Grameen Foundation and Google create mobile apps for rural Africa

On 29 June, the Grameen Foundation announced the launch of a suite of mobile phone applications developed with Google and MTN Uganda (MTN) that deliver services and information that were previously unavailable to Uganda’s poor and disadvantaged communities.

This launch makes available the first suite of applications resulting from an endeavor called the Application Laboratory (AppLab).

"AppLab will give millions of Africans access to health advice, farming tips and trading services using only a mobile handset" - The Guardian

"Real time information about farming, health and trading will be available to mobile phone users in Uganda with new technology services developed by the Grameen Foundation, Google and telecom operator MTN Uganda" - Seattle Times

"Working with Grameen Foundation and MTN, the big African mobile carrier, Google has begun offering a handful of services that combine text messaging, search technologies, and databases full of locally relevant information" - Business Week

" The five mobile phone applications provide real-time health and agricultural information and a virtual marketplace for buying and selling goods and services" - Grameen Foundation



More AppLab videos on YouTube

IAALD Africa congress to discuss open access to agricultural knowledge

The IAALD Africa conference will be held in Ghana later in July 2009. After the pre-conference events, the main sessions include the following:

• Access and Dissemination of Knowledge in Agricultural Sciences and Technology – Mapping the Landscape and Major Challenges.

• Open Access to Publicly Funded Research – Views from Research Scientists, Policy Makers, Development Partners/Funders of Research, Users & Information Professionals
  

• WEBAGRIS tools for agricultural metadata management

• Intellectual Property Rights and Open Access to Knowledge in Agricultural Sciences and Technology

• Opening Access to Knowledge in Agricultural Sciences and Technology: International, Regional, National and Institutional Initiatives

• Advocating for Opening Access to Knowledge in Agricultural Sciences and Technology in Africa: the Way Forward

• Public private partnership in m-agriculture: roles and incentives of stakeholders

There are still spaces so register quickly!

Download the Programme (PDF).

Setting up an agricultural portal

Roxanna Samii explains features of the 'Portal approach' used by IFAD for its Rural Poverty Portal:

Demand-driven: The Portal's content is continuously evolving to meet the needs of its audiences.

Single repository for one-stop learning and sharing: The Portal is fully integrated with IFAD corporate databases and uses a single repository to store content.

Input once, use many: Once the information is indexed and stored in the repository, it is displayed and disseminated in multiple locations through a tagging system.

Field-friendly: Colleagues in the field and in country offices may directly submit their knowledge and learning.

Supported by a content management system: It enables users to create, edit, manage and publish various types of content (such as text, graphics, video), while being guided by a set of rules, processes and workflows that ensure a coherent and validated website appearance.

Read the article

Le pérennité des télécentres ruraux

Koda Traoré du CTA explique les leçons tirées du projet TelecentresAfrica, mis en place par le CTA. Le problème de pérennité des télécentres ruraux est le résultat d'un manque de contenus pertinents et de diversification des services, et de l'insuffisance de « l'appropriation sociale » des services des télécentres par les communautés locales.

Il souligne également le besoin d'élaborer des stratégies d'élargissement et des plans de développement commercial.

Broadband Internet critical for rural America

People who live and work in rural America are often unable to access the same educational, medical, business and government services as Americans living in more populated areas, and access to modern broadband Internet service has the potential to correct this inequity, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation.

“In the 21st century, broadband Internet access is a necessity, not a luxury,” said AFBF President Bob Stallman. “To be economically viable, rural communities must have high speed Internet connections for people to access everything from medical records to weather reports to online videos. It is vital for rural residents who want to telecommute to a job in the city and for rural students to complete their class assignments.”

Read full article.

Red Digital Rural WiMAX en Chile reconocida como Proyecto Bicentenario

Con más de 1,3 millones de conexiones a Internet de banda ancha, Chile es el país líder en penetración de esta tecnología en Latinoamérica.

La Presidenta de Chile, Michelle Bachelet nombró a la red digital rural que Inverca Telecom despliega en el país, a través de tecnología WiMAX, entre los 24 proyectos, obras y programas Bicentenario que componen una cartera de iniciativas emblemáticas por su impacto y transcendencia a nivel nacional.

La red digital permitirá llevar Internet a más de 3 millones de chilenos, en 1.474 localidades rurales de las 15 regiones del país, reduciendo la brecha digital existente entre las diversas zonas del país.

Se espera además, que a través de Internet, se conecte a miles de escuelas y postas rurales, mejorando la educación y la calidad de vida. La red WiMAX comenzará a operar gradualmente desde Octubre del 2009.

Lea el artículo completo.

Además:

Red Digital permitirá intervenir 458 localidades rurales del Maule

Localidades rurales de XI Región se conectarán a Internet

Docentes de zonas rurales de Costa Rica se capacitan por Internet

Unos 3.000 maestros y profesores de zonas rurales se capacitan en las materias que imparten sin desplazarse a la capital (San José,) a través de un plan de cómputo e Internet.

Con la misma herramienta aprenden sobre nuevos métodos educativos y temas de actualidad, como ambiente y cuidados para la salud.

El proyecto reduce las dificultades del Ministerio de Educación Pública (MEP) para capacitar a estos profesionales, al evitar la pérdida de tiempo de clases en el viaje de los maestros a cursos en la capital.

“El primer paso fue capacitar a los profesores en tecnología. Muchos no sabían lo que es Internet, nunca habían mandado un correo electrónico y mucho menos conocían lo que era un blog , o un curso interactivo. Ahora ya manejan el sistema sin problemas”, explicó Ileana Ruiz, encargada del sistema de Actualización de Maestros en Educación (AME).

Esta plataforma virtual ofrece a los docentes exámenes en línea, almacenamiento de archivos, notificaciones vía correo electrónico y acceso a aulas virtuales.

Lea el artículo en La Nación

Además: Pruebas internacionales ratifican rezago en educación rural tica

ICT-KM knowledge sharing toolkit a 'nice success story'

CIAT's Simone Staiger-Rivas introduces the knowledge sharing toolkit initially developed by the CGIAR ICT-KM Program.

Unión Europea: Internet puede salvar las zonas agrícolas

El español Pedro Tarno está al frente de los programas de Desarrollo Rural de la Unión Europea, donde se lucha contra la pobreza rural desde el ámbito económico y medioambiental. Tarno, de profesión ingeniero industrial, es director adjunto del área y responsable directo de la zona de Bélgica, Francia, Luxemburgo y Holanda.

