Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation ACP-EU (CTA) Question and Answer Service

In Issue 25 of The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation's (CTA's) ICT Update, two articles explore some of the methods that help contribute to more effective information sharing and knowledge management in agricultural and rural development. One article, entitled "Web-based Q&A Service for Farmers in ACP Countries", offers a question and answer service as explained by Henning Knipschild and Vivienne Oguya. From a related article entitled "Q&A: Information Management for Agricultural Development," Jean-François Giovannetti argues that more effective information sharing and knowledge management are essential for agricultural and rural development.

CTA is described as offering a number of services to improve access to information pertaining to agricultural and rural development for its partners in Africa, the Caribbean, and Pacific countries (ACP). The Question and Answer Service (QAS) is described as demand-driven, open, and decentralised. Farmers and experts communicate by email, and their questions and answers are documented in an online database developed and maintained by the German Centre for Documentation and Information in Agriculture (ZADI), which is accessible through the website of ZADI's Rural Universe Network (RUN).

In the first article, a mechanism in the form of "vouchers" is described as a way to help isolated farming communities become active in using information and communication technologies (ICTs). Carried out in association with local internet cafes or telecentres, the centres present vouchers to farmers who then request information or advice from an expert. The vouchers, distributed by Rural Information Brokers (RIBs), are associated with the QAS organisations that are in regular contact with farmers. The vouchers cover the costs for the service, including the costs of using the internet cafes, and for the services of local or national experts. The RIBs then publish the questions and the responses on the RUN website, where each participating community has its own designated 'ejournal'. According to the article, all of the farmers' questions are collected and become a shared resource for everyone.

Jean-François Giovannetti refers to RUN as "perhaps the most innovative initiative" led by ZADI and supported by CTA. RUN is designed to address the farmers’ questions and publish all questions and answers on a single website, so, as Giovannetti states, the project is "effectively mobilizing local knowledge and skills." Giovannetti makes reference to the Global Forum on Agricultural Research (GFAR), which is having farmers participate in research activities so that all stakeholders are involved from the beginning. This helps shift away from a top-down approach in which farmers are the end-users of research.

Giovannetti notes that CTA is positioned to help formulate ICT policy at the global, regional, or national levels. He suggests that CTA can help with advocacy so that national agricultural research systems in ACP countries can play a more proactive role in the development of their own ICT-enabled agricultural information systems.

Click here for "Web-based Q&A Service for Farmers in ACP Countries" on the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) website.

Click here for "Q&A: Information management for agricultural development" on the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) website.