and implemented, and how regional agricultural information and learning systems should respond. Session 2: Getting to know different initiatives and tools available that could be used by FARA, SROs, and NARS to strengthen African agricultural research and development (ARD) and to facilitate linkages of different ICT systems either at national, sub-regional and international level. The process involved presentations from representatives of international service providers, i.e., FAO, ZADI, WISARD, ASTI, and CABI. The group then looked at ways to derive potential synergies that could enhance the regional agricultural information and learning systems for Africa. The expected output was enhanced awareness and understanding of ICT tools/systems that could strengthen existing African agricultural information platforms, with a special focus on use of multi-media systems to facilitate end-users access to agricultural innovations. Session 3: Developing the strategy and implementation framework for agricultural information and learning systems at the national, sub-regional and continental level. The process involved discussions based on presentations in Sessions 1 and 2, and working groups were formed to discuss in detail the different requirements in formulating national Introduction

10 and sub-regional strategies and their corresponding implementation frameworks. Groups were made based on geographical interests and knowledge. Groups discussed: (i) strategy and priorities for information and learning systems at different levels of implementation; (ii) partners, required resources, capacity strengthening and support mechanisms to implement the strategy and; (iii) Monitoring and evaluation mechanisms to ensure that the strategy is implemented and has the desirable impact on its end-users. The expected output were strategy and implementation frameworks for agricultural information and learning systems at national, sub-regional and continental level. Session 4: Build the support mechanisms such as learning teams linked to the RAILS taskforce, to ensure effective and efficient RAILS implementation at different levels. The process involved forming groups to discuss support mechanisms most appropriate to ensure effective and efficient implementation of RAILS, while responding to priorities set at national and sub-regional level. Discussions focused on establishment of learning teams at national, sub-regional and continental level linked to the RAILS Taskforce and how these learning teams could provide support to national partners in formulating and implementing their strategies. The expected output were mechanisms to operationalize the learning teams at different levels. The workshop was facilitated by the RAILS Taskforce: Dorothy Mukhebi (ASARECA), Krishan Bheenick (SADC-FANR), Dady Dembe (CORAF/WECARD), and Myra Wopereis (FARA), supported by Justin Chisenga (FAO), Jane Asaba (CABI) and Marc Bernard (ZADI). The team met every night before and during the workshop, to deliberate what would be discussed the next day, and lessons learned from the day s discussions. The workshop agenda was adjusted whenever topics required more detailed deliberations. This report provides the proceedings of this workshop. 6 RAILS implementation workshop 2007

11 Welcome and opening remarks FARA s Executive Secretary Dr. Monty Jones officially opened the workshop. He briefly introduced FARA, its history and mandate to coordinate the implementation of pillar IV of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), which spells out the goals and strategies of agricultural research, technology dissemination and adoption in Africa. He emphasized that FARA has a wide range of constituents which encompasses all national programmes in 53 countries in Africa along with representations from international organizations, advanced research institutions, NGOs, extension agencies and the private sector. Dr. Jones highlighted FARA s three main thrusts i.e. advocacy, partnerships, and information and learning and its five regional wide initiatives, i.e. the sub-saharan Africa Challenge Program (SSA CP), Strengthening Capacity for Agricultural Research and Development in Africa (SCARDA), Dissemination of new and proven agricultural technologies in Africa (DONATA), the African Biotechnology and Biosafety Initiative (ABBI) and the Regional Agricultural Information and Learning systems (RAILS) which respond to the priorities outlined in the CAADP agenda. On behalf of the FARA executive committee and the FARA secretariat staff, Dr. Jones set high expectations for this workshop, i.e. moving RAILS forward after several consultations (i.e. 2004, 2006) but now with added confidence using the resources provided by the AfDB. He considered RAILS main output to be the creation of an African network for agricultural knowledge and improving African stakeholders access to agricultural information systems and their participation to global knowledge exchange. This can be achieved if concrete steps are identified based on priorities and needs of ARD stakeholders, especially the national and sub-regional partners, guided by a timeframe and impact indicators, and if the program is developed through mutual partnerships and synergies of resources among partners. The RAILS program should be linked and add value to national and sub-regional initiatives as well as respond to the regional agriculture vision as stated in CAADP and the Framework for African Agricultural Productivity (FAAP). Dr. Jones announced that FARA managed to mobilize funds for RAILS in the order of US $7 million from the African Development Bank, out of its required $US 15 million budget over the next 5 years. FARA will continue to raise funds to stimulate African ARD to be implemented through the SROs and NARS. 7

12 RAILS concept and implementation framework The RAILS concept and implementation framework was presented by Myra Wopereis, RAILS Coordinator. FARA developed the Regional Agricultural Information and Learning system (RAILS) initiative with the primary purpose to enhance access, retrieval and use of agricultural information and technologies by African ARD stakeholders in the global knowledge exchange arena. This is especially required in the actual context of a global economy moving more towards knowledge-intensive activities. Africa has to strengthen its capacity to be able to compete with other emerging countries such as those from Asia In order to achieve the RAILS purpose four major objectives have been identified: 1. Advocating for increased investments in agriculture information and learning systems by the African governments and institutions. 2. Strengthening capacities of ARD stakeholders to access and contribute to global knowledge exchange. 3. Facilitating synergies among agricultural information systems and value-addition between international and national programs. 4. Consolidating national, sub regional and continental initiatives, creating the African platform for agricultural information and learning systems. These objectives were formulated together with the relevant stakeholders of FARA, taking into account that there has been and there are ongoing investments in agricultural ICM, and systems developed by international institutions such as the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the centres of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), the Centre for Technical Agricultural and rural cooperation among ACP countries (CTA), CABI, etc. RAILS will add value to existing sub-regional initiatives on agricultural information systems as well as to initiatives by these international partners. RAILS will build on current initiatives of the SROs. This would e.g. include the post graduate training programs on agricultural information and communication management of ASARECA/RAIN; systems tools for information exchange by CORAF and recognition of the importance of agricultural 8 RAILS implementation workshop 2007

13 information systems standards to facilitate compatibility among different systems by SADC- FANR. RAILS will build on the strengths of each of the SROs by sharing experiences and lessons learned from different regions. It will look at initiatives that could be adopted to other regions of Africa or scaled out at the continental level. RAILS will facilitate the creation of an African information and learning platform that will provide an open space where agricultural information systems are used to link ARD innovations to users and learners. The African information and learning platform will function using the most effective and efficient tools applicable to Africa s limited but rapidly changing ICT infrastructure. Synergies will be formed with international service providers who invested in agricultural information gathering, dissemination and use over the past few decades and are considered useful and effective by its clients. RAILS will also advocate that increased resources be made available by African governments not just for ARD but also for agricultural information and learning systems. RAILS will facilitate the creation of a learning culture in ARD where farmers are recognized as innovators able to invest and demand specific research topics; extension workers become facilitators of change; agricultural research scientists respond to actual needs and challenges of farmers and governments develop policies to enable a learning environment. A detailed RAILS implementation framework (Annex 2) was presented to the group for further discussion, adaptation and validation. RAILS concept and implementation framework 9

14 SRO updates ASARECA Regional Agricultural Information Network (RAIN) The ASARECA-Regional agricultural information network (RAIN) was presented by Dorothy Mukhebi (RAIN Coordinator). RAIN is one of ASARECA s 17 thematic networks composed of members from Burundi, DR Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya Madagascar, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda. RAIN is a network of agricultural information organizations and professions in the East and Central Africa region. It serves as a forum in which supporters, producers and consumers of agricultural information in the region exchange information, providing the mechanism through which common and relevant regional information policies and standards are developed. RAIN works to achieve the following results: 1. Demand-driven information and communication technologies/ Innovations generated and promoted. 2. Enabling regional and national agricultural information policy options for transformation of agriculture facilitated. 3. Regional and national capacity for (ICM) in ARD strengthened. 4. Availability of information on agricultural research for development enhanced. RAIN is one of the oldest networks on agricultural information and communication in Africa. To ensure that its activities are relevant to its stakeholders needs, it conducted baseline studies on ICT and ICM capacities in the region. It then set up ICT infrastructure in its member NARS institutes and organized training in basic ICT/ICM skills as shown in Table 1. RAIN also provides services to the ASARECA Secretariat, e.g. by developing the ASARECA and RAIN websites and a web-based contact directory of individuals and institutions in ARD in the ECA region. It developed the communication and knowledge management (CKM) strategy for ASARECA and participated in the development of the ASARECA strategy. The CKM strategy has identified 15 priority activitiesm, i.e., 10 RAILS implementation workshop 2007

15 Table 1. ASARECA-RAIN major infrastructure support and ICT/ICM training. Country Name of institution receiving infrastructure support Year infrastructure support was provided Training topic Year given Burundi ISABU 2004 ICT/ICM 2005 DR Congo INERA 2004 Web AGRIS 2006 Eritrea Ethiopia EARO 2005 Kenya AIRC, Ministry of Agriculture 2004, 2005 Madagascar FOFIFA 2004, 2005 Rwanda ISAR 2006/2007 Sudan ARD 2006 AGRIS 2006 Tanzania FADECO (NGO), DRD Uganda ASARECA networks IMARK on building electronic communities and networks; investing in agricultural information 2006 Creation of a Project management information system IT policy, upgrading and expansion of facilities Training support in the new Information and communication unit ASARECA network programs project website Document management system, e.g. corporate archives and a virtual library Support for development of national CKM strategies, including regional organization of CKM policies Commodity/research theme specific databases and information systems Prospecting for and providing access to new sources of information Research to identify, promote, and apply metadata Creation and dissemination of targeted knowledge-products and services Research on, development of, and promotion of innovations for communications and uptake Establishment of a public/media relations function Participation in international, regional, and sub-regional for a related to ICT SRO updates 11

16 Re-branding of the organization Establishment of a donor relations function RAIN remains a strong network with active involvement in international partnerships. It is currently devoting a lot of its resources in developing a Post Graduate level training in Agricultural Information and Communication Management. This involves eight universities and partner research institutions. A workshop was organized to move this initiative forward, i.e., refining curricula, raising public awareness and funds, further consultation with universities and setting up a Secretariat. RAIN is also working with the Kenya agriculture research institute and the International information system for the agricultural sciences and technology of FAO to set up the Kenyan strategy for agricultural information systems. RAIN is providing backstopping and if successful, the exercise could be scaled out to other ASARECA countries. In Uganda, RAIN is working with the national agricultural research organization on a national inventory of agricultural information resources to design, develop and disseminate information that farmers require. In summary, RAIN will contribute to achieving ASARECA s four main results, as follows: Result 1: Technologies/ Innovations Generated and Promoted: Generation of ICT/ICM technologies and innovations and developing the information and learning platform for Eastern and Central Africa promoted by RAILS Result 2: Regional and National Policy Options Facilitated: Development of information guidelines and standards for agricultural information systems and harmonization of ICT/ICM policies and strategies Result 3: Capacity for ICM in ARD Strengthened: ICT infrastructure, long-term ICT/ICM training, short-term ICT/ICM training, sustainable financing for information products & services Result 4: Information on Research and Development Enhanced: Generation and communication of information products and improved access and availability of information. In the near future, it will: Strengthen capacity and influencing future targeted training Launch a Post Graduate level training in AICM with Universities Catalyze national agricultural information policies & strategies that should lead to regional policies and strategies Contribute to National ICT Policy Work with researchers to enhance availability of regional public goods Motivate (encourage, induce) generation of scientific information 12 RAILS implementation workshop 2007