En su entrevista publicada en Publico.es y ante la pregunta: "Qué es imprescindible para que las zonas rurales no "mueran"?, el ingeniero Tarno señala que "la instalación de Internet de banda ancha, sin duda. Tiene que llegar a todas partes y los ganaderos, por ejemplo, necesitan estar conectados para poder ser competitivos. Hay granjas que están ya totalmente informatizadas. Sin la banda ancha no puede funcionar una explotación agrícola o ganadera que pretenda ser una empresa."

Ver artículo completo

Sustaining rural telecentres in Africa

CTA's Koda Traoré introduces lessons from the TelecentresAfrica project of CTA.

He explains that the unsustainability of rural telecentres emerges from their lack of appropriate content, lack of diversified services, and insufficient social 'appropriation' of the telecentre services by the local communities.


He also highlights the need for scaling up strategies and business models, moving beyond pilots and short-term donor funding.

He outlines CTA priorities to support these telecentres: First, capacity strengthening to manage telecentres. Second, to sensitize ICT policy planners regarding the important role of telecentres. Third, to support existing telecentres to become more sustainable.

El proyecto de Biblioteca Virtual del CGIAR

Carlos Saa, Coordinador de Sistemas de Información en la Biblioteca del CIAT, presenta el proyecto de Biblioteca Virtual del CGIAR (CGVLibrary) y porqué es importante para el CIAT.

La CGVLibrary - http://vlibrary.cgiar.org/

La biblioteca CIAT - www.ciat.cgiar.org/biblioteca/biblioteca_es/

Costa Rica: Conexiones a Internet de banda ancha siguen en aumento

La cantidad de conexiones a Internet de banda ancha en el país sigue en aumento y al finalizar el 2008 ya eran 218.836. Eso significa que durante el segundo semestre del año pasado el número de enlaces de este tipo aumentó un 21,5%.

Las conexiones de banda ancha WiMax crecieron un 154% en el segundo semestre del 2008 y a finales de ese año eran 2.489.

A pesar del crecimiento, persisten grandes diferencias en la penetración en las zonas urbanas y las rurales. Mientras en los cantones josefinos de Escazú y Montes de Oca cerca del 18% de los habitantes tienen conexión de banda ancha, en los limonenses de Matina y Guácimo ese número cae hasta el 0,5%.

De hecho, según Cisco, “el crecimiento (de este semestre) se debe principalmente a la alta concentración de conexiones de banda ancha en las principales ciudades como San José, Heredia y Alajuela”.

La brecha digital entre los sectores urbanos y rurales ya ha sido señalada en distintas ocasiones en versiones anteriores del Barómetros Cisco y por el Programa de la Sociedad de la Información y el Conocimiento (Prosic), de la Universidad de Costa Rica (UCR).

Mientras en Costa Rica la penetración de banda ancha es de 5 por cada 100 habitantes, el promedio latinoamericano es de 5,7 y en el mundo de 6,6.

Lea el artículo completo.

Knowledge sharing in agricultural research - let strategy follow actions

Simone Staiger-Rivas of the CGIAR advises research organizations thinking about knowledge sharing "not to start with a strategy."

She suggests instead to start small with different projects and experiments. She concludes that we need to adopt the basic approach used in research - to learn, to think about, to experiment, have trials, then scale up - "that's exactly what we should do in knowledge sharing."

ICT and media to support ag extension in the Pacific

In May 2009, the Secretariat of the Pacific Community’s Land Resources Division organised the second Pacific Extension Summit.

Sixty participants from 17 Pacific Island countries and territories, including some in the northern Pacific, are participating in the week-long gathering of extension and outreach experts with the theme ‘transforming extension and outreach in the Pacific for sustainable development’.

See also this news item in the Fiji Daily Post

Farmers joining the conversations on food in many ways

Farm Bureau farmer and rancher members hand out the stickers to people as they talk with them about food and agriculture at fairs, festivals, farm tours and community events.The popularity of these simple stickers points to a hunger among consumers (who are on average, three generations removed from farming) for information about the food they eat, where it comes from and who produces it.

And, America's farm and ranch families are more interested than ever in reaching out to consumers to talk about the food they grow and the art, science and business of farming. Individual producers do this in person, online or both.

Online, recent posts to the AFBF's FBlog by farmers and ranchers explore a variety of food-related topics including, "The Real Story of Ag," "Food, Inc.," "Helping Hands and Good Conversation" and "Family Farmers Produce Safe Food."

Also online, the micro-blogging social media tool Twitter offers a new twist on finding concise consumer-friendly information on just about any subject, including food and farming. If you're using Twitter, search for #foodfact, #foodandfarmfact and #farm to find 140-character messages sent by all types of farmers, ranchers and growers.

Despite the pervasiveness of electronic communication, when meeting face-to-face, most producers still prefer to offer printed resources that people can hold in their hands to help tell the story of modern farm and ranch production.

One example is the "Food and Farm Facts" book (previously "Farm Facts") and a smaller pocket guide version produced by the American Farm Bureau. These printed materials highlight today's modern agriculture. Other excellent printed resources with state-specific agricultural information also are available from most state Farm Bureaus.

Read full article.

Knowledge sharing 'principles' for agricultural research

Simone Staiger-Rivas recently published a series of blogposts and reports from the CGIAR Institutional Knowledge Sharing Project.

Following from earlier postings on this blog on knowledge management and data management 'principles', her report sets out 10 Key Lessons that could perhaps be seen as emerging principles in this area:

• When introducing KS, start with a small project and with people willing to experiment. Getting early wins and finding the right people in the right context is important.
• A successful intervention needs funds as well as explicitly mandated staff with the right skills and enough time to do the work.
• Without a specific focus, a KS initiative will grow beyond what is feasible to manage. Setting the initiative’s scope is important.
• KS enables us to pay attention to how we interact with each other and creates spaces where people can be heard.
• Formulating strategies using KS principles, tools, and methods allows staff to engage in the process and gives them a sense ownership of the results. This in turn ensures continuity in institutional cultures and facilitates the management of change.
• To successfully communicate KS principles and methods to scientists, practitioners need to show how KS can contribute to their research organization’s objectives.
• KS works best when applied simultaneously at the grass roots and the leadership level. Senior management buy-in is critically important for integrating KS principles, methods and tools into meetings.
• KS tools are not enough. To be successful, the KS Project needs champions to advocate for it and continue the work.
• It is important to build institutional capacity in KS principles and methods. In-house expertise will increase effectiveness of meetings and lead to mainstreaming KS within the institution.
• KS works best when it is integrated into the organization’s overall business plan, alongside communications and other activities, not as a separate department.

