FAO’s Capacity-Building Initiatives in Accessing, Documenting, Communicating and Managing Agricultural Information
Chisenga, Justin and Keizer, Johannes and Rudgard, Stephen and Onyancha, Irene and Portegies Zwart, Robert FAO’s Capacity-Building Initiatives in Accessing, Documenting, Communicating and Managing Agricultural Information. IAALD Quarterly Bulletin, 2006, pp. 170-175. [Journal article (Print/Paginated)]
The new information and communication technologies (ICT) and the growing wealth of digital information have the potential to improve access to and benefits from development activities for the rural poor, as well as facilitate policy-making. In this regard, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is involved in various initiatives aimed at building human and institutional capacities in documenting and communicating agricultural information. The paper presents a brief overview of three initiatives, which together form the basis of a coordinated effort by FAO with a wide range of partners to improve access to information on agricultural science and technology. The initiatives are: Access to Global Online Research in Agriculture (AGORA), and Mobilizing Agricultural Science and Technology Information. The paper also highlights some of the capacity-building activities involving the above three initiatives that have taken place in Africa.