17 Develop information management metadata, protocols and standards Set up web portals and platforms Catalyze networking/partnerships among key information professionals & organizations to promote information sharing regionally & globally Market agricultural information products & services to ensure sustainability Streamline ICM processes and set up appropriate support structures for ASARECA Generate methodological innovations for improved dissemination and uptake RAIN wishes to work with FARA though its regional initiatives such as RAILS and SCARDA by contributing to the FARA portal and infosysplus portal and by participating in the PAEPARD platform. CORAF/WECARD A Framework for Cooperation by, and for NARS Dady Demby gave an overview of CORAF/WECARD objectives, statutory organs, member countries and agro-ecological zones as well its Sub-regional Agricultural Information, and Learning System (SRAILS). CORAF/WECARD has 21 member countries in three major agro-ecological zones, i.e. the West Africa Sahelian Zone: Burkina Faso, le Cape Verde, Chad, The Gambia, Guinea- Bissau, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal; the West Coastal Zone: Guinea, Sierra Leone, Côte d Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria; and the Central African Zone: Cameroon, Central African Republic, Gabon, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Republic of Congo. In terms of communication and information sharing, CORAF/WECARD pursues five major objectives: Implement a Sub-regional Agricultural Information, and Learning System (SRAILS) Develop sub-regional agricultural databases (research results, experts/human resources, research projects, institutions, events, etc.) Promote scientific publication Strengthen linkages between research and end users Build capacity among NARS stakeholders In order to start with a comprehensive and relevant strategy on information and communication for the region, CORAF/WECARD conducted a strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) analysis of the information and communication systems in West and Central Africa as well and reflected on how it could contribute to institutions with a continental mandate such as FARA and NEPAD. A summary of this analysis is shown in Table 2. CORAF/WECARD has conducted several consultations among its stakeholders and has developed an information system with ZADI through the infosysplus portal. This system is now functional in several countries in West and Central Africa. It is consolidated at the sub-regional level and has country pages for all its member countries. The system is also linked to the FARA infosysplus portal and the European infosysplus portal. SRO updates 13

18 Table 2. SWOT analysis on ICT / ICM in West and Central Africa by CORAF/WECARD. Strengths Large geographic coverage Established network of national correspondents in NARS CORAF/WECARD adopted by ECOWAS and UEMOA as their technical arm Functioning ICT platform: 1250 actual registered stakeholders (1630 total) Strong financial support from DFID, and other donors joining Good partnership with media (Radio, TV, etc.) Bilingual team: French-English Weaknesses Donor funded Low financial contribution from NARS Opportunities Threats CAADP-FAAP Undergoing Strategic Plan review process aimed at developing WAAPP and CAADP AfDB Technology development Project Advocacy role played by FARA Recognition by Regional Economic Communities ICT for ARD adopted as one of the four Objectives in the revised Strategic Plan Lack of national ICT strategy in most countries Low level of Internet connectivity in most countries Insufficiency of skilled ICT specialists in NARS Low level of involvement of NARS stakeholders NARS Weak awareness on existing ICT tools and information resources Weak policy makers support to ICT Weak interactions between NARS stakeholders Armed conflicts in some countries Working with French, English, and Portuguese speaking countries Future activities to enhance the system are required such as face-to-face training to supplement the distance training conducted in 2005; data collection and consolidation of database, strengthening capacities of national partners to build teams for agricultural information and learning, promote access to existing data repositories such as at FAO, CTA, CABI, etc and revise subregional information and communication strategy for CORAF/WECARD. 14 RAILS implementation workshop 2007

19 SADC-FANR Krishan Bheenick of the Food Agriculture and Natural Resource Directorate of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC-FANR) gave an update on ICM / ICT developments southern Africa. In the absence of a formal sub-regional organization in the region, SADC- FANR has been mandated to fulfil this function. One of the critical constraints to agricultural development in the region is lack of access to relevant information and coordination to harmonize diverse databases and information resources across the region. SADC itself operates in several countries, and as it restructured, it attempted to harmonize information systems related to agriculture and food security. SADC faces several challenges such as overlap and duplication of systems, incompatibility of data formats and software used, and lack of medium- to long-term institutional support. Currently, SADC is involved in the following information systems: Regional Early Warning System for Food Security (REWS) Regional Remote Sensing Project (RRSP) Data management and Analytical Project Integrated Crop Pest Surveillance Programme Information Core in Southern Africa for Migratory Pests (ICOSAMP) SADC Seed Security Network Project (SSSN) SADC Animal Diseases Surveillance System (TADINFO) Regional Vulnerability Analytical Information System Regional Fisheries Information Systems (RFIS) Regional Information and Management Programme for Agricultural Research and Training Forestry Information Management System In February 2003, realizing the need for integration of the various information systems, the SADC Council of Ministers requested the development of an effective and efficient regional food and agriculture information system for SADC. This led to the establishment of the agricultural information management system (AIMS), under the SADC-FANR department. The objective is to integrate and rationalize the various information systems within FANR into an effective, efficient and coherent system in support of revitalizing agricultural growth, enhancing food security, and promoting rural development in the Region. In addition, it will also provide support and input into the monitoring and evaluation system of the Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP); and meet the objective of the Dar-es- Salaam Declaration on Agriculture and Food Security with regard to a Regional Integrated Agricultural Information System. The immediate objectives of AIMS are: Coordinate information management activities within FANR and the member states leading to harmonization, sharing, collaboration and a reduction of duplication Provide a sustainable information systems infrastructure, tools and environment to support the needs of FANRs regular program and project activities SRO updates 15

20 Rationalize and incorporate existing information systems within FANR into a more coherent regional system (AIMS) Support the member states with information gathering, analysis, dissemination and exchange activities A 15-mln euro project on Implementation and Coordination of Agricultural Research and Training in the SADC region (ICART) was signed in 2003 with the European Commission. ICART became operational when staff was hired in February The project will continue until The ICART objectives are: Strengthen SADC capacity to coordinate Agricultural Research and Training Establish a Competitive Regional Agricultural Research Funding system Establish a Regional Training Programme Establish Research Networks in line with priorities identified in the region Establish a Regional Information and Communication Programme supported by a Regional Information System on Agricultural Research and Development and Training ICARTs current and future activities with potential for synergies and complementarities with RAILS include: Organization of the FANR-ICART Stakeholders assembly (14 member states) Organization of regular meetings of groups of stakeholders (directors of Research, Deans, ICT managers, research networks) Maintenance of a database on proposals submitted for competitive funding Maintenance of a database on agricultural research and training institutions o o o Institutional information (mission, objectives, strategic plans) Human resources (Staffing, skills, expertise) Services and facilities available (Training programmes & development, Research facilities, Consultancy services, Extension and Outreach) Maintenance of a database on stakeholders of agricultural research and training in the region Development of a regional database on agricultural research projects Capacity building Development of a regional repository/ knowledge bank of training materials (formal and non-formal education) Development of a classification system for Research (and Development) projects for the region 16 RAILS implementation workshop 2007

21 National Case Studies Kenya Agricultural Information Network (KAINet) Rachel Rege of the Kenya Agricultural research institute (KARI) presented the Kenyan initiative on developing an agriculture ICM strategy for the country, together with several other related institutions. Agriculture is an important sector for Kenya. Agriculture earns 26% of the gross domestic product (GDP), contributes 27% to GDP indirectly, accounts for 60% of national employment, and constitutes 60% of export earnings and 45% of government revenue. Recent developments within the agricultural sector reflects a paradigm shift in focus and scope towards an integrated holistic approach to science and technology; interlinked through knowledge generation, diffusion and application between and within each of the agricultural sectors. In response to these changes, the Kenyan government has initiated several policies and strategies to create a more enabling environment. Some of the relevant policies and strategies recently enacted are: Strategy for Revitalizing Agriculture (SRA 2005), National ICT Policy (2005 Draft) and E-government Strategy (2004). In 2006, the Kenya agricultural information and communication stakeholders led by KARI together with ASARECA, FAO and CABI, created the Kenya agricultural information network (KAINet). KAINet is a three year project borne out of challenges identified through international, regional and national consultations with an initial focus on digital repository development. Through several consultations and an environmental assessment, KAINet evolved with the following objectives: 1. Facilitate the development of institutional policies and strategies on Information and Communication Management (ICM) in agricultural sciences and technology in Kenya 2. Develop the basis for a national network, including selected resource centres and the mechanism for fostering institutional collaboration 3. Strengthen human capacities in the key centres 4. Document the process and develop as a case study for development of a national AGRIS Network 17

22 KAINet is working with five other institutions in Kenya to implement the project in three phases. Phase one is preparatory where stakeholders are consulted to create a consensus on what is required, followed by planning of activities and capacity building. A review of existing ICM policies and strategies will be conducted, Phase two will involve strategy implementation through KAINet together with relevant actors or institutions and continued capacity building. Information systems will be developed which will most probably focus on document e-repositories for the five institutions. Table 3. Analysis of ICT / ICM Policies and Strategies in Kenya. Strengths: Existence of strategies and policies recognizing the value and role of ICT / ICM strategies for agricultural development Available agricultural institutions generating and utilizing information - available information resources National organizations with ICT / ICM structures in their organizations Earlier initiatives (AGRIS, IDRC, WB, USAID, CTA) Existence of regional organizations and networks advocating and supporting initiatives (ASARECA-RAIN and other networks) Weaknesses: Lack of comprehensive policy and regulatory framework at the national level with trickle-down effect to organizations and associated institutions Isolated initiatives and programmes from the various government ministries involved in agriculture lack of integrated policy platform addressing ICT/ICM issues Inadequate infrastructure Insufficient skilled human resource Bias in existing strategies, more towards ICT Lack of focus on mechanisms for information exchange and sharing Lack of institutional information and communication strategies Limited financial resource base supporting ICT / ICM activities Lack of common tools (standards, methodologies and tools etc) coherence The third phase will be scaling-up and -out of KAINet activities across the nation based on experiences and lessons learned from the pilot institutions in Phase two. The whole process will be documented to facilitate scaling up and out to other countries in the region. The initiative started in 2006 and has been able to gather support and create ownership among diverse stakeholders not just from research institutes but also from the Ministries and civil society organizations. Some of the progress made includes a review of several interrelated Kenyan policies and strategies and identification of gaps where the ICM strategy through KAINet could come in (Table 3). This has enabled the KAINet team to identify the minimum requirements for project implementation such as infrastructure, content, human resources and the corresponding training needs. Most of the KAINet members have been trained through IMARK module on ICM strategy formulation. After several face-to-face consultations, the KAINet framework has been formulated. 18 RAILS implementation workshop 2007