In this video interview, Simone argues that introducing knowledge sharing into a research organization requires attention to three entry points: The first is 'strategic' - making decision points more horizontal and participatory. The second is to work on concrete tools and approaches that staff can work with. The third concerns capacity building and staff empowerment. For knowledge sharing to really happen, an organization needs to "change profoundly."

Local content in agriculture and rural development

In 2002, IICD, OneWorld, DFID and others examined the issue of 'local content'on - and beyond - the Internet. The project defined 'local content' to be: "the expression of the locally owned and adapted knowledge of a community - where the community is defined by its location, culture, language, or area of interest" [see linked reports below].

As the definition sought to capture, local content is important as it represents the culture and knowledge of a community - rather than the the content that is often configured by outsiders for a community. It was argued that digital opportunities for rural communities would be enhanced when their own knowledge 'content' was valued and applied to the search for any solutions.

With the IKM Emergent project, Pete Cranston is now updating this work - to see what has happened since then, to see if the notions have advanced. He seeks contact with people interested in this area... Contact him via the CommunityContent blog.

The original reports:

Collecting and propagating local development content: Synthesis and conclusions

Collecting and propagating local development content: The case stories

Creating and communicating local development content [INASP newsletter]

by Peter Ballantyne

Miembros de la REDAGROCHILE recibirán capacitación avanzada para la construcción de Bibliotecas Digitales

Profesionales de información de la Red en Chile podrán diseñar e implementar “repositorios digitales abiertos” para el sector agrícola.

El curso brindará a los miembros de REDAGROCHILE, herramientas avanzadas en el diseño, construcción y gestión de Bibliotecas y recursos digitales mediante el sistema Greenstone, considerando sus aspectos técnicos y prácticos para su implementación. Durante el desarrollo del curso los alumnos realizarán instalaciones de los software necesarios e identificarán el lenguaje de formateo y comandos del sistema.

El curso es organizado por la Fundación para la Innovación Agraria (FIA), la Organización de las Naciones Unidas para la Agricultura y la Alimentación (FAO) y con el apoyo de la Universidad Católica de Temuco. Este se efectuará del 22 al 24 de junio en el Campus Norte de dicha Universidad.

Greestone es una suite de software para construir y distribuir colecciones de bibliotecas digitales que ofrece una forma de organizar información y publicarla en Internet o medios extraíbles (por ejemplo CD-ROM/DVD).

Visite: Zona Ex-Alumnos IMARK en Chile

Además:

Comienza temporada 2009 de cursos de Gestión de Información Agraria

El Centro de Información de Recursos Naturales de Chile ofrece acceso abierto a su patrimonio documental

Weather info for all: Mobile communications to revolutionize African weather monitoring

The Global Humanitarian Forum and its President, former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, together with Ericsson, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), mobile telecommunications company Zain, and the Earth Institute at Columbia University, today announced a major initiative, dubbed "Weather Info for All", to radically improve Africa's weather monitoring network in the face of the growing impact of climate change. The partnership will deploy up to 5,000 automatic weather stations in mobile network sites accross Africa, where less than 300 are reporting today.

Approximately 70 percent of Africans rely on farming for their livelihood, or close to 700 million people, and over 95 percent of Africa's agriculture depends on rainfall. Changing weather patterns due to climate change render obsolete traditional knowledge relating to agriculture otherwise reliable for centuries, creating a great need for meteorological information. This partnership will also increase information via mobile phones to users and communities, including remote farmers and fishermen.

Michel Jarraud, Secretary-General of the WMO said: "For food production, almost every decision is linked to weather, climate and water parameters. We see the Weather Info for All initiative as a major pan-African effort to empower our 188 Members to provide enhanced weather information and services".

First 19 stations deployed more than double Lake Victoria region weather monitoring, where 5,000 people die every due to storms and accidents. The initiative will have an impact far beyond agriculture and disaster preparation as it also includes assistance to national meteorological services in training and technical capacities. Better weather information will also make possible the development of services, such as microinsurance, which can be based on weather data indexes, such as rainfall. The initiative will also increase the volume of information useful for scientists, as well as for the water, transport and energy industries.

While the weather information gap is particularly acute in Africa, the initiative would be open to later expansion into other affected regions.

A further partner in the initiative is Columbia University's Earth Institute, headed by Jeffrey Sachs. To help with distribution to some of the most vulnerable and poorest parts of Africa and in partnership with the Earth Institute, automatic weather stations will also be installed in Millennium Villages - rural development projects spread throughout 10 countries and focused on achieving the Millennium Development Goals. By leveraging the expertise of Earth Institute scientists on climatology, agriculture, and health, the project hopes to identify key areas where there can be an immediate impact contributing a sizable knowledge bank to the effort.

"The Earth Institute is a proud partner in this highly innovative program," said Jeffrey Sachs, director of the institute. "Once the switch is turned on, a flow of extensive weather data will become available throughout Africa, with benefits extending from the national policy makers to the smallholder farmers. The Millennium Villages is a perfect launch site for the practical and timely application of weather data to bolster resilience and sustainable development in sub-Saharan Africa."

Read full article

Also: Weathering storms with telecoms

Agricultural metadata and the semantic web

A new issue of the International Journal of Metadata, Semantics and Ontologies explores agricultural knowledge production, organisation, and exchange from a Semantic Web perspective.

Unfortunately the articles are not openly accessible - however, the editorial introduces each paper and they each have an abstract

España: Los agricultores vascos saltan a la red

Los agricultores vascos han dado el salto de los caseríos a Internet a través de un nuevo periódico digital "Baserri Bizia" (www.baserribizia.info) cuyo objetivo es aportar diariamente información y opinión del sector a la sociedad.

"Este medio de comunicación tiene una vocación dinámica, de renovación diaria y seguimiento constante de la actualidad, y participativa, abierta a las aportaciones de los movimientos sociales", ha destacado Kormenzana.

