CCARDESA Conducts a Regional Knowledge Information & Data Capture Guidelines Training Workshop
The Centre for Coordination of Agricultural Research and Development in Southern Africa (CCARDESA) held a four-day workshop whose overall objective was to familiarize the CCARDESA Information Comunication and Knowledge Management (ICKM) Focal Point(FP) persons with the guidelines for knowledge, information and data capture. The workshop also aimed at strengthening the capacities of national-level stakeholders in Knowledge Management to actively contribute to the mainstreaming of knowledge for agricultural research and development. Furthermore, it also sought to enhance their understanding of the Malabo commitments and CCARDESA themematic areas to better position them to develop various knowledge products for awareness creation in their respective countries. The meeting was held at Holiday Inn Hotel in Boksburg, Johannesburg, South Africa, from 22nd to 25th November 2021.
The CCARDESA Executive Director, Dr Cliff Dlamini, officially opened the meeting. He disclosed that the greatest challenge many African countries in the region have is the lack of appreciation for Knowledge Management. Dr Dlamini noted that most African information hubs are filled with solutions to challenges Africa is facing. He highlighted the six principles of knowledge management, which he said were critical for the proper implementation of knowledge management.
Delivering his keynote address at the same meeting, the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) Executive Director, Dr Yemi Akinbamijo, called on African states to develop the Knowledge Management (KM) Act. He said KM Act would enable African countries to use their homegrown data for better decision making. Dr. Akinbamijo questioned what Africa could not do for itself in terms of KM, adding that it has what it takes to manage its own generated knowledge.
At the same event, the CCARDESA Executive Director, Dr Dlamini, presented tablets for extension staff and ICKM FP persons from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Namibia, Mozambique and Tanzania. The tablets are intended to support extension staff access the CCARDESA learning mobile App as they support the farmers in the SADC region.
During the training, Mr Martin Muchero, An International Policy expert, highlighted the Malabo commitments, Regional Indicative Strategic Plan (RISDP), Regional Agricultural Policy (RAP), and CAADP Compact. He elaborated on the various policies with a bearing to agriculture. The participants felt enlightened and ready to collate relevant information as well as develop knowledge products on the Malabo commitments.
The second facilitator, Dr Andreas Brandner, the Director for Knowledge for Development from Vienna, Austria, trained the focal point persons in knowledge management essentials. He highlighted the key things which among them were knowledge management processes, types of knowledge, communities of practice, and knowledge graphs.
Dr Podisi, the CAADP-XP4 Programme Coordinator, gave the closing remarks on behalf of the Executive Director. He thanked the participants for their active participation in the training, whom he said despite the work they did for CCARDESA being voluntary, they always put in their best. Dr Podisi thanked the CCARDESA Executive Director for setting the pace and acknowledging the importance of Knowledge management for CCARDESA. He also thanked the FARA Executive Director, Dr Yemi, for sparing time off his busy schedule to attend the meeting.
Dr Podisi also applauded the facilitators for their unmatched wealth of knowledge in their respective disciplines. He implored the ICKM Focal point persons to put to good use the knowledge that they had acquired and share it in their respective countries through user-friendly knowledge products.
Participants were drawn from the 10 SADC countries, which included Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe. The participants expressed their gratitude for the training outcomes and left energized to implement the country plans they developed during the training. The training workshop was held under the auspices of the CAADP-XP4 Project which is funded by the European Union and administered through IFAD.
