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Interview on knowledge sharing with four CGIAR knowledge management specialists

lun, 25/06/2012 — sarah.dister

Yesterday AlertNet published the interview ‘Bridging the knowledge gap between farmers and scientists’. A contribution from CGIAR who urged to support knowledge sharing systems in their RIO+20 Call-to-action.

The article consists of an interesting conversation, lead by questions, between four CGIAR knowledge management specialists: Peter Ballantyne (International Livestock Research Institute - ILRI), Simone Staiger (International Center for Tropical Agriculture - CIAT), Petr Kosina (International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center- CIMMYT) and Nadia Manning-Thomas (CGIAR Consortium Office).

Topic of conversation: How can knowledge sharing systems that engage with smallholder farmers, help these farmers to improve the management of their crops, livestock and natural resources in order to increase production as well as minimize negative environmental impacts?

CGIAR

CGIAR is a global partnership that unites organizations engaged in research for a food secure future. CGIAR research is dedicated to reducing rural poverty, improving human health and nutrition, and ensuring more sustainable management of natural resources. It is carried out by the 15 centers who are members of the CGIAR Consortium in close collaboration with hundreds of partner organizations, academia and the private sector.

AlertNet

AlertNet is a free humanitarian news service run by Thomson Reuters Foundation covering crises worldwide. The content comes from specialist AlertNet reporters around the world and a network of 196 Reuters News bureaux. In addition, a community of about 500 international relief organisations and 60 specialist news content partners contribute to the site.

Voter

Array

25 juin 2012

Interview on knowledge sharing

A very interesting interview to read, l am always keen to find out the role that knowledge management specialist can play in ensuring that Agricultural Research Information can reach the farmers especially small holder famers and communal farmers. This post really wetted my appetite, working in the field with farmers one would discover the following challenges inhibiting the research information to reach the farmers:-

  • Researchers when they publish their results they do not have the farmer in mind (hence the information presented is not easily comprehensible by farmers in most cases information repackaging is needed).
  • Unavailability of materials in local languages for farmers.
  • Failure of research outputs to localise the findings and include the indeginous knowledge systems.
  • In most cases the lack of structural relationship between the Research  and Extension Services (Extension workers usually do not have access, atleast from what l discovered perhaps also as raised in this report).
  • The demise of extension services.
  • The challenging Role of knowledge managers to reach out to farming communities, especially farmers

However, this interview gives interesting models like 1. Farmer participatory approaches, 2.MasAgro 3.Maize  &Wheat Doctors, very interesting models

l am aware the CTA has good models in Question and Answer Services, and also the Publication Support Services where some publications would water down the research and academic nature of scientific output of researchers works for the farmers, and also the FAO's VERCON project.

The use of new technologies and mobile telephony promises to offer new opportunities for the agricultural knowledge management specialists , such as this pilot.