23 KAINet will be working with related Ministries such as agriculture, science and technology and education. It will have an advocacy and sensitization strategy about the ICM strategy and its expected impact on the country s economic development. At the same time, it will build the capacity of its stakeholders and members by providing infrastructure, human resources, content management, and standards for interoperability and exchange platforms for lessons learned. There will be a project monitoring and evaluation system at the beginning so that baseline factors are established to measure its impact. KAINet project has great potential, and if fully implemented, will improve the agricultural information and knowledge status in Kenya, East and Central Africa and Africa as a whole. This implies that institutional, national and regional groups own, nurture, and sustain information and knowledge as a critical resource to the country s science, technology and innovation systems. ICT Strategies for Modernisation of Agriculture and Agro-business Industry in Ghana Godfred Frempong of Ghana s Council for Scientific and Institutional Research (CSIR) presented the plans of the national government on how to use ICT to modernize agriculture and agro-business industry. Ghana has a general policy framework for developing ICT programs under its national ICT for development policy. The overall objective of the policy is to engineer an ICT-led socio-economic development process with the potential to transform Ghana into a middle income, information-rich, knowledge-based and technology-driven economy and society. The ICT for development policy identified 14 priorities or pillars: 1. Accelerated human resource development. 2. Promoting ICT in education. 3. Facilitating government administration and service delivery promoting electronic government and governance. 4. Facilitating the development of the private sector. 5. Developing an export-oriented ICT products and services industry. 6. Modernization of agriculture and the development of an agro-business industry. 7. Developing a globally competitive value-added services sector a regional business service and ICT hub. 8. Deployment and spread of ICTs in the community. 9. Promotion of national health. 10. Rapid ICT and enabling physical infrastructure development. 11. Research and Development (R&D), scientific and industrial research capacity development. 12. Legal, regulatory, and institutional framework provisions. 13. Promoting local and foreign direct investment drive in ICT. 14. Facilitating national security and law and order. National Case Studies 19

24 This broad national framework on ICT for development will be implemented in selected major sectors that affect the country s overall economic development. These sectors are: Electronic Commerce and trade development Electronic government and governance strategy National ICT in Education Health Agriculture Gender National security Each of these sectors will follow the same process to develop their corresponding strategies. Each will use a common format of strategy formulation; it will involve experts in the relevant fields, consultation with key stakeholders and technical sessions and retreats to consolidate the whole process into an action plan. The agricultural sector includes the agro-business industry. The policy objective is to modernise agriculture by improving yields and value-adding activities and develop a dynamic and vibrant export-oriented agro-business industry. The policy will be implemented under the oversight of a sector-specific expert committee, headed by the Director of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture. The process involved consultation with key stakeholders and technical sessions, led by a national technical committee on ICT policy, planning and development. The national ICT for development policy in agriculture will have five major implementation strategies: 1. Applying ICT for development of effective agricultural production systems. 2. Use of ICT to promote processing, preservation and storage of agricultural Products. 3. Applying ICT to facilitate capacity building in agriculture. 4. Applying ICT to develop information Systems for increased agricultural productivity. 5. Use of ICT to develop effective marketing mechanisms for agricultural products. Based on these five implementation strategies, five broad initiatives have been developed: 1. Training and empowerment of farmers. 2. Development of information systems and wired communities. 3. Improvement of research and extension competence. 4. Development of markets for agricultural products. 5. Dissemination and integration of R&D innovation for agro-preservation and processing. Each of the above initiatives will be directly linked or respond to the five implementation strategies of the national ICT for development policy. As an example Table 4 shows the relationships between strategy, initiative, and corresponding actions. 20 RAILS implementation workshop 2007

25 Table 4. Links between implementation strategy, initiative and action in Ghana s national ICT for development policy. STRATEGY INITIATIVE ACTION Applying ICT for Development of Effective Agricultural Production Systems Applying ICT to Facilitate Capacity Building in Agriculture Improvement of Research and Extension Competence Establishment of Virtual networks for all members of National Agricultural Research System (NARS) eg. AGRINET Establishment of virtual networks for all extension training schools Establishment of Interactive Networks (similar to VERCON) for NARS and extension service Development of FarmNets to use ICT to stimulate peer-to-peer support and mentors for extension officers, farmers, input suppliers and others Each of the five initiatives will develop their own action plan following a format as shown in Table 5, where a specific strategy such as implementation strategy no. 4 Applying ICTs to develop information system for increased agricultural productivity, first relates itself to the national ICT for development policy objectives and goals and expectations. It then moves forward to identify its own goals, specific actions, description of actions, targets, success factors, implementation risks, monitoring and evaluation systems, etc. At the same time, it states the resources required such as human and financial resources and the main responsible body to coordinate the action plan. Stakeholders involved were asked to analyse the process for up- and out-scaling to other sectors and regions within the country. The Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) framework was used as shown in Table 6. ICT and the Agricultural Sector in Mauritius Mauritius is a small island with a population of around 1.2 million. Its economy is traditionally based on agriculture (sugar cane) but has since diversified to manufacturing and tourism. The government is determined to develop the ICT sector within the fifth pillar of the economy which is agriculture. ICT tools are used in almost all economic sectors of the country (Table 7). ICT can reach almost every citizen in any part of the island, with almost half of the population having a mobile phone. There are seven telecom providers and five private companies offering internet services. Mauritius was recently connected to the Southern Africa Far East (SAFE) fibre optic submarine cable to enhance connectivity in National Case Studies 21

26 Table 5. National Plan of Action for Agriculture and Agro-Business implementation strategy no 4 Applying ICT to develop information system for increased agricultural productivity. Plan-Action-Code AAGRB 12 Relevant Sub-Plan Relevant Achievable National ICT for development Policy Objectives & Goals Relevant ICT for development Policy Implementation Expectations Plan-Action Specific Goals Description of Plan-Action Relevant Information and Knowledge Economy Development Goal (s) Applying ICTs to Develop Information System for Increased Agricultural Productivity Development and Application of Geographic Information System To facilitate the modernisation of the agricultural sector through the deployment and exploitation of ICT to improve its efficiency and productivity To increase crop, livestock and fisheries production and processing through the use of more efficient methods and inputs Contribute to developing early warning systems on development which might affect agricultural production Generate reliable geographic information that determines soil suitability and rainfall patterns Delivery of real time information and customised knowledge Development of Geographic Information System at District and Regional Levels To equip farmers with skills to utilise some of ICT facilities Establish GIS as an advanced mode for national agricultural development planning Establish GIS for the management of natural resources The initiative aims at developing geographic information system that will provide real time information and early warning system to support agricultural productivity An economy with a modern, efficient and competitive agricultural sector An economy in which reasonable large proportion of the population have access to ICT products and services 22 RAILS implementation workshop 2007

27 Table 6. SWOT analysis of the process of developing Ghana s national ICT for development policy. Strengths Provided space for intensive consultation process with key stakeholders, either individuals or institutions Technical sessions provided the right background information Identification of the most suitable lead agencies to catalyze the implementation phase Weakness Process is long Opportunities Increasing trend of ownership Increased donor interest Falls in line with WSIS recommendation (FAO tasked to lead in e-agriculture) Some level of political commitment Threats Difficulties in managing inter ministerial relations Adequate funding from the government for implementation Other sector plans competing with agriculture Lack of core senior level civil servants to drive the process Duplications of projects, especially donor funded projects. Table 7. Mauritius ICT status as of Telephone lines 357,500 Mobile phone subscribers 656,800 Telecom Operators 7 ISPs offering services to the public 5 Internet subscribers 128,330 Training Institutions 17 Technology Parks 4 Companies dealing in ICT 163 National Case Studies 23

28 all parts of the island. Based on the International Telecommunication Union s (ITU) Digital Access Index, Mauritius ranks 62nd out of 178 countries in it s to ability to access ICTs, and in Africa Mauritius ranks second after Seychelles. The population in Mauritius has a high level of literacy due to a free education system up to the tertiary level. The government s vision is to provide universal ICT education to every student, every employee and non-employee in four years. The government aims to train 400,000 students over a 4-year period to obtain an Internet and Computing Core Certification (IC3) certificate. The government has three main projects to turn Mauritius into an information society: Development of e-government and providing all government services online E-education to expand the tertiary sector and provide computer labs in all primary schools. Secondary schools already have these facilities Development of a cyber city which will house national and international ICT companies and training facilities To support these projects, the government has the following ICT Institutional Structure: The National Computer Board set up to advise the government on the formulation of national policies The Central Informatics Bureau and the Central Information Systems Division created to manage and operate the information systems within the Civil Service The State Informatics Limited set up initially to assist in the computerisation of the Civil Service In the economic sector, ICT is used in most business activities as shown in Figure 1. Banking is 100% automated, followed by real estate agencies, and education and training. The lowest use of ICT is in Agriculture at 50%. Percentage Agriculture Manuf textile Manuf non-textile Construction Wholesale & retail Hotels & restaurant Transport & comn Banking & insurance Real, rent, legal Education, training Health Public administration Economic Sector Figure 1. Use of IT by business activity in Mauritius. 24 RAILS implementation workshop 2007

29 Agricultural organizations are well equipped and use ICT to a wide extent, internally. ICT culture has penetrated institutions but sharing of information between institutions is limited due to various factors which may not be under the control of individual institutions. Information supply to regional and international institutions is, therefore, limited. ICT has not fully reached farming communities and as of the moment, there has been no formal consultation to solve this issue. The biggest challenge in Mauritius is to link existing information systems from different sources that could benefit the farming communities. There is also a danger of information overload if capacities of stakeholders are not enhanced to sift, repackage and coordinate information use and dissemination. Information should be provided to farmers in a timely fashion in an appropriate format. In conclusion, the amount of research and other work done in agriculture has generated a large amount of information and knowledge to be effectively harvested for overall agricultural and rural development. ICT has a significant role to perform in the development of agriculture, improving the revenue of farmers and in achieving goals set by government. Kenya Network for Dissemination of Agricultural Technologies (KENDAT) Pascal Kaumbutho, Chief Executive Officer of KENDAT, an NGO in Kenya, made a presentation on how his organization is focusing on innovative partnerships for farmer empowerment and linking farmers to markets. KENDAT s vision is to unlock the potential of resource poor communities in innovative business partnerships. It provides services to farmers, farmer transport service providers by acting as an empowerment partner and development catalyst as well as an animal welfare promoter. KENDAT has brokered partnership among organizations such as research, industrial and other technology and information supply operators. It facilitates the flow of information from service providers and farm inputs and goods generators to reach smallholder farmers. Marketers who need produce from farmers require agents to reach smallholder farmers who have complicated operational and social structures that make it risky to as business partners. Kaumbutho provided examples of how farmers in Kenya face diverse challenges such as poor soil fertility, adverse climate as well as poor transport and marketing of their produce. Transportation is one of the biggest challenges of farmers, which is the reason why KENDAT is promoting low-cost transport. KENDAT has four main work pillars, operating as programmes that are end-user governed and therefore flexible in terms of scope, resource allocation, and intensity and time. Conservation agriculture for reduced labour and other input demands, increased productivity and protection of the environment National Case Studies 25