La web incluye diversos apartados con noticias sobre la agricultura, tanto del País Vasco y Navarra como el resto del mundo, así como de informaciones sobre el consumo, medio ambiente y economía centrado en el universo de los baserritarras.

Otro componente que se ha querido potenciar es la voz de los agricultores y de los consumidores a través de una sección dedicada a la opinión y las entrevistas.

Una nueva red pone en contacto a mujeres de zonas rurales catalanas mediante Internet

La nueva Red de Mujeres Rurales de Catalunya facilita el intercambio de experiencias entre mujeres de las comarcas rurales, población que sufre una gran dispersión en Catalunya y una complicada movilidad, por lo que la nueva herramienta quiere ser su medio de comunicación.

Según informó hoy la Fundació Món Rural, que junto a la Fundació Maria Aurèlia Capmany y la Conselleria de Trabajo y Agricultura creó el proyecto Rudona, la nueva red trabajará materias como el turismo rural, la artesanía alimentaria y tradicional y la creación de pequeños negocios.

Para impulsar y reforzar el papel del movimiento asociativo entre mujeres del ámbito rural catalán, la red quiere ser un elemento de desarrollo personal informando acerca de las condiciones de las mujeres que trabajan por cuenta ajena y la realidad e las explotaciones agrarias y ganaderas.

Lea además: El 51% de las mujeres rurales reconocen no tener acceso a Internet, según un estudio.

ICTs and agricultural science - notes from the Science Forum workshop

Last week's Science Forum in Wageningen included a workshop on information and communication technologies - ICTs. Organized by Ajit Maru from GFAR, Some 50 people joined intense discussions on a broad range of ICTs and their future potential application in agricultural sciences for development.

The overall conclusion of the workshop discussions was presented by workshop facilitator Peter Ballantyne to the Forum plenary on the Wednesday afternoon:

"Much more participatory, collaborative, creative and ‘impactful’ agricultural science and innovation is possible by investing in ‘ICTs.’ Not just for the scientists, but along the ‘chains’ of producers, traders, and consumers."
Some other 'bullet points' from the presentation:

The trends - or waves - of the ICT world likely to positively impact us in the future include:

• Pervasive low-cost and mobile connectivity, across many different devices and platforms, reaching far beyond traditional research communities;
  


• Exponentially growing processing power, allowing complex problems and large data sets to beunderstood and handled; 
  


• 'Clouds' of shareable tools, applications, and intelligently-linked content and data, putting massive storage and sophisticated tools within the reach of all; 
  


• Growing capabilities to collect, analyze and re-use massive distributed collections of data, opening up new possibilities to carry out science across borders;
  


• People and ‘crowds’ empowered to create and manage data and information, allowing the multiple knowledges of different people to be mobilized. 
  

Full details from the group discussions will be brought together with the background paper, thinkpieces and the summary presentations into a report.

See materials from the workshop on the GFAR web site.

by Peter Ballantyne

Kenya's Cybercafé in a container: rural mobile internet stations

The lives of Maasai men and women in rural Kenya’s community will never be the same now that they have access to maarifa – knowledge in the Kiswahili language.

Launched in April by the Arid Lands Information Network (ALIN), the new Community Knowledge Centre lies in the heart of Maasai country and is the newest of four containerised community knowledge centres in the region.

Men and women from the local communities can now walk over to the station from their village to surf (or learn to surf) the internet and ALIN’s website to learn about better agricultural practices, marketing, environmental management, as well as content generation and dissemination including the cultural knowledge of the Maasai.

The centre will also facilitate delivery of e-Government services, e-Education and support skills-building among the youth from the area.

Read full article

Radio and video help trigger rice innovation in Africa

The Africa Rice Center (WARDA) is using radio and video to get information about improved technologies and market opportunities.

An article in the International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability shows how "farmer-to-farmer video has great potential to enhance sustainable agriculture by encouraging local innovations."

More:

• WARDA news release.
  
• Related postings

CABI launches improved version of 'CAB Direct'

CABI has launched a new and improved version of its database platform CAB Direct, incorporating the leading bibliographic databases in life science information - CAB Abstracts and Global Health.

The new CAB Direct offers a better experience for students and researchers as they search for important life science information. The content on CAB Direct has not changed, but the new design will improve its discoverability – saving researchers time and effort.

“Researcher behaviours and expectations are evolving, and the new CAB Direct has been created to ensure we are evolving with them,” said Cristina Ashby, Product Development Manager at CABI. “New technologies have offered an excellent opportunity to create a better, more intuitive and effective product."

CABI news item

Malaysian pilot project bridges rural-urban digital gap

A pilot project aimed at bridging the digital divide between rural and urban areas is showing positive results. Since the "infosti@mosti" centre was opened in February, 800 people had been taught basic computer skills and 2,000 registered as regular users.

Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Dr Maximus Ongkili said: "If the pilot project proves successful, the ministry will roll out more centres under the 10th Malaysia Plan."

Ongkili said this after attending a briefing at the centre on Saturday where he stressed that Infosti@mosti was content and application-driven, allowing the community to access and understand the potential of technologies, products and services available from the government, industries and the world market.

"Besides providing access to government online services, Infosti@mosti is also an online advisory centre for information on new technologies such as agricultural, industrial, e-commerce and e-services."

Ongkili, however, lamented the poor Internet connectivity in rural districts as a major hindrance in efforts to bridge the digital gap.

Read full article

See Train the Trainers Programme - Photo Gallery

República Dominicana: Indotel lleva tecnología digital a zona montañosa

La nueva sala tecnológica que inauguró el Instituto Dominicano de las Telecomunicaciones (Indotel) en Chichiguas de Gurabono solo es la número 59 que ha instalado la institución en Santiago, sino que se ha constituido en una novedosa fuente de acceso al conocimiento para cientos de niños, niñas, jóvenes y adultos de esta montañosa comunidad del Cibao. Se señala además que Indotel ha logrado reducir la brecha tecnológica a nivel nacional con la instalación de más de mil salas tecnológicas que han impactado a cientos de miles de dominicanos que ahora tienen acceso a computadoras y en muchos casos a Internet de alta velocidad.

