Enabling poor rural people to overcome poverty

1. Enabling poor rural people to overcome poverty IFAD’s approach to developing knowledge systems in agriculture Mohamed Béavogui

2. Outline • Why agriculture and rural development requires Knowledge Management strategies • IFAD response to the challenge: Knowledge Management & Innovation • Knowledge Management in Agriculture • Examples of IFAD experience • Solid Knowledge Management & Innovation requires strategic partnerships • Conclusion and questions to be addressed

3. Why Knowledge Management? (2) • Knowledge is needed to improve development effectiveness: IFIs and partners active in the agricultural and rural sectors need to learn systematically and collectively from: -their own programmes; -the experience of their partners; -rural poor people and their organizations …to deliver high quality services and to find new ways to overcome poverty and influence policies

4. Why Knowledge Management? • Knowledge is needed to understand and adapt to a rapidly changing environment in agriculture: • Liberalization and globalization with opportunities and threats related to market access (agri- and supermarket industry), ICT… • World agriculture transformation: biotech., biofuels, climate change, natural resources depletion vs. more sustainable practices (conservation agriculture, organic farming) • Transformations in rural development and poverty: feminization of agriculture, HIV/AIDS, migration/remittances, unemployed youth

5. Knowledge management and innovation at IFAD • IFAD’s new (2007) KM strategy has four strategic components: (i) Strengthening knowledge-sharing and learning processes; (ii) Supportive knowledge-sharing and learning infrastructure; (iii) Fostering partnerships for broader knowledge-sharing and learning; (iv) Promoting a supportive knowledge-sharing and learning culture

6. Knowledge management and innovation at IFAD (2) • Retooling the project cycle to integrate KM throughout; • Testing a knowledge-based policy development process; • Scaling up of specific local learning activities Regional networks Thematic networks Learning events - policy seminars, round-table conferences, Farmers’ Forum, informal seminars and workshops, etc.

7. Knowledge management and innovation at IFAD (3) • Strong IT including KM platforms such as: -the Rural Poverty Portal, a web-based KM tool http://www.ruralpovertyportal.org -FIDAfrique – a network devoted to facilitating exchange of knowledge & information and dissemination of innovation among IFAD/PA’s project community and partners (www.fidafrique.org) • Sound information management • Specific KM tools for collaboration

8. Scouting and sharing innovation to improve livelihoods IFAD’s new (2007) Innovation Strategy fosters: Institutional mapping- Identification of key local/regional institutions and networks promoting agricultural innovation Scouting, harvesting & recording promising innovations with high potential impact on poor smallholder livelihoods Sharing innovations- database, website & FidAfrique; national and regional innovation workshops; M&E Development of an innovation sharing mechanism to up-scale & replicate innovations and to facilitate systematic incorporation of innovation

9. An example: Niger –Aguié Promotion of Local Initiatives Project IFAD operations in Maradi have focused on: • valuing local knowledge • stimulating pro-poor innovation in agricultural, social, organizational and economic areas Action-research-training methodology aims at creating equal relationships between stakeholders through 3 steps: • identifying and recognizing local innovations • selecting the innovations that are relevant and accessible • conducting joint trials & demonstrations and upscaling them Knowledge sharing among neighbouring villages and creating synergies between local knowledge and scientific knowledge

10. Partnerships for knowledge management and innovation Long-term collaborative frameworks Systematic methods to benefit from the insights and experience of peers Tools to find others in other organizations who have the knowledge and expertise for a particular task or project Four strategic KM partnerships with selected partners: • one CGIAR centre (IFPRI) • one development agency • tripartite collaboration with FAO and WFP • a network of stakeholder institutions (for example, NGOs, farmers’ organizations, rural microfinance institutions)

11. An example of a learning partnership: Burkina Faso – PICOFA action-research

12. Conclusion and questions to be addressed Conclusion - • Harmonisation and alignment agenda provides momentum • New aid architecture provides for multiple, more flexible types of interventions, better adapted to rapid changes • Exciting developments in agriculture make knowledge ever more precious, KM ever more important Questions - • Whilst conventional projects can be laboratories for innova-tion, how to maximise their impact on system-building? • How to link agricultural knowledge systems with pro-poor service delivery systems? • How to embed KM within challenging operations such as value chain market linkage development?