30 Rural transport services and intermediate means of transport for improved haulage efficiency, in linking farmers to markets Load and cost efficient work-animal utilization in farm and transport operations, with special regard for un-compromised and sustained growth of animal and user welfare Consultancy assignments often by teaming up with collaborators of the network KENDAT predicts a larger role of the civil society in the rapidly changing environment in Africa. End user groups could be led by community parliaments as seen in Kenya. These community parliaments have been able to create micro-finance support to farmers with 100% recovery rates. Farmers are able to broker for their own produce at a better price, and market products in standard packaging, making them more competitive. As farmers are empowered, they require better access to relevant information; Information hubs or information technology centres for farmers should be readily accessible, and operating based on farmer demand, This will empower farmers to negotiate for higher prices for their goods, gain access to inputs at the right time, get advise from experts on issues that arise during the production and marketing cycles, etc. 26 RAILS implementation workshop 2007

31 Lessons learned from sub-regional and national initiatives on agricultural information and communication management Institutional capacities Each of the sub-regional organizations has a different approach in creating a network for agricultural information and communication management. ASARECA has a very structured approach. Needs assessments are conducted before identifying, together with stakeholder their requirements at sub-regional level. ASARECA countries themselves are very diverse in terms of use and availability of agricultural information technologies. CORAF offers an information system to potential partners at the national level. SADC-FANR has an agricultural information management system which is a collection of different independent databases from its former structure as a de-centralized system. The national case studies provided background information on how ICT and ICM is implemented in Africa and how the sub-regional systems are influencing their member countries. Three general cases can be considered (with Kenya and Ghana representing Case 2 and Mauritius representing Case 1): Case 1 - the country is relatively advanced with respect to its agricultural ICT and ICM strategy that is currently implemented with strong support from the government based on a general ICT policy. The government has realized the potential of ICT in increasing agricultural productivity and the corresponding role of agricultural research to achieve this. Case 2 a country has realized that a more specific strategy on agricultural ICT / ICM is required to increase agricultural productivity with assistance from research and key stakeholders. They are at the stage of planning how the strategy will be developed and implemented. Case 3 a country with no general ICT policy nor agricultural ICT / ICM strategy or structure in place. Stakeholders are finding their own ways and means to access information and communicate among themselves. 27

32 Case 1 is represented to a large extent by Mauritius where ICT is an accepted tool to facilitate operation in all sectors of economy i.e. banking, financial systems and education, with the agriculture sector still lagging behind. Most of the citizens in Mauritius have access to mobile phone and internet; but the farming communities are yet to take advantage of the use of ICT to increase their productivity. Kenya can be considered as case 2, as it has a relatively advanced national ICT policy. It is currently developing agricultural information system strategies as a response to government policy as well as stakeholder awareness of its importance. Case 2 could also be considered for Ghana where a clear structure has been put in place for all sectors of the economy in formulating institutional strategies on ICT. The process is relatively time consuming, involving several stakeholder consultations but is gaining acceptance and real ownership by the end-users. The only danger is stakeholder fatigue if there are too many consultations and few real actions on the ground. Although some countries have a general ICT policy, the potential of ICT in agriculture is often not exploited. There is, therefore, a real need to further develop more specific agricultural information system strategies considering that agriculture is the major source of economic income of most African countries. In addition, there should be an institutional strategy with adequate human as well as financial resources to sustain networks and systems that are put in place. The need for agricultural information systems tailored to farmer needs is already recognized by some civil society organizations as shown in the case of KENDAT. Farmers realize the potential of getting the right information, in the right form whenever and wherever they are needed. Relying only on the support services of extension agents is not enough. They could gain more knowledge if information from other communities or countries is available to them. This can supplement the services acquired from extension workers who need to work with large numbers of farmers, often spread out over a wide coverage area. As frameworks, policies and strategies are developed at national, sub-regional and continental level, there is a need for adequate capacity (institutional and individual) at different levels for implementation, coordination and facilitation. Implementation requires adequate ICT infrastructure, as well as a common understanding of concepts and standards, driven by end-users and actors. Monitoring and evaluation of progress towards identified outputs is required. Documentation of approaches and learning processes is crucial to understand how adoption and adaptation differ according to specific environmental settings. Content management Any information system/tools will only have impact if its content is properly managed to ensure relevant and updated information that can be easily accessed and understood by different categories of users. Information required by scientists is different from that needed by farmers or extension workers, and they often use quite a different language. Many information systems do exist, but the real question is how information is gathered, entered, used and interlinked to other databases among different institutions including 28 RAILS implementation workshop 2007

33 the civil society organizations. An information system might operate better if information gathering and updating are done by the most direct source. A system on monitoring quality of information should be put in place, to enable partners to check or validate the information. Any information should be accessible to all users be it scientists, extension workers, farmers or policy makers. The data should be stored in the most appropriate places so that it can be easily updated by authorized stakeholders. It should also use the appropriate standards to ensure interoperability across countries, regions and globally. Appropriate, adequate and relevant training should be given to the actors based on their needs not just on how to operate the system but how to gather and update information from the right sources. Sustainability A system might be developed under the leadership of an international organization, but its sustainability will never be ensured unless the leadership is taken by the corresponding national, sub-regional and regional institutions with the right mandate. Appropriate mechanisms need to be put in place so that policy makers invest in agricultural information and learning systems. National research institutions still rely heavily on government support. But civil society organizations are increasingly empowered to influence the kind of information they require to increase their productivity. They need to understand that investing in information gathered and generated may improve the efficiency of service delivery and agricultural productivity. Sustainability can be achieved if national strategies and policies on ICT are properly developed and implemented with the right budgetary implications. In most cases, ICT for agricultural research institutions are not considered a priority. But in an increasingly knowledge-driven economy, appropriate ICT infrastructure and systems are becoming increasingly important to enable access to up-to-date information and contributions to global knowledge exchange. Inclusiveness and mutual partnerships In most instances, development of national strategies is led by government institutions or ministries. This process need to be strengthened to include active involvement of e.g. farmer organizations, NGOs and small-to-medium enterprises. However, contributions by civil society organizations are only valid if they are derived from real stakeholder consultations and needs assessments. Active involvement should also mean that rights and responsibilities are shared by all actors involved. Responsibilities need to be given to the institutions with the most appropriate capacities. If the NGOs can share the responsibility of providing farmer support services, they should be given the chance. Farmers need to be involved as equal partners in developing national strategies. This will mean that they would have access to communication facilities to receive information, as Lessons learned 29

34 well as capacities to contribute and express their needs and requirements This may require additional training of representatives of farmer organizations. Partnerships should be based on knowledge sharing, information dissemination and collective learning, instead of on a technology or an information system. Information systems can be identified among the diverse systems that are currently available and adapted to local needs. Social, economic and cultural aspects Information systems need to be tailored to the social, economic and cultural settings they are operating in. The use and effectiveness of any information system will depend on the capacities and resources of farmers, farmer support services and research institutions. Farmers may be limited in their direct access to telephone and internet access but may have radios or TVs. Extension workers may be overstretched or may have limited knowledge on topics of interest to farmers. Research institutions may not have developed the culture of openness or may not have fully grasped the holistic and integrated nature of agricultural innovation concepts driving African economic growth. Having the right network of people and institutions with equitable partnerships and linkages may respond to these needs. If information and lessons learned are shared within the national network then responses or initiatives can be developed according to the needs and requirements of the end-users. Cultural preferences of end-users can be taken into account in the implementation of information systems. Entry points for partnerships are not necessarily based on geographic location; they may also be commodity-based or have a thematic focus. To have an effect, they must be placed in an agricultural innovation context, promoting inter-linkages between actors in the agricultural market value chain and R&D facilitators. 30 RAILS implementation workshop 2007

35 What are the next steps? The workshop participants validated the RAILS implementation framework as shown in Table 8 (for details see Annex 2). Building learning teams Learning teams are to serve as facilitators of change, advocating for a learning culture in agricultural research and development. Since each of the region has different capacities and resources and operates in a different environment, learning teams need to be clear on members, purpose, objectives and expected outputs. Learning teams should also consider issues related to sustainability, resource allocation, capacity building, and documentation of the process, motivation and sensitization. Learning teams need not to start from scratch, but rather build on existing structures if possible. Teams need to be diverse enough to cater for different categories of information users and capable to build a learning culture within a very challenging environment. Membership to the learning teams will be kept open to maintain its flexibility to respond to diverse and complicated issues of African agriculture. But leadership needs to be given to the most appropriate institution with the proper mandate to coordinate and facilitate information systems in the country. The learning team will build communities of practice where people with similar interests at different levels are gathered to achieve a common purpose. The team should be dynamic and flexible to facilitate exchange with diverse end-users as well as producers of information. In some instances, specialists in certain fields of agriculture could be called in to address specific issues. The learning team will operate in an environment that is authentic, democratic, pursuing relevant information and ensuring equity in participation. Team members come from multidisciplinary backgrounds and have the ability to create change and have a full understanding of how information and learning systems contribute to the innovation systems approach advocated by FARA. 31

36 Table 8. RAILS implementation framework and time frame (summary version; details in Annex 2). Actions Yr 1 Yr 2 Yr 3 Yr 4 Yr 5 A. Building learning teams Identification and capacity strengthening of learning teams Provide adequate infrastructure to learning teams Develop the support mechanisms for the learning teams B. Facilitate agricultural information synergies to create systems tools Consultation with international service providers on initiatives / tools Develop the appropriate and required information and learning system tools Application, use and learning of systems tools developed Identification of information systems standards for data exchange C. Advocacy for increased investment in agricultural information and learning systems Mobilize learning teams to facilitate development and implementation of national, regional and continental strategies Conduct an innovative survey of agricultural information and learning systems Assess (existing) national policies on ICT/ ICM Publication of success stories 32 RAILS implementation workshop 2007

37 Creating synergies New tools or those that are currently being used by the national partners should be assessed according to their effectiveness in providing the required services and their interoperability with different systems located in different institutions or countries. Tools could be clustered based on themes or users they are serving. Service providers for these information tools should also be evaluated on their capacity to provide assistance required by the users. Tools need to enable smooth and fast exchange of information on innovative approaches to overcome constraints of traditional communication strategies and mechanisms. Pilot projects could be initiated to gather lessons learned on the process and the effective application of tools, as well as to identify resources needed to sustain the tools. Advocating for increased investments In advocating for investments in agricultural information and learning systems, there should be a clearly defined vision - shared, understood and accepted by all RAILS stakeholders. It needs to be supported by well articulated outputs and benefits - enough to convince the decision makers on the importance and critical role played by information sharing and learning systems. An advocacy strategy will guide the advocates to target their audience with key information and convincing logic that the recipient will understand. Target audiences may include the investors/donors, decision makers who will ensure the sustainability of the systems, as well as potential users of RAILS who will be providing information and learn to build their own knowledge. Clear objectives are defined on how the advocacy strategy will contribute to the purpose of RAILS. Concrete and doable activities are developed for specific actors, partners or members of the RAILS group. Proven tools should be used, such as case studies or success stories, promotion materials and different media, targeting various categories of stakeholders and users of RAILS. Successful advocacy strategies are well planned and budgeted with adequate resources for implementation. Users at different levels of the strategy are trained to ensure impact of the RAILS initiative. Documentation of the process will add value to the advocacy strategy. Operationalization of the RAILS platform The platform will be user demand driven and have three components i.e. stakeholders, services and support mechanisms. Its functioning will be facilitated by the RAILS learning teams that operate at national, sub-regional and continental levels as shown in Figure 2. Stakeholders The RAILS platform needs to provide various stakeholders at different levels with specific services to address their needs (RAILS needs to be demand-driven): What are the next steps? 33