El senador Domínguez Brito afirmó que en República Dominicana se registra "una revolución en el área de la tecnología...verdaderamente en la República Dominicana se ha iniciado una revolución en el área de la tecnología, de la formación y la capacitación; si hoy disponemos de mejores recursos humanos en el área tecnológica se debe al esfuerzo del Indotel, de su presidente y a todo el empeño de todo el equipo que ha venido trabajando, laborando y desarrollando todo este sistema", enfatizó.

El legislador Víctor Suárez anunció asimismo que gestiona llevar el sistema de comunicación inalámbrica Wi Fi a Gurabo, a fin de que la niñez, la juventud y moradores de esta comunidad tengan acceso a Internet gratis y, por ende, a bibliotecas virtuales, cursos de inglés en línea y otros beneficios del conocimiento.

Lea el artículo completo

FAO y asociados lanzan RIGA: Nueva Base de Datos sobre Actividades Generadoras de Ingreso Rural

El proyecto RIGA y su base de datos es una iniciativa de la FAO y las diferentes instituciones proveedoras de los datos originales. Esta brinda información sobre las diferentes fuentes de ingresos de varios países en vías de desarrollo. La base de datos fue construida usando 26 encuestas que cubren 16 países en África, Asia, Europa del Este y América Latina.

Cada dataset dentro de RIGA se puede unir o comparar fácilmente a otro. El hecho de hacer la base de datos de dominio público tiene como objetivo principal promover el uso de nuestros indicadores para informar y ayudar a la creación de políticas económicas basadas en el análisis.

Clicka aquí para tener acceso a la base de datos.

Hasta la fecha, la base de datos del proyecto RIGA ha permitido a nuestros investigadores llevar a cabo estudios y análisis en las siguientes áreas:

• Patrones de diversificación del ingreso rural
• Activos, actividades productivas fuentes de ingresos en zonas rurales.
• El impacto del alza en los precios de los alimentos sobre las familias rurales y urbanas.
• Salarios y empleo rural
• Agricultura urbana
• Genero y empleo rural
• La ganadería como instrumento para reducir la pobreza
• Modelos de política agrícola

Las "Actividades Generadoras de Ingreso Rural" (RIGA) es una proyecto conjunto de la FAO, el Banco Mundial y la American University.

Visite la página de RIGA

Base de datos de FAO sobre precios alimentarios: Una herramienta interactiva que cubre 55 países

Dentro de su respuesta al alza de los precios alimentarios, la FAO desarrolló una base de datos interactiva de precios de alimentos básicos en los mercados nacionales de 55 países en desarrollo, que abarcan desde Afganistán a Zimbabwe.

La Herramienta de análisis de datos de precios de alimentos básicos a nivel nacional muestra los precios de diferentes productos alimentarios en moneda local o en dólares EE.UU., así como las medidas locales y pesos estándar. Permite comparar precios en los mercados nacionales e internacionales, entre diferentes mercados dentro de un mismo país, o entre distintos países.

Esta base de datos, sencilla de utilizar es una valiosa fuente de información para los políticos y responsables de las decisiones en la producción y comercio agrícolas, desarrollo y también en el sector humanitario.

Red del Campo Panamá: Innovative network connects rural people

An innovative program in Panama - and Central America - brings together key stakeholders and more than 17 key public and private organizations and their programs to enhance knowledge and information sharing for rural development and food security.

The "Network of the Country People" (Red del Campo in Spanish) is enhancing the digital production of local content while introducing a broad set of tools and services that combines modern and conventional media. Internet Web/Web 2.0 tools mixed with modern devices (Ipods, TouchSmart PCs, Skype-phones, etc.) and traditional such as phone and radio is serving to better connect the rural people in Panama. The first phase (launched May 26) will be expanding its content and coverage during the 3Q/2009.

Among its services, Red del Campo offers a Call Centre (507-0777) and a web-based portal (REDDELCAMPO.NET) with up-to-date domestic market prices for +120 crops, TV/radio programs, an electronic repository of applied technologies, rural legislation and agro-maps, a technical directory in rural sector and a virtual market that allows producers to offer products and services over the Internet.

The development of this program started with the finantial and technical contribution of more than US$200.000 by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the U.N. (FAO) that designed and implemented the network jointly with the Ministry of Agriculture (MIDA) and with participation of the City of Knowledge Foundation (FCdS) and the International Centre for Sustainable Development (CIDES).

US-Indiana: Biofuels Mobile Learning Center on Display

In Indiana the Soybean Alliance and Corn organization are bringing an interactive Biofuels Mobile Learning Center to the Farmers' Market.

It is an interactive traveling exhibit designed to explain and promote the use of ethanol and biodiesel. Featuring educational displays, fun interactive touchscreens, videos and more, the exhibit is designed to appeal to all ages. The BMLC is offered for use at no cost courtesy of Indiana corn and soybean farmers.

Farmers have always been good stewards of going green and this mobile unit demonstrates the positive impact ethanol and biodiesel can make - helping to preserve our planet and generate new opportunities for employment and economic development in the agriculture sector.

Visit BMLC site

Communicating research findings to rural people

The DFID-supported Research Into Use Programme (RIU) has published a collection of stories (PDF format) that show how information information about new ways of doing things is communicated to rural people in developing countries.

The authors argue that these success stories demonstrate the importance of having an appropriate strategy. "In each case, the people who had a message they wanted to communicate carefully ... They painted a clear picture of their target audience and found out, often by doing research, who or what they listened to, looked at, read and trusted. They also looked for communication professionals who could help craft messages that would 'push the right buttons' with the audience ... They realised that they would need a variety of partners, and looked around to find and team up with them."

This last issue - partnership and a recognition of the role of various intermediaries - is indeed critical and is picked up again by the authors in the conclusion to their introductory article:

"Above all, communication is a partnership. The role of researchers and extension workers is mainly to provide information or 'content' in the first place and be there to reply to questions and requests for more information. Researchers and extension workers need partners who are journalists,broadcasters, science writers, communication experts, or even actors or singers, to craft messages from the content they provide. They need partners in the public and private sectors to construct and manage TV and radio infrastructure, telecentres, mobile phone networks, newspapers and other communication channels to get the messages out. Success comes from getting partners with different talents together around a common objective."

Unfortunately, to see the contents and read the different stories, readers need to download the entire PDF document. How much better could our access have been if the publishers gave us direct html access to each story, on a wiki or blog perhaps.

Anyway, to give a flavour of the contents, here are some of the stories:

• Pop radio harnesses donkey 'boy racers' - Pop radio programme makes donkeys more productive in Kenya.
  
