Today the Regional Expert Consultation on Opening Access to Agricultural Information in Africa started. The consultation takes place in Accra, Ghana from 19-21 June, 2012 and is jointly organized by the Forum on Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), The Global Forum on Agricultural research (GFAR) and FAO.

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Objective

The overall objective of the consultaion is to continue the process of strengthening the regional network of information and communication professionals in key national and regional organizations committed to improving the sharing of information and knowledge.

The specific objectives of the Consultation will be firstly to equip participants with the awareness and skills to advocate effectively for their organizations to make more their information and knowledge more publicly accessible, and secondly to contribute to regional and global policy discussions on mobilizing knowledge in support of agricultural innovation.

Outputs

• Renewed shared awareness of the key goals and challenges that face national organizations in making knowledge truly accessible
• Increased awareness and skills of the approaches to advocacy for policy and organizational change at national level.
• Strengthened engagement in the Regional Agricultural Information and Learning System (FARA-RAILS) and CIARD at national level, in terms of using their resources and contributing to them.
• Recommendations for policy changes in National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS) to be taken forward at regional and global level.