38 Stakeholders African Platform for Agricultural Information & Learning Support mechanisms Capacity building Team Management Monitoring and evaluation Advocacy Resources Facilitators (RAILS learning team) Continental Sub-regional National Services Communication management Content Management Facilitation and coordination Figure 2. Key RAILS components: Stakeholders, Support mechanisms and Services Policy makers who require adequate, reliable and up-to-date information to make decisions or create policies to create an enabling environment for all actors in agriculture especially the civil society organizations who are the main beneficiaries of ARD. Information in the correct form that can be easily understood by policy makers such as policy briefs could assist them to argue for increased recognition and hence, investment in ARD. Sometimes, they require to be linked to specific knowledge resource centres for advise, the RAILS platform should be able to provide them this service. Programme managers of agricultural research and development want to be updated on scientific breakthroughs and new technologies or methodologies. They also want to be linked to other colleagues working in the same area of expertise or be linked directly with users of their research such as the civil society organizations. The RAILS platform should be able to guide them to the right resources and thematic networks. Calls for ARD proposals from donors need to be conveyed to programme managers that are likely to have the required expertise. Dialogue groups such as extension agencies, media and civil society organizations need access to reliable information sources to avoid propaganda on certain hot issues. If they are lobbying for a cause, their arguments should be based on hard facts and figures. End-users of research and development outputs, such as farmers, traders, entrepreneurs as well as scientists themselves, need information in different forms. RAILS needs to access rich knowledge resources managed by the CGIAR, FAO, CABI, CTA, as well as NARS. But it should be well categorized to guide the users with different capacities to understand and get the right information from within the very complex and challenging maze of global information systems. 34 RAILS implementation workshop 2007

39 Services Services that could be offered by the RAILS may be grouped into: communication services, content management, and facilitation and coordination. Communication services may include access to knowledge resources such as technical information required to conduct research projects. At the same time it should also provide question and answer services for farmers to access, contribute and benefit from agricultural innovations that are available within and outside Africa. RAILS needs to facilitate access to the right information channels for both researchers and civil society organizations for them to withdraw or contribute information. Content management is extremely important to ensure coherence between the complex information sources available. RAILS will not re-invest on what has been developed by other institutions, such as FAO, CGIAR, CABI, etc. Rather content management will ensure that the information systems have the quality and quantity of information expected from a regional organization. Information generated by scientists need to be transformed into an accessible format for civil society organizations to apply them in their own working environment. At the same time, challenges and opportunities at the community level should be better understood by scientists so that their research outputs are contributing to agricultural innovations for the farmers. Any agricultural information system need to acknowledge such complex relationships and partnerships. Stakeholders with different levels of capacity to contribute to the information systems should be guided and encouraged. RAILS will need tools to accommodate repositories of information/publications, grey literature, directories and links to African scientific publications, factual information services and statistical data as well as market information services as and when needed by its stakeholders/users. Facilitation and Coordination will be an important service that RAILS should provide to its network and to a certain degree to its users. Networking by linking institutions such as research institutes to universities or universities to farmers should be facilitated. This could be achieved through directories or organizational maps that are updated regularly and in a decentralized manner. RAILS could facilitate information exchange among partners either horizontally or vertically so that access to technology is also facilitated. This could be made through links or structured presentations of information that are required by certain stakeholders. Electronic fora could be hosted to get views or gather relevant information. Facilitating access to resources is an important feature that FARA stakeholders expect from FARA. This could be in the form of project implementation facilities, financial resource mobilization or through advocacy to investors including African governments. RAILS could be used as a platform for investors to disseminate their calls for proposals or for recipients of funding to search and post their interests. What are the next steps? 35

40 Tools available One of the guiding principles of RAILS is to avoid duplication of investments in agricultural information systems. It is recognized that there are a lot of international service providers with adequate capacities and resources to provide some of the services or tools required for RAILS. Synergies and complementarities will be sought so that the system is efficient and effective in delivering the quality services required by end-users in knowledge-based economies in Africa. The Agricultural Science & Technology Indicators (ASTI) initiative was presented by Nienke Beintema of IFPRI. ASTI aims to provide internationally comparable information on the investments and institutional environment surrounding agricultural R&D in developing countries. Such information will lead to better decision making in R&D investment, which will raise the efficiency and impact of agricultural R&D systems and ultimately enhance productivity growth of the agricultural sector. The main ASTI collaborators are the national ARD agencies. It uses institutional survey tools for government and non-profit agencies, higher-education agencies, and business enterprises. Data collected include: (i) institutional information (type, addresses, affiliation), (ii) Human resources (degrees, gender, support), (iii) Financial resources (cost categories, funding sources) and (iv) Research focus (commodity, thematic). Currently data are collected at institute level and data are presented by category at national level. ASTI has produced 26 country briefs, co-authored and co-published with local partners and regional synthesis briefs, articles and reports. Most of this information can be found at which contains country profiles, snapshot data, time series, database and online survey tools. CABI Information and Knowledge Management, was presented by Philip Edge and Jane Asaba. He focused on CABI s initiative on rural knowledge and innovation systems. The priority areas are: (i) participatory approaches in knowledge generation, dissemination and use, (ii) research in information, communication and knowledge systems, (iii) capacity building in information and knowledge management and (iv) information products and resources. ICT for rural information delivery ensures that it benefits the rural poor and disadvantaged farmers through an efficient delivery of agricultural information. It explores novel approaches on use of ICT in dissemination such as participatory approaches to knowledge generation, dissemination and use. Teams are multi-stakeholder and multi-disciplinary including extension agents, researchers and farmers. CABI also conducts research on sustainable strategies for ICT use, dissemination pathways, and needs and impact assessment of ICT use. Capacity building in information and knowledge management include training/ workshops, detachments to institutions, use of CABI resources/tools such as the CABI compendia and ICM strategy development. CABI is also involved in the development of information products and services appropriate for different user groups. 36 RAILS implementation workshop 2007

41 RAILS could profit from diverse CABI information management tools, experts in ICM and processing of information into a more accessible form for diverse readers or users. FAO AGRIS was presented by Justin Chisenga. FAO s International Information Systems for Agricultural Science and Technology (AGRIS) is operational since It is an international initiative based on a collaborative network of institutions to build a common and freely accessible information system for science and technology in agriculture and related subjects. Until the late 1990s, AGRIS was mainly expressed through a centralized bibliographical database and its outputs. AGRIS was developed in collaboration with FAO Members at the 2nd COAIM in September The principles are: a decentralised approach with emphasis on national partnerships; greater diversity of participating organizations; a strengthened role in capacity building; a focus on management of full text of documents; a greater availability of associated information about organizations and people and a continually improving set of web-enabled AGRIS methodologies and tools. Recently, AGRIS developed a new strategy with more focus on national systems of information. In Egypt it is partnering with the National Agriculture Research Information Management System (NARIMS): ARC-Egypt. It is a bi-lingual information system aimed at capturing and disseminating information about research institutions, researchers, publications by the researchers, completed and current projects and the national agriculture and veterinary research plan in Egypt. In Kenya, FAO is working with the Kenya Agricultural Information Network (KAINet), which is a three year pilot project (April 2006 March 2009). Under the leadership of KARI, with the involvement of ASARECA-RAIN, CABI and FAO, the initiative is focusing on: Institutional policies and strategies on ICM; Mechanisms for fostering institutional collaboration; Human resource capacities; Electronic repositories and Documenting the process (Case study). AGRIS open access network has provided new opportunities and possibilities for sharing data, information and knowledge and improved visibility and access to research publications. Open Access means free availability on the public Internet, permitting users to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search or link to full-text documents. Open Archives Initiative develops and promotes interoperability of solutions that aim to facilitate the efficient dissemination of content. The main objectives are to offer standards and tools for open archives and service providers; to provide low cost technologies and open standards in the AGRIS Network; to promote the openaccess publishing paradigm and to introduce OAI standards and, to promote common subject and network specific data exchange standards. The AGRIS Open Archives network concept is building on the existing AGRIS activities and goals. What are the next steps? 37

42 Life Long Learning for Farmers and agricultural transformation in Africa. Presented by Wale Adekunle, Krishna Alluri, Reuben Aggor and Collins Osei. The presentation highlighted how Commonwealth of Learning (COL) can contribute to the RAILS program of FARA. COL has substantial experience in a wide array of technology applications to learning for many purposes and in diverse contexts. It has captured this experience in a number of models that help to identify the local factors necessary to ensure the success of any learning activity that aims at improving livelihoods of people through the application of communication technologies. Specifically, COL helps countries in collaboration with its partners such as CGIAR, civil society organizations, Government Departments, Research Institutes and Universities in Africa, to make sense of the ICT revolution and use technology appropriately in widening access to learning. COL developed the Life Long Learning for Farmers (L3F) program to address the problem of rural poverty and improvement of livelihoods. The program combines four basic principles: social mobilization of villagers, use of commercial ICT kiosks, organization of information providers into consortia, and integration of commercial banks into projects for improving the rural economy. The experience and competence of COL and its partners will be useful to FARA in the composition of learning teams, the delivery of communication services for the accomplishment of the goals of FARA, in contributing to the African platform for agricultural information and learning systems, and in the use of Open and Distance Learning tools for stakeholders to obtain and process information best suited to their needs. Wageningen International Knowledge Management - integrating face to face and web based communication and learning by Koen Beelen. WISARD facilitates information availability and knowledge sharing: such as communicating research, practices, knowledge exchange and brokering and marketing. WISARD makes it possible to share information on: Projects (including outcomes and impact) Institutes/organisations Persons/Experts Outputs (DLIO s) (project related) Good Practices and Technologies WISARD experiences shows that information systems will have a bigger impact if they focus not on the system itself but on the people and networks using the system. It is of great importance to invest time in building network capacity, translate and/or package information in appropriate formats for end-users, and build on existing networks. Discussions should be both formal and informal and facilitators should try to move away from technical discussions as soon as possible. 38 RAILS implementation workshop 2007

43 Specific activities and timetable Based on group discussions, summary of activities proposed by the SROs to implement RAILS are; Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Actions Building learning teams - Identification of learning team members - Finding the right mechanisms to get the learning teams to function effectively - Needs assessments - Strengthening of national nodes as learning facilitators - Strengthening of infrastructure of national and regional learning teams 2. Creating synergies in developing systems and tools - National inventories of agricultural information resources as well as needs assessments - Classify information linked to categories of users What are the next steps? 39