• 'Barnaamijka Xoolaha' - Radio broadcasts coupled with informal learning groups boost the knowledge and skills of Somali livestock farmers.
  
• Breeze FM private radio broadcasts extension messages - Balancing commercial needs with a public-community mission, a private radio station in Zambia teams up with NGOs and government agencies to boost rural production.
  
• 'Makutano Junction' TV soap encourages small farmers to make silage - A TV soap opera broadcast widely in East Africa is an important forum for a wide variety of environmental, health and development issues.
  
• Working with ICTs (internet kiosks, telecentres, mobile phone) - E-Choupal kiosks catalyse rural transformation. One of the very few ICT projects in India that lets rural people get the information they need to rise out of poverty.
  
• Songhai Community Telecentres nurture entrepreneurs - Songhai Telecentres are hotspots of innovation in rural and semi-urban communities in Benin.
  
• First Mile creates links, builds market chains - Through First Mile, farmers in Tanzania are getting real-time crop and market information by mobile phone.
  
• Esoko (TradeNet) expands and exploits new markets - Farmers in West Africa get accurate and timely market information by SMS.
  
• EpiSurveyor transforms professional knowledge and service - Mobile technology in Kenya, Sierra Leone and Zambia "dramatically increased" how field workers in the three countries both update their knowledge and collect information.
  
• Ndere Troupe fights banana wilt and other problems - In Uganda, drama delivers information in a cultural form farmers can absorb and enjoy.
  
• Farmer Field Schools reinvented - In Nepal, older girls and out-of-school youth learn eco-friendly farming techniques that boost family incomes at NGO farmer field schools.
  
• Voices from the Field help the media understand export horticulture - Workshops and field visits encourage accurate media coverage of agricultural practices to boost smallholder export horticulture in Kenya.
  
• Wambui teaches parents through children - Cartoon books for children indirectly educate parents in Kenya on improved farming practices.
  
• Rainwater harvesting transfers from country to country - Face-to-face interaction between researchers in Tanzania and Nigeria proves its value.
  

Amapthèque - SIGB adapté pour les unités de recherche

OpenAmapthèque est un Système Intégré de Gestion de Bibliothèque (SIGB) spécifiquement adapté aux besoins des professionnels de l'information scientifique et technique dans les unités de recherche.

Ce logiciel a été spécialement conçu pour répondre aux besoins des structures de recherche. Il s'adresse à des professionnels de l'information scientifique et technique et à des non professionnels, gérant un fonds documentaire et les publications d’une unité ou d’un laboratoire de recherche.

En savoir plus:

Le logiciel OpenAmapthèque

Le site de l'unité mixte de recherche Botanique et bio-informatique de l'architecture des plantes (AMAP)

Communicating swine flu research - Evidence for open access models?

Through Twitter, just came across fascinating blog post from leading science writer and blogger Carl Zimmer...

In his posting, he describes his positive experiences trying to obtain information on swine flu science.

Concluding that "the patient process of old-fashioned science publishing may have to be upgraded", he show how scientists working on the virus created an open wiki (thanks to them for the image on this posting) to share information - "So everyone who wanted to peruse their analysis could see how it developed as more data emerged and as they used different methods to analyze it."

After this open process, it seems the results were published (today 11 June) in Nature - with a Creative Commons license.

Of course, this openness may be due to the urgent nature of the problem. But it does show a different - and open - way to do science. This model combines open 'social' media like wikis and blogs with publishing in a traditional peer-reviewed journal, and the use of creative commons licenses to maximise access to the results.

It sounds like several of the promising pathways CIARD aims to pull together to make agricultural research outputs more accessible!

Japan AgInfo on Twitter

Japan's Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Research Council Secretariat publishes on Twitter to "provide IT and library service for researchers!"

They also have a twitter web alert.

Takanori Hayashi - who presented on web 2.0 at the 2008 IAALD Congress - is also on Twitter and seems to be experimenting to disseminate AFFRC outputs from its library as 'tweets.'

Probably need to read some Japanese though.

La red Kiechwa satelital intercomunica a pueblos indígenas de Ecuador, Perú y de Bolivia

La Red Kiechwa Satelital (RKS) es uno de los proyectos de ALER, Asociación Latinoamericana de Educación Radiofónica. Tiene la sede rotativamente que cambia cada año entre los tres países, Perú, Ecuador y Bolivia. Esta intercomunica a los pueblos «kichwas» de Ecuador, «quechuas» de Perú y de Bolivia (de la unión de las dos denominaciones, se acuñó el término kiechwa).

Esta Red tiene un soporte técnico físico una combinación de diversas tecnologías: el receptor satelital, el internet, el correo electrónico, el teléfono, el fax, el FTP, computador, mínima sala de grabación y programas de audio digital.

En el equipo de producción central de la RKS está conformado por un indígena imbaya kichwa hablante y una quechua de Bolivia. Desde Norte Potosí (Bolivia) ellos hacen contacto todos los días, ya sea por teléfono o correo electrónico con las emisoras que conforman la Red alrededor de 30 emisoras en Perú, Ecuador, Bolivia y Argentina (1). Con los despachos provenientes arman los programas informativos, radiorevista cultural, panel y programas especiales. Esos programas los comprimen y a través del FTP (servidor) envían a Internet de ALER. En ALER – Quito se descomprime esos audios y se los ubica en el satélite, en el satélite reciben los programas que difundirán en directo o indiferido.

El acceso a la última tecnología es una tremenda ventaja instrumental: el Internet posibilita el transporte rápido y nítido de las radios participantes hacia el centro de producción y el satélite hace llegar la programación de manera nítida y simultánea a los (re)transmisores: las radio-emisoras. Si bien esta es la razón esencial del uso de los mencionados canales, es innegable el valor simbólico que representa su uso: los quiechuas, pueblos postergados, y con el uso de la tecnología agrícola (por ejemplo) más rudimentaria del mundo, tienen acceso a tecnología de punta para comunicarse.

Visite el sitio de RKS

Internet, el arma más fuerte de la nueva resistencia indígena

La causa indígena es uno de los movimientos sociales que más ha crecido y evolucionado en los últimos años, sobre todo en América Latina donde, como sostiene Enrique Daza, "se ha extendido rápidamente dejando atrás su dispersión". En este camino ascendente, internet no se ha quedado de lado. Es más, en ocasiones, ha sido su protagonista".

