Output 4: Knowledge management (KM) and communication systems for decision-making and sharing of innovation and for advocacy related to climate-relevant agriculture transformation established.

ASARECA will enhance knowledge management and communication for decision support, sharing innovations and advocacy related to climate-relevant agriculture within the sub-region. It will include sharing innovation and advocacy related to climate-relevant agricultural transformation. ASARECA will:

a) Develop a coordinated framework and infrastructure that makes available Climate-relevant STI to support NAKIS in learning and sharing opportunities.

i. Develop and operationalise knowledge management strategies including guidelines for data capture at national, regional and continental level. ASARECA will focus on:

(i) Coordinate development/ review of existing strategies and guidelines to inform the development of knowledge management system for data management;

(ii) Convene stakeholders workshop to develop sub-Regional Knowledge Management Strategy;

(iii) Develop sub-regional data and information capture instruments;

(iv) Hold sub-Regional Strategy Validation workshop for national-level representatives;

(v) Conduct training on use of specific tools and approaches; and

(vi) Monitor implementation of the strategy.

ii. Convene Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) alliances/fora at regional and continental levels in partnership with other partners. ASARECA will:

(i) Convene annual sub-Regional CSA stakeholders planning, review and knowledge sharing meeting, bring together representatives from each of the targeted countries;

(ii) Consolidate ASARECA sub-Regional Synthesis Report on CSA alliance / fora,

(iii) Develop and disseminate relevant knowledge management products.

ii. Develop, operationalize and maintain an interoperable KM platform. ASARECA will:

(i) Review the current setup and structure of the ASARECA hub;

(ii) Identify institutions and databases that ASARECA hub can link with;

(iii) Complete the development and operationalization of KM platform by training and providing access to users through creation of Application Programming Interfaces;

(iv) Convene training workshops at sub-regional level on use of KM platform tools and Apps;

(v) Support the development of hackathons (including graphic designers, interface designers, project managers, domain experts, etc.) to collaborate intensively on software projects for new Apps needed to populate the KIM Hub; and

(vi) Assess the functionality of the databases.

iii. Develop Knowledge products with various stakeholders for dissemination via the knowledge platforms. ASARECA will focus on the tasks listed in the above outputs, as well as consolidate a list of expected topics of KM outputs for sharing.

iv. Develop ISO compliance standards by:  Developing the quality management system/standards and implementing them; coordinating auditing and certification of the system; and convening a meeting with selected representatives from the countries to induct them on ISO standards.

b) Coordinate the development of climate-relevant knowledge products and tools for dissemination to the last mile

i. Develop and disseminate relevant knowledge products at all levels including up to the last mile. ASARECA will:

(i) Identify types of knowledge management products (e.g. videos, blogs, policy briefs) to be developed and method of dissemination;

(ii) Identify appropriate dissemination methods of knowledge products; and

(iii) Disseminate knowledge products through appropriate channels.

ii. Produce flagship publications on research and innovation. ASARECA will:

(i) Co-develop the structure of the report with FARA;

(ii) Develop draft synthesis report and share with FARA for consolidation; and

(iii) Disseminate the consolidated report received from FARA.

iii. Produce best practice guidance notes based on experiences of the SROs and AEAS. ASARECA will:

(i) Convene the write-shop to co-develop the structure and content of the guidance notes with regional and national partners;

(ii) Convene a validation workshop;

(iii) Pilot and adjust the guidance notes; and

(iv) Disseminate the guidance notes.