44 Actions - Develop systems framework together with users and capacity to operate across countries and regions - Evaluate existing systems/tools by international service providers to look at their application to the current needs 3. Advocacy - Documentation of success stories of agricultural information systems - Develop national agricultural ICT strategy - Develop advocacy strategy for RAILS and SROs agricultural information and communication systems - Identify the audience, users and recipients of advocacy materials 4. Monitoring and evaluation of progress and lessons learnt Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year RAILS implementation workshop 2007

45 Closing On behalf of FARA, Dorothy Mukhebi, representing the RAILS taskforce, closed the meeting by reiterating FARA s goal, objectives and its three thrusts: advocacy, partnership promotion, information and learning exchange. Mukhebi said that FARA can be proud of the achievements that have already been made, but she also emphasized that big challenges are still ahead of us as identified in this workshop. She considered RAILS to be a learning platform and felt that RAILS constitutes a learning team in itself. RAILS is not starting from scratch, but would rather build on and add value to existing initiatives in each sub-region. ASARECA, along with other SRO representatives, was committed to making RAILS a success. One common message that was delivered during the workshop is that through various consultative processes, i.e., regional meetings and national meetings, FARA would be able to bring different stakeholders on board and to advocate at the sub-regional and national levels. We all regard capacity building as the key. Mukhebi said the quality of presentations and the discussions during the workshop were very good. She stressed that only by truly involving and listening to end-users of agricultural ICT will FARA be able to successfully implement the RAILS platform. She thanked all representatives from the international service providers, SROs, national partners, NGOs, and farmers organizations present during the workshop, and in particular, the FARA Secretariat and the RAILS coordinating unit for organizing the workshop. 41

46 Annex 1. Participants Family Name First Name Country Address Position address 1 Adekunle Wale Nigeria Institut international d agriculture tropicale (IITA), Siege: PMB 5320, Ibadan, Nigeria, Tel: , Fax: Outreach Coordinator w.adekunle@cgiar.org 2 Aggor Reuben A Ghana Institute of Adult Education, University of Ghana, PO Box LG 31, Legon, Ghana, Tel: , Fax: Acting Director reuben_aggor@yahoo. com 3 Arayo Emily Uganda Foodnet, P.O.Box 7878, Kampala, Uganda Communication Specialist, Secretary, RAIN - Uganda National Steering Committee emilyarayo@yahoo.com or e.arayo@iitaesarc. co.ug 4 Asaba Jane Frances Kenya CABI Africa, P.O. Box , Nairobi, /62, Fax: Information Scientist J.Asaba@cabi.org 5 Beelen Koen The Netherlands WISARD Koen.Beelen@wur.nl 6 Beintema Nienke The Netherlands Agricultural Science & Technology Indicators (ASTI), International Project Coordinator n.beintema@cgiar.org 42 RAILS implementation workshop 2007

47 Family Name First Name Country Address Position address Food Policy Research Institute - IFPRI, 2033 K Street, N.Washington D.C USA Tel: Fax: Bernard Marc Germany ZADI bernard@isicad.org 8 Bheenick Krishan Botswana SADC-FANR, ICART ICM Specialist kbheenick@sadc.int 9 Bouan Boniface Côte d Ivoire Centre national de recherche agronomique (CNRA), 01 BP 1740 Abidjan 01, Côte d Ivoire Tél : , Fax: Specialiste de l IST et NTIC CNRA/CORAF bonifacebouan@yahoo. fr; boniface.bouan@ cnra.ci 10 Chisenga Justin Ghana FAO Regional Office For Africa Information Management Specialist justin.chisenga@fao.org 12 Demby Dady Senegal CORAF/WECARD, BP 48, Dakar RP, Senegal ICM Manager dady.demby@coraf.org 13 Edge Philip UK CABI Publishing UK. Nosworthy Way. Wallingford. Oxfordshire. OX10 8DE. United Kingdom. Tel: +44 (0) p.edge@cabi.org Annex 1: Participants 43

48 Family Name First Name Country Address Position address 14 Entsua- Mensah Clement Ghana INSTI-CSIR, (Office) and (mobile), Accra, Ghana Director 15 Ewole Gustave Cameroon Concertation des Organisation paysannes du Cameroun (CNOP- CAM) fr 16 Gueye Mour Senegal Agence nationale de conseil agricole et rural (ANCAR), Responsable de la Recherche & Développement, Direction Générale ANCAR, Route des Pères Maristes - HANN - B.P Dakar Liberté, Sénégal, Ingénieur Agronome gueye.mour@caramail. com Tél. Standard: (221) Direct: (221) , Portable: (221) Fax: (221) Jules Ravelomanana Madagascar Journalist responsible of communication of Farmers Organization 18 Kaumbutho Pascal G. Kenya Kenya Network for Dissemination of Agricultural Technologies Director kaumbuthos@wananchi. com 44 RAILS implementation workshop 2007

49 Family Name First Name Country Address Position address (KENDAT), P.O. Box , City Square, Nairobi, Kenya, Tel , Mob , OR , 19 Knispschild Henning Germany ZADI 20 Frempong Godfred Ghana 21 Kwabena Collins Ghana Crops Research Institute, P.O.Box 3785, Kumasi, Ghana, Tel: , Fax: Senior Scientific Information Officer 22 Liu Yunjun Ghana FARA Research Assistant 23 Makoko Jocelin Eyel nzo DRC Biometry Unit, INERA, DRC, BP 2037 Kinshasa Gombe, Tel: Head of Biometry Unit 24 Mugerwa Bob Uganda District Agricultural Training and Information Centers (DATICs), P.O. Box Kampala, Uganda National Coordinator or.ug 25 Mukhebi Dorothy Uganda ASARECA RAIN coordinator 26 Nyagahima Jacqueline Uganda ASARECA Taskforce Member org Annex 1: Participants 45

50 Family Name First Name Country Address Position address 27 Odhiambo George Kenya Kenya National Federation of Agricultural Producers, P.O. Box 43148, Nairobi, Kenya 28 Ramnauth Raj Mauritius Agricultural Research & Extension Unit, 3rd Floor, Newry Complex,Quatre Bornes, Mauritius, Tel. (230) Fax. (230) Principal Biometrician 29 Rege Rachel Kenya Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI), P.O. Box , Nairobi, Kenya, Asst. Director Information & Documentation Service 30 Tumbo Siza Tanzania Department of Agricultural Engineering and Land Planning, Sokoine University of Agriculture, PO Box 3003, Morogoro, Tanzania, Tel: or , Fax: Head of Computer Science Unit 31 Wopereis Myra Ghana FARA RAILS Coordinator 46 RAILS implementation workshop 2007

51 Annex 2: RAILS implementation framework Action 1. Establish the coordination unit at FARA Secretariat and its supporting mechanisms Rationale In order to implement the RAILS activities, it is necessary that a coordinating unit be established at the FARA Secretariat supported by a mechanism so that RAILS priorities are reflective of the needs of the subregional organizations (SROs). Each of the SROs has their own initiatives on agricultural information systems which are catering to diverse needs of stakeholders and which are at different stages of implementation. At the same time there are different international service providers of agricultural information and communication that are currently working in Africa such as CGIAR, CTA, FAO and CABI. Each of these organizations and initiatives has their own strong advantages or focused specialization. There is therefore a need to facilitate the pooling of resources so that the African platform for information and learning becomes functional. At the same time, while FARA responds to its main thrusts through its regional initiatives (e.g. FAAP, SSA CP, SCARDA-BASIC, ABBI, DONATA), it has to share information and knowledge among its stakeholders so that these initiatives are continuously learning and evolving within the African ARD learning environment. These diverse activities and actors require a shared vision and strategy to ensure impact to African economy. Scarce and limited resources need to be pooled and mobilized to support the RAILS activities. Goal To facilitate the learning initiative among diverse actors using the limited resources at the national, regional and continental level. Purpose To put in place a functional coordination unit able to liaise with international, regional and national partners. Outputs 1. Functional coordinating unit based at the FARA Secretariat staffed and equipped adequately based on its available resources and needs. 2. Taskforce created to provide the support mechanism needed by RAILS. 3. Strategy and workprogram for RAILS linked to FARA Strategy and its resource mobilization strategy. 47

52 Major Activities 1. Determine the most effective and efficient team to coordinate the RAILS activities such as; Coordinator, Program Officer, Research Assistant, Secretary. As resources become available, recruitment will be conducted through open bidding. Call for candidates will be published in major websites and on FARA and its partner s publications. Shortlisted candidates will be interviewed by a search committee formed by the FARA Secretariat management. 2. Establish the support mechanism for RAILS by activating the RAILS taskforce following the terms of reference formulated by the RAILS stakeholder consultation in April The Taskforce will advise the RAILS coordination unit on priority activities required by the stakeholders with added value at continental level. The Coordination unit will be responsible to the FARA Executive Secretary. 3. Develop the RAILS strategy and detailed workprogram linked to actual activities for the next three to five years. These will be developed through consultation initiated through learning teams from diverse stakeholders of ARD at different levels i.e. national, regional and international partners. The strategy will be developed based on the priority activities identified by subregional partners. 4. Develop the information and communication support mechanisms required by the FARA Secretariat and its regional initiatives such as the FAAP, SSA CP, SCARDA- BASIC, ABBI and DONATA. 5. Mobilize resources to implement the RAILS activities. Milestones Year 1 1. The required coordination team members appointed i.e. RAILS Coordinator, Program Officer, Research Assistant, Secretary. 2. Required information and learning tools by the FARA Secretariat and its regional initiatives developed. 3. Acquire the required equipment to run the coordination unit i.e. database, servers, VSAT, internet links, tools. 4. RAILS Strategy developed and endorsed. 5. FARA publication systems established. 6. Resources mobilize to support the priority activities. Year 2 1. Monitoring and feedback mechanisms established from Coordination Unit to its partners and clients. 2. Information and learning tools established and used for FARA regional initiatives. 3. Any other issues arising from year 1 that could improve the information and learning systems. Year 3 1. Continuation of RAILS activities identified above, with adequate changes based on learning from year 1 and Evaluation of RAILS coordination unit. 48 RAILS implementation workshop 2007

