Knowledge and Information Management

This investment area of focus builds on the lessons and experiences from ASARECA’s past knowledge and information initiatives to advocate for and explore ways through which data, information, knowledge and tools relevant for AR4D can increasingly be placed in the public domain. This thematic area focuses on improving management and access to reliable and up-to-date data, information and knowledge to inform agricultural transformation decision making processes and action in the ECA sub region.

The strategic result areas required to deliver this area of investment include:

1. Establishing and managing regional technology and information clearing house;
2. Establishing and managing regional data bases, system models and decision-support tools; and
3. Establishing and managing functional platforms for communicating and exchanging knowledge and information.

In the ECA sub region, a lot of data and information continue to be generated at local, national and regional levels by a range of stakeholders. However, much of this remains in raw form or is processed for “elite audiences” and, therefore, not useful or accessible to those who need it most. In addition, significant amounts of data are of little value because their integrity has not been tested through analysis and use. These data need to be transformed into knowledge products that are reliable, up-to-date, in the right format and in the right place. End-users also need support in learning how to access and adapt new information to their own unique contexts such as evidence based policy formulation, investment decision making, monitoring and evaluating impact of interventions and capacity building among other uses.

In this thematic area ASARECA envisages mobilizing higher level regional analyses to bring together national data to provide significant added value to data collection efforts. In addition, quality data collection and expert analysis shall form the basis for more robust prediction and forecasting to inform longer term decision making and investments at the national and regional levels. Results of theses analyses shall be used to generate knowledge products that shall be made accessible to different clients through various forms. This approach is expected to save a significant amount of resources by ensuring that data and information are shared for use for different purposes by different stakeholders and that subsequent collection and collation are informed by value derived from previous analyses and use.

Some of the major challenges, stated in the opportunity format, that investments in this area shall address include the following:

• Enhancing the use of revolutionary information communication technologies to open new avenues for knowledge management.
• Establishing databases and ensuring their regular updating and strengthening to address gaps and keep the data and information up to date.
• Improving the mechanisms, infrastructure and incentives for agricultural knowledge and information management.
• Improving systematic collection and collation of the existing data and information produced by various institutions to improve storage and access.
• Enhancing quality, relevance and coherence of data coming from research programmes and project to improve their value in planning and decision making processes.
• Inculcating knowledge and information sharing practice among AR4D stakeholders as a critical prerequisite for sparking creative thinking and innovativeness.
• Improving linkages and communication between data suppliers and users to enhance data collection, analysis, sharing and utilization.
• Establishing systems for capture and storage of data from different sources in readily accessible formats for analysis and use in different ways and purposes.
• Improving access to information by the public, policymakers and planners for use in evidence based policy formulation and planning processes.
• Strengthening, harnessing and integration of indigenous and farmer knowledge into mainstream agricultural innovation and knowledge management systems and dissemination.