Draft

ENHANCING KNOWLEDGE AND INFORMATION IN THE HORN OF AFRICA

The ACC Network on Rural Development and Food Security is a co-ordination mechanism that can play a key role in supporting national, sub-regional and inter-agency Task Force efforts in achieving long-term development in the Horn of Africa.

It can achieve this mainly by serving as an interactive communication and information system, which establishes linkages and facilitates the sharing of knowledge, information and best practices at all levels within countries and across the region.

The Thematic Group - a catalyst for action

The National Thematic Group is an integral part of the ACC Network. There is no template for establishing a Thematic Group: each emerges to respond to country-specific needs, conditions and government-identified priorities. Once formed the Thematic Group is usually facilitated by the FAO or UNDP Representative and encourages participation from a wide cross-section of interested partners at the country level - representatives from UN system organizations, government, donors, civil society and the private sector.

This broad-based Group membership creates a dynamic framework in which to plan and implement collaborative activities; identify resources for country activities; promote new projects; share information, knowledge and expertise; and ensure co-ordinated technical support to national efforts in food security and rural development.

Although many existing national Thematic Groups affiliated to the ACC Network are supporting priority country programmes (e.g. the Special Programme on Food Security) with information collection, analysis and exchange, these Group activities are often limited and unfocused in content and time-consuming in practice. Significantly, many target audiences - particularly rural communities - remain unrelated in information activities.

This gap in information management is due mainly to the fact that national Thematic Groups in developing countries have failed to recognize, or have been unable to make potential use of, information and communication technologies.

The value of making data available on the Internet to users is undisputed. The Internet allows every user the potential to be a sender, receiver, broadcaster and 'narrowcaster'.

However, in developing countries telecommunication structures may be poor or non-existent, making connectivity to the Internet difficult. Furthermore, the costs associated with installing and using the equipment necessary are prohibitive for many users - particularly those in rural areas - who need low-cost, accessible and easy-to- use information.

But even in a country without Internet connectivity or any telecommunication structure, Internet -based technology/ information systems can still be achieved on a local area network within key organizations.

With this in mind, we should consider that the national Thematic Group - as an informal and flexible mechanism - can not only improve its own information base by using information technology but also be in a key position to develop an integrated national information management system to service the needs of all development partners in the fight against poverty and food insecurity.

The following text proposes the establishment of integrated information management systems, within the framework of Thematic Groups, which are:

· non-reliant on national connectivity, yet use the latest technologies

· country and demand--driven

· low-cost and easy-to-use

· replicable

· multi-sectoral in content and produced by a wide resource base

· used and managed by a wide cross-section of country-level stakeholders: UN, government, donors, civil society (research institutes, community-based organizations, small farmer and women groups), and farmers themselves

· accessible to development partners, decision-makers and beneficiaries at all levels

Phase 1 - SETTING UP A BASIC AGRICULTURAL INFORMATION MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

A basic information system can be set up in only three days, by:

· Identifying national focal point/s in Thematic Group and/or forming a small technical secretariat to manage the information management system

· Establishing a system with two computers and a LAN account, using free server software, such as Linux.

Phase 2 - LAYING FOUNDATIONS FOR A STRONG RESOURCE BASE

· Set up a website, using free tools such as the WAICENT CD ROM

· Link with any relevant site at the national level (Government/UN country team/library/research institute/NGO); networks and NGOs at the regional level; and FAO and other UN agencies at the international level

· Install agricultural module CDs produced by the Humanity Libraries Project/Humanity CD-ROM Project. These CD -ROMs contain licence-free, easy- to-use general and specialiZed information (documentation, best practices, images, maps and statistics) on agriculture and agriculture-related topics, contributed by FAO and other development agencies.

Other free CD ROMs that could be used to initiate a comprehensive agricultural information system would be FAO's AGROVOC, KIMS and FAO Document Repository (comprising more than 3,000 documents).

Importantly, this newly-created national information system can make its own CD ROM of documentation to reach a particular target audience. WAICENT can produce up to 100 copies of a CD in three weeks free-of-charge (more than 100 copies would cost $2-3 per copy).

The policy regarding these CD-ROM collections is that FAO and other partners participating in the Humanity CD-ROM programme are free to copy the CD-ROM and distribute them in their own countries without restrictions. Additionally, Humanity CD-ROM will assist the partners in the programme in producing their own collections using the same systems produced in local languages.

Supporting the Regional Information Exchange Mechanisms

At the regional level, IGAD and other regional agencies can begin immediately to set up their own information services, using the free Linux web server and the information systems described above. Additionally, a mirror website can be set up in FAO for fast access, which can be up-dated daily using FTP services.

The networking role of IGAD as a regional agency can be strengthened by implementing a one-stop-shop or Portal service using the "WAICENT Information Finder" system (http://waicent.fao.org/), which can be used to catalogue all relevant Web-based information in the region, in all international agencies, and in other countries outside the region. Users in the region can use this system for searching information available in a national Thematic group in any county of the Horn of Africa.

Results of Phase 2:

Royalty-free electronic documentation and publication system for in-house and dissemination, with established linkages between relevant partners at the national and international level.

Phase 3 - REACHING THE UNREACHED

In this phase, the newly-created information management system can begin to reach an even wider audience of UN partners, government, donors, civil society - and particularly rural communities - using various complementary information and communication technologies.

Traditional communication channels - rural radio and TV can be a conduit for broadcasting data available on the newly-created information management system

Telecentres - information centres in rural areas providing local communities with essential links to telecommunication services (telephone, fax, e-mail, computers and printers) can be a mechanism for connectivity between the newly-created information management system, computers in the country, in the region and between FAO and other UN agencies. Users in telecentres can not only access but input data into the information management system.

Netcasting is a means of disseminating and exchanging information on agriculture related topics, whether market prices, food production techniques, employment, credit and financial services. The user sends a message through the server to others on the Net. All that is needed for netcasting is registration with an Apache server, which is currently being tested in Asia.

Results of Phase 3: A decentralized web-based information management system

Phase 4: A REGIONAL PORTAL

The newly -created information management system will facilitate networking not only within the country but also across the region as a whole.

National, regional and sub-regional information clusters/hubs could be linked to one regional entity such as IGAD. An established IGAD Website could act as a portal, or gateway, to information relevant to the development of the region.

Information on the site would be searchable by topic, country, institution and by resource material (as in the existing WAICENT format) as follows:

· Catalogues: electronic catalogues (AGRIS) using Web-enabled CDS-ISIS

· CD-ROMs: virtual libraries, mapping systems, specialized databases

· Web sites

· Events: including meetings, technical consultations, etc.

· Information systems: specialized systems for storing and retrieving information, including specialized databases

· Programme information: information on ongoing FAO programmes

· Publications: electronic publications which are available on the Internet

· Slideshows: collections of photographs and images on a theme or topic

· Statistics: statistical data sets

The Website could updated over 24 hours through FAO. However, it would contain no FAO logos and would be given an address such as http://www.igad.org

We could explore entering into agreement with UN partners in the ACC Network - particularly Rome-based agencies such as IFAD and FAO in supplying data (best practices/documents etc).

COSTS OF WHOLE OPERATION

Phase 1 US$ 25,000 for each of the Thematic Groups in the 7 countries.

TIMEFRAME OF WHOLE OPERATION

Phase 1 to 4 - 6 months