Carlos Mallagaray, experto en temas de derechos humanos, recuerda que el afán por hacerse oír a través de las nuevas tecnologías de los indígenas no es nuevo. Según él, "desde los años cuarenta del siglo pasado, la radio ha sido uno de las herramientas de comunicación para las reivindicaciones y difusión de los pueblos originarios". El destaca las ventajas añadidas de internet a la difusión de este tipo de información a través de la red, que "ha permitido la posibilidad de comunicarse salvando el aislamiento geográfico" en el que suelen vivir estos pueblos. Esto ha permitido enviar alertas tempranas a todos los países del mundo para evitar "casos de biopiratería o destrucción del entorno propio las comunidades indígenas".

Por supuesto, los problemas que se encuentran no son pocos. Óscar del Álamo, analista de gobernabilidad y su consolidación a través de las nuevas tecnologías en América Latina, apunta algunos obstáculos que explicarían por qué ha tardado tanto en madurar en movimiento indígena a través de la red. En primer lugar, se refiere a "la falta de experiencia o de destreza para el uso de los ordenadores". Sencillamente, no podemos olvidar que la mayoría de los indígenas viven en situación de pobreza. A esto se le une, como señala Álamo, "la falta de acceso a las nuevas tecnologías unida a la ausencia de infraestructura necesaria", algo que no nos resulta nada difícil de imaginar.

Leer el artículo completo

Ademas: Buscan ampliar acceso de indígenas a internet en Brasil

Knowledge management principles for natural resources management

Last month, we shared some data management principles for natural resources management. This month, we look at some KM principles from the Regional Knowledge Resource Kit - a wiki resource for managing information and knowledge for natural resource management in Australia. Also produced by Land & Water Australia, the principles they suggest are:

• Share what you know and help others learn.
  
• Has this been done before? Don’t reinvent the wheel!
  
• Collaboration.
  
• Synthesis - transfer knowledge concisely rather than overloading your audience.
  
• Learning.
  
• Team work.
  
• Innovation / creativity.
  
• Use networks of expertise.
  
• Promote knowledge champions.
  
• Language - make sure it is appropriate to the audience.
  
• Knowledge is volunteered, never conscripted.
  
• We know more than we can say, and we say more than we can write down.
  
• We only know what we know when we need to know it.
  
• Being well connected. The Paul Revere story provides a good example why.

See the Resource Kit

ICTs for development - Avoid technology-led solutions

A new IIED Briefing - Village voice: towards inclusive information technologies - argues that "by gaining a toehold in affordable ICTs, the poor can access the knowledge and services they need, such as real-time market prices, to boost their livelihoods. But to be sustainable, technologies need to factor in social realities."

Concerned about'technology-led solutions', the author concludes that "approaches that keep development concerns at their core and people as their central focus are key."

Other key messages:

• Information and communications technologies (ICTs) are on the rise in poor countries, but work best when tailored to community needs and
  ways of working
  
• ICT projects for development often fail, as they are designed as technology-led service provision rather than development-led, peoplecentred initiatives
  
• ICTs are key strategic tools for improving livelihoods and should be integrated into mainstream development thinking
  
• Existing frameworks for understanding ICTs for development, such as the ICT for Rural Livelihoods knowledge map, must be developed and shared more widely
  
• New approaches such as social network analysis can clarify how ICTs affect sociocultural interactions.

FAO y CIREN firmaron convenio para compartir su información sobre recursos naturales de Chile

Durante el 45 aniversario de CIREN, la Ministra de Agricultura de Chile destacó la importancia de compartir información.

Un convenio para compartir información, análisis, bases de datos, mapas e imágenes de satélite sobre recursos naturales de Chile firmaron hoy el Representante Regional de la FAO, José Graziano da Silva, y el Director del Centro de Información de Recursos Naturales de Chile, CIREN Rodrigo Álvarez Seguel, con la Ministra de Agricultura de Chile, Marigen Horkohl como testigo del acto.

El objetivo de esta cooperación entre la FAO y CIREN es contribuir al análisis de la situación y perspectivas de los recursos naturales en Chile en actividades agrícolas, ganaderas, forestales, pesqueras y acuícolas, así como también al análisis de tendencias de dichas áreas.

“Esta es una tarea que permite incluir a los más pequeños, a los agricultores todavía necesitados de ayuda y soporte, pero de una ayuda y un soporte que tienen un sustento científico, técnico, y de proyección al futuro”, afirmó la Ministra de Agricultura durante la apertura. Según Graziano, la forma en que el cambio climático afectará al agro y la influencia del sistema económico en el desarrollo de la actividad hacen necesarias este tipo de alianzas.

“El cambio climático aumenta la incertidumbre en un momento en que ya hay mucha volatilidad en los precios de los commodities internacionales. En tiempos de crisis, la información pública sobre recursos naturales tiene un rol fundamental. El manejo de información oficial, confiable, que llega a todos los ciudadanos de forma gratuita es algo clave para el manejo de la incertidumbre por parte de la población,” señaló Graziano durante la firma del convenio.

Por su parte, el Director de CIREN afirmó que el conocimiento cabal de la riqueza del país, de la diversidad y el estado de sus recursos naturales, es clave para poder planificar políticas públicas exitosas. “No es lo mismo tomar decisiones a ciegas que tomar decisiones informados,” señaló.

La firma del convenio tuvo lugar durante las celebraciones del 45 aniversario de CIREN.

Lea el artículo completo

Además: CIREN ofrece acceso abierto a su patrimonio documental.

Sharing and finding knowledge on natural resources management

In recent years, Land & Water Australia - which seems to be disappearing soon - has pioneered a wide range of activities to assist and enhance the management of information and knowledge for natural resources management.

Two key outputs of interest to the wider community:

• The Regional Knowledge Resource Kit, a wiki resource on managing information and knowledge for natural resource management. Especially interesting for materials on knowledge strategies as well as 50+ articles on different knowledge resources and tools from access, through blogs, information lieracy, peer assists to world cafe.
  
  
• The NRM Navigator - this seems to be a focused search 'toolbar' that guides searchers to different resources, events and decision support tools.

Agricultural market information project in Cameroon

Found on Netsquared, the AMIS Project in Cameroon proposes to send SMS text messages to farmers.