53 Action 2. Build learning teams to facilitate synergies and create learning systems for agricultural information and knowledge Rationale One of the weaknesses for Africa s ARD systems is poor accessibility and lack of resources to access available agricultural information or technologies. African ARD institutions have very poor information and communication resources such as ICT infrastructure, human resources to gather and transform scientific results to publications fitted to diverse readers/ users and tools to access internet resources. They lack the basic infrastructure to access, use and contribute to any agricultural information learning systems exchange. Digital contents are inadequate or not fully developed in most of the national systems. In national research institutions, the human resources responsible for information and communication are inadequately equipped to meet diverse demands of scientists, NARS leaders and civil society organizations. Most require further strengthening to improve individual capacities to respond to these diverse needs and requirements. But in some cases, scientists do not trust the information and communication specialists with their research results, prefer to keep their research findings to themselves until they could find the opportunity to write by themselves scientific publications. Research activities are not communicated to end users until the last stages when it is difficult to contribute to its implementation. The civil society, on the other hand, is not linked to ongoing research for agricultural development, but are capable of contributing to agricultural innovations. Farmers are rich with indigenous knowledge and are themselves innovators. Private sectors are waiting for opportunities to invest. Extension workers are hoping to participate more actively in agricultural innovations. The learning culture is not developed to take advantage of rich resources in the agriculture systems. International service providers have different tools that could be useful in improving African agricultural productivity. Some of their technologies have been proven successful in certain areas of Africa and could be scaled-out and up to other parts of the region. They have a wealth of experience and human resources willing to assist in catalyzing African agricultural innovations and learning. There is a need to link these resources to the needs of African agriculture stakeholders. RAILS will establish a learning team that could facilitate the exchange of information and learning among these diverse stakeholders. The learning team will be composed of SRO representatives working on agricultural information and learning systems, national partners who have the capacity to create change in the national agricultural information systems, civil society organizations who could mobilize investments in agricultural innovations and international service providers who could provide tools to facilitate the learning team activities. The learning teams will be strengthened in their capacity to facilitate communication and knowledge exchange among diverse stakeholders. At the same time the team will be capable Annex 2: RAILS implementation framework 49

54 of gathering required resources i.e. research results, investment opportunities, agricultural policies, etc. RAILS will provide infrastructure support to the learning teams at national and subregional organizations/institutions. Infrastructure will be provided by analysing existing national system or SRO initiatives in the region and look at the sustainability of any proposed interventions. If for example a national system requires internet connection, feasibility studies will be conducted to see if VSAT, broadband or modem is the most cost effective and sustainable system to install. At the same time it would also look at the impact to all users not just researchers but also recognized actors in ARD such as NGOs, private enterprises and farmers organizations. Analysis would look at how these different actors could profit from the proposed system. It would look at existing investments by different development partners and initiatives and try to see if resources could be pooled. Goal To establish information and learning systems among diverse ARD stakeholders that would catalyze agricultural innovations. Purpose To improve the access and contribution by African ARD Stakeholders in the global knowledge sharing and consolidate national, subregional and continental ARD information systems to create an African agricultural information and learning platform. Outputs 1. Agricultural information and learning teams established at continental, regional and national level of African ARD environment. 2. Support mechanisms to sustain learning teams at different levels to be able to respond to diverse needs and requirements of their stakeholders. 3. Functional learning teams equipped with the appropriate infrastructure. Major Activities 1. Establish the learning team that could facilitate learning systems within national, regional and continental organizations. Learning teams could be established at national, regional and continental levels. 2. Provide adequate infrastructure to learning teams so that they could adequately deliver. 3. Provide the support mechanisms required to strengthen the capacities of the learning teams. Members should be capable of gathering, analyzing and disseminating agricultural information to end-users in the form that could be easily used. Members should be capable of facilitating learning culture within and outside research and development institutions. 50 RAILS implementation workshop 2007

55 Milestones Year 1 1. Workshop to create the learning team functional mechanisms at national, regional and continental level. 2. Workshop to identify and develop the support mechanisms required by learning teams. 3. ICT Infrastructure delivered to identified recipients normally contributing to the learning team. 4. Resources mobilize and received to support implementation of activities. Year 2 1. Learning communities terms of reference operationalize. 2. Support mechanism functional. 3. Any other milestones derived from learning of year 1. Year 3 1. Evaluation and assessment of learning mechanisms. 2. Continuation of RAILS activities identified above, with adequate changes based on learning from year 1 and 2. Action 3. Facilitate agricultural information synergies to create system tools required for an ARD learning environment Rationale Creating a learning environment within the African ARD learning system will require people, tools and information resources. The people should be dynamic and open to change and accept new tools to facilitate learning. Tools should be appropriately designed that could be easily used by all kinds of stakeholders, be it a farmer, policy maker or scientists. The information resources should be systematically gathered to facilitate analysis and use by appropriate stakeholders. Tools for information sharing and exchange have been developed by several international service providers and corresponding training were also conducted to assist users. CGIAR has recently launched its virtual library giving access to non-cgiar members to its rich research results of more than 30 years of existence. FAO has a well established world agricultural information system through its WAICENT which collect, analyse, interpret and disseminate information relating to nutrition, food and agriculture. CTA has very rich resources on the web from agricultural trade issues among EU-ACP countries, to publications on ACP agriculture and to its knowledge for development initiative which supports the policy dialogue on S&T for agricultural and rural development in African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries. CABI has the mission to provide information and apply scientific expertise to solve problems in agriculture and the environment. GFAR has its global agricultural information system to assist NARS access to global information. Annex 2: RAILS implementation framework 51

56 Recently a new partnership was formed by four major international institutions (GFAR, FAO, CGIAR, and CTA) to strengthen their collaboration in the area of information and knowledge exchange in agricultural research for development. Considering these diverse and rich initiatives and resources on agricultural information exchange and dissemination, African participation is still very minimal. Its own resources are not tapped to contribute to the global knowledge build-up. Although several training programmes are provided by these international organizations, African national capacities to learn and integrate this information to their own work is still limited to make the required impact to contribute to African agriculture development. Adequate tools attached to learning systems are required for African stakeholders to tap these resources and contribute to the knowledge exchange. These tools need to function based on available resources and capacities. They should be able to sift through the web of African resources and find the required information, process them to learn and apply their own knowledge. Goal African ARD stakeholders are equipped with the appropriate tools to enrich their learning capacities and contribute to the African ARD learning environment. Purpose To facilitate agricultural information systems synergies and value-addition between international and national research for development institutions to build the learning culture in African ARD. Outputs 1. African agriculture and learning tools fitted to African ARD learning environment and resources. 2. African ARD stakeholders adequately trained to use the tools and develop the learning culture. Major Activities 1. Invite international service providers to a workshop to showcase different features of their agricultural information initiatives. Case studies on impact and use of these tools will be the key focus of the discussions. Learning from these applications will be used to improve African capacity to contribute to global knowledge exchange. 2. Develop the appropriate and required information and learning system tools to facilitate information and learning exchange. The Infosys+, phprojekt and runnetwork have been adopted for the African agricultural information and learning systems. It is structured for different levels of use i.e. national, regional and continental levels. Training on its use will facilitate learning to continuously improve its features and fit into the diverse requirements and needs of stakeholders. 3. Train African agriculture stakeholders to use and learn these tools and develop feedback mechanisms to continuously improve them to effectively facilitate agricultural information and learning systems in ARD environment. 52 RAILS implementation workshop 2007

57 4. Study and analyze harmonization of information system standards to facilitate easy access and linkages to different databases developed by national, regional and international partners. Computer programming languages compatability will be considered in developing the tools for the African agricultural information and learning platform. Milestones Year 1 1. Agricultural information and learning tools developed and assessed by stakeholders. 2. Case studies identified and analyzed for use in developing the African agricultural information and learning platform. 3. Facilitation and mentoring mechanisms to facilitate learning and use of the tools identified. Year 2 1. Tools confidently used by stakeholders in the African ARD learning environment. 2. Learning culture developed thru the use of the learning tools. 3. Support mechanisms functional, feeding into the learning systems. Year 3 1. Evaluation of RAILS learning tools and its support mechanisms. 2. Any other required issues rising from year 1 and 2. Action 4. Advocate for increased investment in agricultural information and learning systems Rationale Agricultural information systems in African national research institutions are not properly supported by adequate financial resources. It usually receives only 1-5 % of the total budget or whenever extra income was achieved in the year. This is mainly due to inadequate understanding of the importance of information systems in disseminating research results not to mention the necessity to instil in the organization the learning culture so that the organization is adequately prepared for the rapid changes that occur in African ARD environment. African NARS leaders also do not appreciate the potential of agricultural information tools to mobilize resources and enhance quality of research outputs. They sometimes sees these tools as only the computers available in the institution, but not the potential tools that scientists could use to facilitate their learning skills. National agricultural information and learning strategies are lacking that could guide concerted efforts to improve the learning capacities of African ARD stakeholders. Annex 2: RAILS implementation framework 53

58 RAILS through its learning teams will develop the process of national strategies formulation and a corresponding support mechanism for its implementation. This will involve identifying methodologies to facilitate creation of learning teams at national levels. It will take into account existing partnerships among ARD stakeholders such as research-extension and civil society involvement. One of the major priorities to be considered is to develop learning mechanisms to transform research results and farmer indigenous knowledge into innovations that private sectors could invest. Successful partnerships, innovations and impact on African economy will be documented and written as case studies or policy briefs that could be used as advocacy materials. A well structured strategy will contain an advocacy strategy to increase investments in agricultural information and learning systems by African governments. RAILS will advocate through African Union to put in their agenda increased support to agricultural information and learning systems in the region. At the same time, national learning teams will be strengthened to lobby their NARS leaders. Goal Concerted efforts to advocate for increased investments in agricultural information and learning systems by the African governments and institutions. Purpose Develop national, regional and continental agricultural information and learning strategies that will guide the learning culture within the African ARD systems. Outputs 1. National, regional and continental strategies developed. 2. Agricultural information and learning systems case studies and policy briefs published. 3. African ARD more inclusive and research process communicated better to concerned stakeholders. Major Activities 1. Mobilize learning teams to facilitate development of national, regional and continental strategies for agricultural information and learning systems. 2. Facilitate public awareness of the existing agricultural ICT/M systems in Africa, its potentials as a tool for ARD and as a system that would facilitate decision makers in the development of agricultural and investment policies. 3. Conduct an innovative survey of agricultural information and learning systems to add value to any existing or similar assessment or analysis with continental perspective. This will assist in developing the most appropriate interventions or programs for agricultural information and learning systems in each country. 4. Assess if there are existing national policies on ICT/M or anything related to agricultural information and learning systems. 54 RAILS implementation workshop 2007

59 Milestones Year 1 1. Learning teams working on national strategies formed. 2. Gathering of successful case studies and policies on agricultural information and learning systems. Year 2 1. Support mechanism established for national strategy implementation. 2. Continuous gathering and processing of case studies and policy briefs to advocate for information and learning systems. Year 3 1. Evaluation of year 1 and year 2 activities to contribute to the learning process. 2. Any other issues arising from year 1 and 2 activities. Annex 2: RAILS implementation framework 55

60 Annex 3: Detailed SROs activities to implement RAILS ASARECA Activity Stakeholder national level PM sensitize Sub-regional meeting of stakeholders National inventories of AI resource Sub-regional consolidation of inventories Support and strengthening of info hub as learning sites Capacity building by national needs (ICM) Indicator Budget (euros) Yr > 10 meetings 60k x x > 2 meetings number and type of stakeholders 10 Inventories of all countries 40k x 200k x x x x x Same as above 10k x x > 2 info hubs per country 1m x x x > 1 training per country 100k x x x x x Capacity building at SRO > 2 trainings 40k x x Advocacy in ICT/M at ministerial level Dissemination through publications & mass media Website development & hosting RAILS programme SRO & national level Platform support to other Subregional programs > 3 meetings (subregional) 100k x x x x x >2 units per country 100k x x x x x 10 national, 1 subregional 1 Mgr Sub-regional 10 Mgr National > 2 activities per country (consulting) 18k x x x 160k +300k x x x x x 50k x x x x x 56 RAILS implementation workshop 2007

