Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA)

Sharing Knowledge Improving Rural Livelihoods

CTA’s experience in ICM and Knowledge sharing

for integrated water management

November 24, 2010

Johannesburg, South AfricaBy Oumy Khaïry Ndiaye,

Manager, Communication Services Department

Outline

Why information , communication and knowledge sharing matter in agriculture and rural development ? Bridging the knowledge divide and building capacity for integrated water management : CTA’s experience :The way forward : CTA’s SP 2011-2015

Why information and communication matter in agriculture and rural development?

CTA currently serves 79 ACP countries, population 940 million ~70% live in rural areas Food insecurity and poverty are major problems (food crisis, energy crisis, climate change issues)Knowledge across the food production – consumption chain needs is not disseminated through the range of actorsA little share of the results of agricultural research and the improvements allowed by science, technology and innovation reaches the poor farmers Investment in agriculture is low – < 6% GDP in the ACP regionPolicy infrastructure is weakRural communities in developing countries are battling for positive social and economic changes

Why information and communication matter in agriculture and rural developments?

In brief : poor infrastructure, lack of services, poor access to agricultural inputs, poorly functioning markets and institutions, poor knowledge flows and access to information, high transaction costs

An important element in CTA’s working environnement : the ICT revolution and the increasing opportunities in information, communication and knowledge producing and sharing

Why information and communication matter in agriculture and rural development?

Information and communication have an important role in engaging the actors of changes namely :

The rural communities themselves /Farmers organizations Policy makers ie all stakeholders involved in policy making processesResearchersAcademicsCivil society activistsHigh officials in Public SectorNGOsDevelopment partners

Media (Journalists, Media services, Print, TV, Radio, Rural radios « New media » users (bloggers, twitterers)

Main beneficiaries of CTA programmes and examples of communication channels

Farmers, rural population ; rural radio (RR), GSM, community level information services, practical guide series, training, study toursExtension services, governmental and research institutions, universities, agricultural libraries; audio material, print media (books, Spore), QAS, CD-R, Databases, web 2.0 toolsWider public, mass media and journalists; websites, print publications, audio material, Video/TVPolicy makers RR, TV, conferences, symposia, websites, policy briefs

Main beneficiaries of CTA programmes and examples of communication channels

Farmers, rural population ; rural radio (RR), GSM, community level information services, practical guide series, training, study toursExtension services, governmental and research institutions, universities, agricultural libraries; audio material, print media (books, Spore), QAS, CD-R, Databases, web 2.0 toolsWider public, mass media and journalists; websites, print publications, audio material, Video/TVPolicy makers RR, TV, conferences, symposia, websites, policy briefs

Bridging the knowledge divide and building capacity for integrated water management

Séminaires, study toursPrint, online and multimedia publications Use of Participatory GIS Combination of various knowledge sharing tools and opportunities : the case of the Agricultural Innovation in Dryland Africa (AIDA) Project

Seminars, study tours

Managing water equitably, efficiently and sustainably for agricultural and rural development in sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean, CTA Seminar 1999, Seminar, Cordoba, Spain Study tours : Water harvesting and eco-sanitation, 2006, with CREPA, Burkina FasoCo-seminars : land and water management in Southern Africa , 2006, in collaboration with SADC and the European CommissionSeminar on Soil management, 2003 Seminar on the impact of Climate Change on sustainable agriculture, 2008, section on water management in the session on Cultural SystemsSeminar integrated water management : closing the knowledge gap , 2010

Print, online and multimedia publications

Around 30 titles on various aspects of integrated water management distributed to ACP experts through the credit point systemAgrodok n°27, 43 (EN, FR, Portuguese)Practical guide on « Rainwater harvesting for increased pasture production » Spore, ICT update (n°12, 53 Irrigation)Rural Radio Resource Packs : Rainwater harvesting, Small-scale irrigation and water management

Print, online and multimedia publications

RSS feeds from the News4Dev portal Brussels portal Dossiers in the Knowledge for Develoment website (e.g. : Mitigating economic water scarcity to boost agriculture by Maimbo Malesu, Alex Oduor, ICRAFWater: the need for appropriate resources management, by Gerd Förch - Universität Siegen, Research Institute for Water and Environment

Participatory Spatial Information Management and Communication (PGIS)

Participatory 3D Modelling (P3DM)

Enabling non experts to generate, organise, display and manage spatial information, add authority to local

knowledge and efficiently communicate

Participatory GIS

Participatory GIS

Elaboration of a PGIS training Kit with funding from IFAD and participation of UNEP, GEF,WWF and other institutions – English (released) Spanish (close to completion) French in preparation

Agricultural Innovation in Dryland Africa (AIDA) Project (2007-2009)

AIDA’s objective was to generate knowledge about long-term trends and innovations in agriculture and environment in Africa Drylands Comprehensive and critical assessment of existing initiatives Identification of the drivers for success or critical analyses of failuresPropositions for policy options

A consortium of 8 national and international institutions implemented the project : CIRAD, University of Nairobi, Agrhymet, Ruforum, Bunda College Malawi, Wageningen University, FARA and CTA

Agricultural Innovation in Dryland Africa (AIDA) Project

Generation and dissemination of knowledge through selected case studiese.g. Water harvesting : a bottom-up approach towards sustainable productive land management systems in Malawi ; Farmer’s participation in improved soil and water management technologies – Tanzania ; Office du Niger large-scale gravity irrigation, Mali ; small scale valley bottom irrigation with shallow pumping, Nigeria

Agricultural Innovation in Dryland Africa (AIDA) Project

A session on “Apprentissage Production et partage d’Innovations” was organized back to back with the CTA seminar 2008 on the impact of climate change on sustainable agriculturePosters and parallel session during the CTA seminar 2009 on the Role of media on agriculture and rural development

Agricultural Innovation in Dryland Africa (AIDA) Project

Articles in Spore Linking websitesPolicy briefs, e.g. Why invest in Africa’s drylands ?Radio, TV

The way forward : CTA’ Strategic Plan 2011-2015

For the period 2011-2015, CTA will focus on 3 strategic goals :

Conducive agricultural policies in ACP regionsProfitable smallholder value chains Enhanced ICM capacity of ACP organisations

The way forward : CTA’ Strategic Plan 2011-2015

The challenges posed by Climate Change have imposed further integrated water management in CTA’s programs The final beneficiaries of products and services focused on the topic is broadened and it includes the media (training of journalists on climate change, for example)The recommendations from this Seminar will be the basis for selection of critical programmes and projects associated to the 2 strategic goals under SG1 and SG3

Thank you for your attention