The project is about delivering educative and informative SMS messages to farmers and consumers that would enable them connect directly and do business.

Agrotext Kenya project gives farmers cheap access to agricultural knowledge

Found on Netsquared, this project proposes to provide Kenyan farmers with cheap access to a database of agricultural knowledge. The only thing they have to do is send a text, after which they will get an sms back with the answer.

En Zona Norte de Chile: finaliza curso de capacitación a distancia para Bibliotecarios y Documentalistas del Agro

La Fundación para la Innovación Agraria (FIA) y la Organización de Naciones Unidas para la Agricultura y la Alimentación (FAO) anunciaron el inicio de sus jornadas de capacitación 2009 en Gestión de Información Agraria.

La temporada se inició en abril con el curso "Construyendo Redes y Comunidades Virtuales", que concluyó hoy 5 de junio para un total de 70 horas. El mismo estuvo dirigido a personas que tienen a su cargo Bibliotecas Públicas y las unidades de información que integran la RedAgroChile, tanto de las regiones de Arica y Parinacota; Iquique, Antofagasta, Atacama y Coquimbo.

Esta capacitación se realizó 100% vía e-learning y se basó en el tercer módulo del Repertorio de Recursos para la Gestión de Información-IMARK, el cual facilita la FAO y sus instituciones asociadas.

EMBRAPA research dissemination activities

This paper in the IAALD journal Agricultural Information Worldwide presents the efforts undertaken by the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation regarding Science and Technology information management, through one of its Decentralized Units, EMBRAPA Technological Information (Scientific and Technological Information Service', SCT).

The major aim of SCT is to promote and improve the processes of scientific communication - information that feeds and that results from research activities - and of science and technology dissemination - information that results from research activities and that is directed to the general public.

DatAgro: SMS text messaging for farmers in Chile

Found on Netsquared, the DatAgro project in Chile lets farmers receive a stream of RSS messages directly to their cell phones.

The project provides access to digital content that is relevant to farmers; it has also aims to develop "a robust application able to pull information from web-based RSS streams or send custom written notes as SMS messages to large communities of standard cellular phone users."

How Cell Phones Are Transforming Global Farming

FIDAfrique 3: Knowledge sharing network in Africa

The IFADafrica Programme initial workshop was held on April 20-22, 2009 in Nairobi, Kenya. It gathered over 120 participants from IFAD Projects and Programmes in Sub Sahara Africa, Thematic Networks in Eastern and Southern Africa, and partners from Latin America and Asia (Enrap, IFADAmerica).

The meeting marked the inception of a new Sub Saharan network to promote knowledge and innovation sharing for the sake of poverty alleviation in rural Africa.

More on the Workshop

AGORA en Bolivia: mejorando el acceso a la investigación para la vida.

Muchos países en desarrollo carecen de acceso a la información y formación que pueden ayudar a salvar vidas, mejorar la calidad de vida, y ayudar con el desarrollo económico. Para hacer frente a esta disparidad, la alianza cooperativa público-privada entre organismos de las Naciones Unidas, editores, universidades, fundaciones filantrópicas y socios tecnológicos como MICROSOFT, presenta varios programas únicos (HINARI, AGORA y OARE).

En conjunto ofrecen acceso gratuito o a bajo costo a más de 7,500 publicaciones científicas periódicas en 74 países en desarrollo. Uno de estos (AGORA – Acceso a la Investigación Mundial en Línea en el Sector Agrícola) es liderado por la FAO y junto con importantes socios y colaboradores, ofrece en Internet, una colección digital sobresaliente con mas de 1270 publicaciones periódicas en más de 1600 organizaciones en el mundo.

“El objetivo final de AGORA es mejorar la seguridad alimentaria mediante el aumento de la calidad y la eficacia de la investigación agrícola, la educación y la formación en los países en desarrollo”, destaca Franz Martin, Oficial en Administración de la FAO, quien conduce el programa para América Latina y El Caribe. En esta región, se han llevado a cabo varias actividades colaborativas que han permitido alfabetizar en información sobre AGORA a más de 300 individuos de países como Colombia, Nicaragua, Honduras, Perú, entre otros.

Recientemente se lleva a cabo dos talleres más en Bolivia (La Paz, 2, 4 y 5 junio) para fortalecer las capacidades en el uso y aprovechamiento de AGORA en más de 115 individuos (investigadores, docentes, profesionales de información, agentes de extensión y estudiantes) de organizaciones del pais andino vinculados a la alimentación, agricultura y ciencias afines. Ambos son organizados por la FAO (Representación en Bolivia y Oficina para América Latina y El Caribe) en colaboración con la Universidad Mayor de San Andrés (UMSA – Facultad de Medicina y Nutrición), El Instituto Nacional de Salud (INS – Perú) y el grupo de profesionales de información agraria de AIBDA-Bolivia.

Ver fotografías de los talleres.

Information scientifique et technique et développement rural : Eclairages sur des pratiques innovantes

Le regain d'intérêt pour l'agriculture et les questions soulevées par les crises alimentaires accentuent les besoins en information de qualité pour tous les acteurs du développement rural. En apportant leurs connaissances et leur savoir-faire, les professionnels de l'information scientifique et technique contribuent à répondre à ces besoins.

Le 2010 congrès organisé par l'IAALD et Agropolis International favorisera un dialogue constructif entre les professionnels de l'information et ceux du développement rural pour faire face aux grands enjeux agricoles.

Les chercheurs sont les bienvenus, ainsi que les professionnels de l'information, les membres des organisations paysannes, les éditeurs, et tous les partenaires impliqués dans la production, la gestion et la diffusion des connaissances dans le domaine des sciences et des technologies agricoles.

Nous espérons vous accueillir bientôt à Montpellier !

Scientific and technical information and rural development: Highlights of innovative practices

The renewed worldwide interest in agriculture and questions dealing with food crises increase the need for quality information for actors in rural development. Bringing their knowledge and know-how, the Scientific and Technical Information Specialists can contribute to providing this information.

The 2010 congress organised by IAALD and Agropolis International will ensure fruitful exchanges between information specialists and actors of rural development facing these key challenges in agriculture.

Researchers are welcome, as well as information professionnals, members of farmer organizations, publishers, and stakeholders involved in the generation, management, or dissemination of knowledge in the area of agricultural sciences and technologies.
We hope to greet you soon in Montpellier!