61 CORAF Activities and Sub-Activities who / actor time Basic Activities Detailed plan of work ALL February 2007 Budget preparation ALL February 2007 Put the framework in the project management tool (PhProjekt) Provide technical support to the facilitating team members (help desk) to use the available tools on the existing portal Partners / CORAF Partners / CORAF February 2007 February to July 2007 Organise a translation service (French and English) CORAF / NFP February 2007 Define the role of the national and the sub-regional facilitating teams (principles) and selection criteria of members CORAF / NFP / Bouan February 2007 Compose national and zonal teams of facilitators NFP March 2007 Establish an operational team of facilitators in the sub-region (I Building learning teams) Workshop preparation: Exchange with NARS to identify the WS participants and organise the 3 zonal meetings Prepare training material to be used during the zonal workshop and after that at the national level) Prepare promotion material to be used at the subregional and national level Provide basic factual information on NARS information (content). 3 Meetings in the CORAF region: CORAF / NFP April -May 2007 Partners / CORAF CORAF / FARA / Partners February-May 2007 May-June 2007 NT April -May 2007 Technical training (training of trainers) ALL June / July 2007 Suggestions for systems improvement ALL June / July 2008 Develop an action plan with start up activities ALL June / July 2009 Exchange of experiences and information ALL June / July 2010 Train national and sub-regional teams in advocacy and lobbying ALL June / July 2011 Annex 3: Detailed SROs activities to implement RAILS 57

62 Activities and Sub-Activities who / actor time Improve the operational frame of the national teams Needs assessments to allow the national teams to be fully operational (equipment, budget) NT April -May 2007 Provide equipment and funds NT April-May 2007 Follow Up Activities at the national level National workshop (training information exchange, develop a national action plan) NT September 2007 Promotion campaign at the national level NT permanent Start up activities for the improvement of AIS Take an inventory of information and communication services and tools used by the NARS NT April-August 2007 Exchange of information on innovative approaches to overcome constraints of traditional communication strategies and mechanisms. Initiate pilot projects to gather experiences with innovative approaches. Advocacy on use and investments in AIS development Document success stories in the area of AIS development Carry out advocacy campaign at sub regional and national levels all all NT /CORAF NT /CORAF / FARA permanent permanent permanent ongoing SADC Main actions at the SRO level: Stock-taking exercise a priority in the short term Establish what exists in terms of Agricultural Stakeholder Institutions, People, Contents, Resources & Infrastructure for AICM Time frame (before end of 2007) Resources: SADC project resources, complemented by RAILS funding Identifying information managers / set up network of information managers Initiate working relationship/ collaborating mechanisms but formalize through MOU at a later stage (SADC-ICART Resources) 58 RAILS implementation workshop 2007

63 Guiding principles: Help them do it for themselves first, then sharing the information a distributed system approach. Capacity building: SADC to link up with current ongoing CTA survey on training needs Establish a regional training needs analysis following the stock-taking Meanwhile start with specific capacity building themes, such as Management of electronic information resources in collaboration with FAO Identify success stories in the region for advocacy Participate in coordination among SRO and FARA to harmonise data collection Actions at FARA level: Organize coordination meetings with SROs to set the concept of African Platform Establish guiding principles for the framework for the African platform Together with SROs, establish a mapping of the networks at regional/sub-regional/ national levels Make use of the channels of communication established by the SROs to communicate with national level networks Facilitate the sharing of success stories in AICM among sub-regions/countries Work towards establishing how RAILS can specifically support the farming organizations and communities Annex 3: Detailed SROs activities to implement RAILS 59

64 Annex 4. Workshop programme 17 January 2007, Wednesday Session 1: setting the scene and looking at different scenarios of agricultural information and learning systems in Africa. Facilitator: Myra Wopereis-Pura Time Topic Resource person 08:30 Introduction of participants 08:45 Welcome and Opening remarks Monty Jones 09:15 RAILS update Myra Wopereis 09:30 SRO updates 10 minutes) Dorothy Mukhebi, ASARECA Dady Dembe, CORAF/WECARD Krishan Bheenick, SADC-FANR Sebatta Otman, North Africa 10:10 Coffee tea break 10:30 National case studies 15 minutes) ASARECA (Kenya), CORAF/WECARD (Ghana), SADC-FANR (Mauritius), North Africa 11:30 Discussions of lessons learnt - what were the strengths, weaknesses, threats, opportunities for each national cases? - How could we respond to create a comprehensive strategy at different levels? 13:00 Lunch break Session 2: Developing the strategy and implementation framework for agricultural information and learning systems at the national, subregional and regional level. Facilitator: Justin Chisenga and Jane Asaba Time Topic 14:00 Group presentation from Session 1 and Synthesis 15:00 Group discussions - priorities and actions for each subregion based on country requirements of Session 1 - partners and resources required - monitoring and evaluation mechanisms required 17:00 Close of the day 60 RAILS implementation workshop 2007

65 18 January 2007, Thursday Session 3: getting to know different initiatives and tools available that could be used by FARA, SROs, NARS to strengthen the African platform on African ARD and find the most appropriate tools that will facilitate continental linkages of different ICT systems either at national, subregional and international level. Facilitator: Dorothy Mukhebi and Krishan Bheenick Time Topic Resource person 08:30 Presentation of group discussions Group rapporteurs 09:00 Synthesis 10:00 Tools available from EARD ZADI, SIST, WISARD, ASTI, COL, FAO, CTA, CABI 12:30 Lunch break 13:30 Group discussions on how the above tools could be used based on the requirements of the region, each subregion and at national level. - How do we consolidate these tools to maximise it s use? - What are the factors or requirements in consolidating these initiatives/tools? 14:30 Group discussion presentation and synthesis 15:30 Tea break 16:00 Plenary discussion: reflecting sessions 1,2&3 outputs towards a regional vision for RAILS - what are the guiding principles? - what is its added value at the regional level? - is the RAILS implementation framework as presented earlier still valid? 17:30 End of the day 19 January 2007, Friday Session 4: Build the support mechanisms such as learning teams linked to RAILS taskforce, to ensure an effective and efficient RAILS implementation at different levels. Facilitator: Dady Dembe and Myra Wopereis Time Topic Resource person 08:30 Group discussions on how to create the learning teams at the regional, subregional and national level. - Who are the members? What are the criteria in selecting? - Terms of reference? Reporting? - How do they link up at different levels and to the RAILS taskforce? 11:00 Presentation of group discussions Group rapporteurs 12:30 Lunch break 13:00 Summary of workshop results Group rapporteurs 14:00 Closing by the Executive Secretary of FARA Monty Jones Annex 4: Workshop programme 61

66 ABBI AGRIS AIMS ARD ASARECA CAADP CGIAR CKM African Biotechnology and Biosafety Initiative International information system for the agricultural sciences and technology Agricultural information management system Agricultural Research for Development Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in East and Central Africa Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research Communication and knowledge management CORAF/WECARD Conseil Ouest et Centre Africain pour la Recherche et le Développement Agricoles / The West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development CSO DONATA FAAP FARA FAO GFAR ICART ICM ICT KAINet KARI KENDAT NARS NGO PAEPARD RAILS RAIN R&D SADC SADC-FANR SCARDA SRAILS SRO SSA SSA CP WAAPP WISARD ZADI Acronyms and Abbreviations Civil Society Organization Dissemination of New Agricultural Technologies in Africa Framework for African Agricultural Productivity Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations Global Forum on Agricultural Research Implementation and Coordination of Agricultural Research and Training in the SADC region Information and communication management Information and communication technology Kenya Agricultural Information Network Kenya Agricultural Research Institute Kenya network for dissemination of agricultural technologies National Agricultural Research System Non Governmental Organisation Platform for African European Partnership on Agricultural Research for Development Regional Agricultural Information and Learning System Regional Agricultural Information Network Research and development Southern Africa Development Community SADC-Food Agriculture and Natural Resource Directorate Strengthening Capacity for Agricultural Research and Development in Africa Sub-regional Agricultural Information and Learning System Sub-Regional Organisation Sub Saharan Africa Sub Saharan Africa Challenge Programme West Africa Agricultural Productivity Program Wageningen Information Systems for Agricultural Research for Development Zentralstelle fur Agrardokumentation und information (Central unit for agricultural documentation and information) 62 RAILS implementation workshop 2007

67 About FARA FARA is the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa, the apex organization bringing together and forming coalitions of major stakeholders in agricultural research and development in Africa. The vision of FARA is for African agriculture to become vibrant and competitive in the international market, growing at a rate of at least 6% per annum by the year The mission of FARA is to enhance and add value to the effectiveness and efficiency of agricultural research systems in Africa that will contribute to agricultural development, economic growth and sustainable use of natural resources. FARA complements the innovative activities of national, international and sub-regional research institutions to deliver more responsive and effective services to its stakeholders. It plays advocacy and coordination roles for agricultural research for development. FARA is the technical arm of the African Union Commission (AUC) on rural economy and agricultural development and the lead agency of the AU s New Partnership for Africa s Development (NEPAD) to implement the fourth pillar of Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP), involving agricultural research, technology dissemination and uptake. FARA identified five requirements to enhance continental impact on livelihoods and economic development: A framework for reform and investment in agricultural research and harmonization of actions and actors of ARD in Africa, i.e., the Framework for African Agricultural Productivity (FAAP). A new innovation systems approach to agricultural research for development, i.e., The Sub- Saharan Africa Challenge Programme (SSA CP). Address the priority weaknesses in capacity building that constrain the effectiveness of Sub Saharan Africa NARS, i.e., Strengthening Capacity of Agricultural Research for Development in Africa (SCARDA) such as: The human capacity to implement, internalise and upscale new approaches to researchers, change agents, processors, marketers, and not the least, policy makers, i.e., Building African Scientific and Institutional Capacities (BASIC). Immediate applications that can make a difference and restore credibility in agricultural development, i.e., Disseminating New Agricultural Technologies in Africa (DONATA). African stakeholders better able to learn and contribute to global knowledge exchange on agricultural science & development, i.e., Regional Agricultural Information and Learning Systems (RAILS). These programs respond to FARA s primary functions, which are advocacy of the role of agricultural research, promotion of functional partnerships, and accelerating sharing and exchange of knowledge. FARA major donors are The African Development Bank, The Canadian International Development Agency, European Commission, the Governments of the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Italy, Ireland, Germany and France, the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, the Rockefeller Foundation, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the World Bank, and the United States of America Agency for International Development.

68 Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa FARA Headquarters PMB CT 173 Cantonments # 2 Gowa Close, Roman Ridge Accra, Ghana Tel : Fax : ISBN